flâneur: “from the French masculine noun flâneur—which has the basic meanings of "stroller", "lounger", "saunterer", "loafer"… or "a person who walks the city in order to experience it". (wiki.com)
la flâness: sexier, female version of the above.Archive for March 17, 2010
Just a Little Town Called Tequila, featuring Jose, Cuervo, and lil` bit of Sauza!
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Vancouver and I got up late and slowly… her relaxed pace made my morning. I hadn`t travelled with anyone yet and was happy to jive with her lax schedule…
. Maestranza, at Juarez and
We were happy to be doing it alone – so many people take the hostel tours, or go with other tour providers for a structured day, costing around $200-$400 pesos (incl. bus, snack, and maybe a distillery tour)… but we happily opted for a more relaxed day of quasi-dechachery, dues-Canadian style… with just our sweet selves! It worked out to be cheaper as well, including our hotel night; plus we could stay longer and not have to be bussed back to Guadalajara tired-tipsy, and with a load of other people. I was headed West beyond Tequila anyway, and She long distance to Mexico City, so it just made too much sense.
After a while, we quieted down and read for the majority of the bus ride… feet up, trying to ignore the sizable roaches on the floor of the bus…
We knew we were close when all of a sudden we found ourselves surrounded on all sides by fields and FIELDS of agave… the funky looking cactus-like plant used to make Tequila and Mescal. The rolling hills were coated in them! And the slightly overcast day made the scene that much more dramatic…
Just outside of town we passed the first distillery: Herradura. The smell of tequila-ish-ness filled the air (cooking plants with a light burning of alcohol on the nostrils…). By the time the bus driver booted us off, we were ready for our first margarita.
We had a travel book, but the town seemed very relaxed and informal. Small, family-run hotels were EVERYWHERE and no one stays for the night. It is my personal recommendation that you take advantage of this fact and haggle for a great overnight rate in one of the many adorable little hotels. Some are cheaper than others. I recommend ours: Hotel San Francisco (10 Vallarta, in the main square by the cathedral). It is more relaxing to just stay after consuming possibly vast amounts of booze, still cheap, and there is kind of a neat night scene here in Tequila! But more on that later…
We simply headed down the main street of this pretty, sleepy little colonial town to the central square with the large cathedral. We could see the giant and oh-so inviting gates to the Jose Cuervo distillery nearby. Sold!
We turned around to see the Hotel San Fransisco – a cute, family run place with a great location and view. We haggled ourselves a lovely little price for a double room, and dropped our things there. It seemed very safe and secure, and the family members were very nice and attentive (plus, they had cute kids).
We ran up the street hoping to catch Sauza (seeing as Jose Cuervo stays open until around 8PM), but were too late. It was a Monday and the last distillery tour had been at four. So much for the success of our relaxed itinerary.
But we took a few pictures and decided we were better off experiencing the creme-de-la-creme of tequila tours, and happily skipped our way back through the cobblestones to Cuervo. We signed up for the last and best tour, at 5PM. We would taste the tequila every step of the way: from the 100% agave stuff, to white, amber, reposado old, and very old, as well as have a special private tasting of the Cuervo family reserve. We were very excited.
We had a little time to kill, but the gorgeous little courtyard filled with other relaxed dream-seekers beckoned us. We indulged ourselves in a few rounds of two-for-one Tamarindo Margaritas for Happy Hour (which, I`m pretty sure lasted all day), and prepared for our tasting with some delicious guacamole.
We even had time to check out the ridiculous merchandise! Cuervo socks, Cuervo shirts, Cuervo kids crayons, and stuffed Cuervo bears. Booze, booze, booze and more booze… bottled in every shape, size, and colour! There was some very artsy`limited edition` packaging from over the years displayed on one of the walls.
Our tour was fabulous, and everything it was described to be. Plus a hilarious and very serious movie about the importance of tequila in the world, to kick it off. We tasted everything from the agave plant itself to the many rounds of tequila. The distillery was very clean and pretty, and the staff were friendly and knowledgable. Also, as we discovered later in our private cellar tasting, a little wacky and loads of fun…
It finished up with a few more snifters of the good stuff upstairs, another round of signature Cuervo Margaritas and some crackers and good cheese to fill our bellies.
…
HOTEL to get changed and revive ourselves for the evening – to full to sleep or eat, too tipsy for a real bar.
…
It did not, however, take us very long to hit the road again; and we decided to wander around and check out the streets of the little town of Tequila, and it`s people that produce all the good stuff.
Just a regular little Méxican town. Cobblestone streets, seemingly very traditional and Christian, with little family-run stores offering various services and products. Street food vendors cooking up tacos and quesidillas everywhere, of course. It was Monday night, but there were a few big clubs pumping out loud music (if they were actually busy is another question all together). There were a few bars and cafes with people chatting in them, scattered around, but the real action was in the many Billares around town. Traditionally men-only pool bars, Billares are relatively quiet, laid-back open and undecorated spaces, usually worked by only one bartender, and filled with many pool tables and plastic tables with chairs for board games or, more commonly, dominos. It is incredibly rare to see any women in these places – which just makes sense - but after a day of fancy drinks and tasting, the laid-back, affordable emptiness of the was exactly what we needed. We passed by, looked at one another, and knew instantly that we were headed for a pool game. Our traditionally North American independent women mentality told us: “No women? No problem!“ And we headed in to the bar for a couple Corona`s with lime and grabbed ourselves some pool cues.
A great night – though we were a bit of a spectacle at first… we proved ourselves, helped with dominoes and made some friends.
I would definitely recommend this kind of evening, to anyone.
…
Just as it had been in Guanajuato, San Miguel de Allende, and Guadalajara – the action in Tequila was in the squares. The large plazas were lined with cafes and filled business people and uniformed students chatting and licking icecreams in the days, and with people sipping coffee drinks and eating tacos at night.
It is by no means a busy or bustling town, and it was fabulous to have this kind of sociability late(ish) into the night.
After a few rounds of pool, we headed back towards our hotel, and just sat in the square adjacent to the one our hotel was on, amidst the native Tequilans, sipping massive bottles of water to bring ourselves down from the day.
We watched the families, couples and pairs of men chat and slowly filter out, heading home for the evening… while we discussed the intricacies of life, men, and tequila. A beautiful evening.
Then we went home to pass out.
***NOTE: The streets of Tequila branch out far beyond the centre where the Cuervo and Sauza distilleries are, and are all loaded with smaller stores selling all kinds of tequila and mescal! There are free samples everywhere! So if you`re with a group, are strapped for cash, need a bit more tequila, or want to skip out on the full distillery tours all together, just wander around and be friendly… it will pay off for sure 
And is a great way to experience this little town for the day.
Cafes and Eats in Tequila:
Breakfast, Icecream, Sandwiches, Snacks:
Cafe Desayunos y Reposteria (by Cathedral in main square)
Cafe Rossy (by Cathedral in main square)
Markets, Street Food:
The mornings bring a huge selection of outdoor comida typical (tacos, sopes and more) in carts just behind the main cathedral (the opposite direction from the Jose Cuervo distillery). Very cheap and good.
There are late night tacos and icecream in the large central plazas, and along the side streets. Head along the main street, away from the Cuervo distillery, or make a left off of it onto one of the side streets for bars, cantinas, and billares at night. On the Cuervo side of the Cathedral, there are a few clubs for dancing. Follow your nose if you hear loud music thumping - there are not many clubs open simultaneously.
