It seems like This Is Somerset’s readers are mainly in Somerset. But you get the odd aberration…
Of course, I’ve had me guestmap going for a year or so now:
This was before Google Maps hacks were so widely available… Add yerself if you haven’t already, the last one was from me Mum and Dad when they were in Tenerife.
… lost a couple of games of boggle and then embarked on a news round up.
Inspired get-out-of-school antics in Mexico .
If we don’t find a place soon, here’s plan B
Watch your screws in Germany.
Complete your American Dream Kit with a Taser/mp3 player
It’s raining. Santa Cruz tomorrow, possibly.
As you were.
Who will buy my lovely books? here’s the ad on craigslist. Actually, i’d only recommend anything by Douglas Adams, and maybe Holes. It’s worth a try though…
The dog’s been quiet for 20 minutes now…
It’s nearing the end of a marathon three days. On Friday evening Sita was involved in some kind of field “research” as part of her Tequila Diploma course from the Universidad de Guadalajara. She and a dozen or so classmates went on a University-sponsored pub crawl around Guadalajara which took in El Sin Rival, La Fuente, La Maestranza and Los Famosos Equipales to name but a few. Because some of us have to work for a living I arranged to meet up with them at the end of it all at 8 in Los Equipales. I got there at 7:30 so I could have a chance to catch up a bit, after looking like the lonliest gringo in el centro historico for 90 minutes or so and a couple of their speciality drink, nalgas alegres (rum, grenadine, orange crush and a splash of wine and ice) they phoned the bar to say they’d be there soon. And what a happy bunch they were too. Dr. Jaime (pictured) is the bloke who gave us the masterclass on Mayahuel and friends way back when, in the picture he’s holding a popular botana (bar snack) called viril. It looks innocuous enough, but it is sliced, marinated bull’s penis. I tried it once 8 years ago, Cesar told me what it was and I didn’t believe him. I spat it to the other side of the bar when I realised he wasn’t joking and still have occasional nightmares… anyway, back to the bar… I had a fine old time chatting with everyone while we were plied with free tequila-based drinks, eventually we all decided to move on to a more salubrious atmosphere and ended up in a bar with a cover band doing Green Day, Pearl Jam, Lenny Kravitz and suchlike in Chapultepec somewhere. 
It was a great evening all in all, nice to be out with such a friendly crowd. I hope they invite me along on more of these scientific field trips…
Que mas? Well Saturday morning, after another fry-up, we got our stuff together browsed the map of Jalisco and decided on Tapalpa instead of Mazamitla. Sita had been grilling her Mexican colleagues on the best places to visit in the mountains and Tapalpa was highly recommended. It’s recently been awarded the status of Pueblo Magico (Magic Town) which means it’s officially recognised as a lovely place and gets cash thrown at it to entice the likes of Sita and me. It only took a couple of hours to get there along a toll dual carriageway which goes down through what looks like a dry lake then we left it to take the winding road up the mountains. Before entering the town we saw all kinds of signs for parapenting. There’s powerful thermal currents and steep cliffs to jump off. 
Me Dad’s into all the parapenting lark and if we haven’t been deported or bankrupted by October I’ll definitely take him there and have a go myself too. You know you’re in the town because your average driving speed drops to 5 mph as the streets are inexpertly cobbled. It brought back fond memories of the exhaust pipe making a bid for freedom in Puerto Vallarta at new year, but luckily the welding job held up nicely.
We went to the tourist info place and found the last room available at Hotel Hacienda, very nice if not too well sound-proofed and went for a wander round the town. It’s very well conserved. I couldn’t make much progress with my cars that resemble where they’re parked because all the buildings were painted the same colour, off-white and ox-blood. There were a couple though… 
and 
. We had a coffee and watched the local fresas playing with spud guns (I think) and soaked up the atmosphere. Then we fired up the altima and went off first to see the reservoir where there’s an odd mix of cacti and pines, then over to see the Piedrotas (big stones). They’re a little like the tors in Dartmoor, but less wide spread. They’ve been there a fair while and the Otomi indians used them as handy chopping boards for human sacrifices. 
I should also mention that the air was gorgeous. It’s not something you notice if you haven’t been living in a city of 4 million odd where 80% of cars don’t have catalytic converters and there’s a fairly cavalier attitude to forest fires, but it was a refreshing change. We drove back to the pueblo and had a swift pint in front a TV with Chivas vs. Tigres on. At half time we had a nap and then out to hunt down a Spanish tapas bar/restaurant that Sita’d spotted earlier. Ole, Ola, or some such title.
We got a table on the balcony and the undivided attention of Omar, the waiter there. We had some fantastic food (I knew when I started this blog that a lot of it would be about eating habits…) cheeses, jamon serrano, lomo, chicken, cake… and took our time. 
There was a v. talented couple playing acoustic guitar for ambience. When they played Obladi by the Beatles though, i took it upon myself to make a request, Cavatina (theme from The Deerhunter/ Take Hart’s The Gallery), which they didn’t know. A bit more wine later, I asked for anything from El concierto de Aranjuez or Recuerdos de la Alhambra, and fair play they knew both of them and did perfect renditions. Omar told us about the area, his views on tequila (reposado and anejo are mierda, apparently, full of chemicals and bourbon contaminants), his mate who got his parapent mangled in an updraught and just managed to save himself with a back-up chute, and the history of Tapalpa. He recommended we con our way into the country club to get decent views of the volcanos and after brekky the next day we did just that.
After that we took the non-toll road back to Gwod and had a bit of a rest until the evening when Victor, Sarah and Jose came round for the Superbowl and pizza. By the end of it I was starting to vaguely understand the game but I’ll not be making a habit of it. Also, the superbowl is famous for its adverts in the states (it’s what usually makes it bearable), we just got local ads for banks and mobile phones though. I had a look at a few of the American ads on google video, and don’t think I missed much… T’was another late night though, today should be a lot more tranquil. i think we’re going to see the Johnny Cash biopic tonight, and I’ll probably be out with me camera again this ‘avo. I’m glad I have today off work because of the Constitution holiday or summink, cos, as I may have mentioned before, I’m not as young as I used to be. So all in all, a solidly entertaining weekend peopled with friendly folk and gorgeous countryside, life is good.
For all the photos from Tapalpa, click hereabouts
The rabbits had a much needed jump around the living room with us. Took lots of photos. 
Had an Xmas luncheon yesterday with all the staff along with secret santa scarves and cake… Then in the evening a social event for all the families in PAPAS which turned out to be exhausting but fun. Really need this week to come to an end soon though for a bit of a rest… Friday’s when we hand the keys back for our old place. Nowt much to blog, watched The Gift the other night. Predictable, but scarey in places. 3 Lulus. I need to catch up on all my reviews. I’m about to finish The Dirt- Motley Crue’s autobiography. Tommy’s in prison for wife beating right now… it’s a disturbing read. Anyroad, that’s yer lot for today, back at the weekend probly. All the best, gwyn
It’s bean a weird couple of days in the office. Like a bad episode of Terry and June whereupon we have to hide certain clients from other clients, because they’re in different political parties. Making sure the computer doesn’t show one party’s logo when someone from the other party comes bursting through the door. Talking in code and making wild gesticulations, still it’s all part of the fun of the 2006 elections. Anyroad, suffice to say blogging’s going to be a bit sparse these next few days.
For the rest of the Zacatecas/ Aguascalientes trip it’s going to be a stream of consciousness: Tour, town center, La Bufa, Teleferico, Mines!, dinner at a french place, power nap, bullring-cum-hotel, aqueduct, cantina II, new drunks, scale model of how mines work produced at the bar, v. rare meat, hotel… then next day: quick recce, breakfast, Rene’s here too!, Aguascalientes, Posada museum, murals, Tonala, glasses, home.
Personal highlight: the friendly locals with their scale models.
A more careful reading of the Tapatian Scrabble Association’s webpage points to them meeting in Cafe Sandys about 100m from where I went yesterday to try and get in on the scrabble action. That would explain a lot… Never mind. Javier turned up in the afternoon and gave me a lift there on the way to the cinema. I was going to go with him to watch “Nia mala” (bad girl) but luckily I googled it and it turns out that’s the Spanish name for Hard Candy which I’d seen the other week (Recommended, btw- It’s a feminist stalker/psycho thriller film with several unwatchable scenes and you’re forever trying to work out who’s occupying the moral high ground…).
Ana popped round too to share her latest academic success stories, then I went over to Providencia for a pot luck and met a lovely band of folks who have the American School of Gwod in common. I picked up some tips for places to visit in Jalisco and once we have the car here again I’m up for a mission to Mascota and San Sebastian de something or other. It’s all written on the back of a napkin somewhere…
Today finishing off a couple of sites, hopefully. I’m getting mightily sick of Flash to tell the truth. Partly because of the below par coding of the templates I’m adapting, but also because of the need to switch between half a dozen programs to import graphics and so on, which means my creaking computer struggles at times.
In other news, you’ll be happy to hear that my cold’s holding steady. Shall be repeating the same strict regime today, pozole, lime, tequila, zinc etc, today and hoping for the best.
Spanish word of the week for last week: Diapositiva A fancy, but the only, word for “slide” as in a powerpoint slide or slideshow… I was in Irvine, CA, and there’s no Spanish there except when you’re helping yer missus with her presentation on the Spanish version of Office 2003…