Les and I have both found it all too natural to hold our toothbrushes under the faucet before brushing our teeth. Your stomach, and you, will be a lot happier if you fill a cup with drinkable water and wet your toothbrush in it. I advise getting into this habit before coming down here. Your stomach will thank you for it later.

I was returning from the lake when i stumbled unto the Garden Cafe by accident.

The entry to The Garden Cafe

It had colorful, welcoming sign out front, but I had to peer through the door to get a glimpse of what might be behind it. (Typical Ajijic.)

The Bar

Passing through the entry brought me to the rustic bar, ornamented with an old fountain and a new horse.

Peackocks roam the garden

There were peacocks roaming the garden.

A welcome gift came with the meal

The meal even came with a bottle of insect repellent. (There weren’t all that many, but I thought it was an interesting touch).

The Garden

But the garden itself—ahhh. So romantic!

Sidewalk Cafes in the Plaza de Guadalajara

Open air restaurant on Ave. Ramon Carona

Sidewalk cafes, open air restaurants, Guadalajara has it all.

On our first day in the Lake Chapala area, we drove back and forth several times on the road between the town of Chapala and the village of Jocotepec, passing through the affluent area of Chula Vista, with its hillside homes and country club, through the American-settled Ajijic, with its Wal-Mart, and out to Jocotepec, the furthest village from Chapala where we were likely to find Norte Americanos.

Late in the day, we began looking for a place to dine. We passed by several ‘dubious’ (in that we didn’t know what the food was) places until we saw a small restaurant surrounded by cars. Any place that popular was OK with me.

There is something inately strange about eating in an Italian restaurant and pizza parlor on the shores of the largest lake in Mexico where the only language spoken is American English.