Phillip & I decided a pre-wedding trip to the mountains was in order – a honeymoon before the fact sorta thing.

We hired Ricardo – an amazing driver – to take us to the historic town of Tapalpa – located in the southern region of the state of Jalisco. [Wikipedia]

We stayed in Los Cabanas de Monterra – a small resort about 250 metres above town – and we had the most divine four days. Fires at night AND the morning (damn cold) but beautiful temperatures for walking during the day. And of course sitting in a restaurant overlooking the square and churches just watching town go by.

Walking was quite the challenge on the lungs with the altitude and all …

Not least because of the resident dogs, including a young pup (I named her Chica), who liked to hang out with us at the cabin. They would escort us when we left (Chica’s Ma sometimes walked down in to town with us) and would come barrelling towards us upon return, tails wagging.

This is a holiday destination, mainly for Guadalajarans. My limited Spanish got a serious workout and we made only a few errors when ordering food, asking for directions, etc, but that just added to the fun.

I did make a little girl cry though. A simple ‘hola’ in the restaurant and a smile and she just didn’t know what to make of me.