Leather huaraches, mounds of sweets and craft stalls fill floor after floor of Mercado San Juan de Dios, while food stalls send up the smell of chile and fried pork. A short ride away, glassblowers in Tlaquepaque and Tonalá shape red-hot glass into jugs and lamps, and Tonalá's potters turn clay into plates.
Beyond the stalls, Colonia Americana mixes Art Deco mansions with music venues, and mechanical apostles parade from the clock tower of the Templo Expiatorio. Winters are dry and mild, and summer rains arrive around mid-June. A Local Friend explains what goes into a torta ahogada, steers you through the market and can tell when the evening calls for a loud cantina or a quiet terrace.
