Agave fields. Beautiful scenery. Tequila. Love.

I have two things in this world to thank for finding my true love:

1. Coffee
2. Tequila

I’m sure personal choices, fate, some otherworldly force, etc. were also factors, but if he didn’t like one or both of those, there was no way it could have ever worked.

We have been long-time fans of tequila - before the celebrities started investing in it (and profiting from it), before it was cool to sip tequila instead of just shooting it, before Covid had us on lockdown and people started exploring the back of their liquor cabinets for new things to drink. 

As of today, we have about 150 bottles at home of mostly Añejo and Extra Añejo, but we also have various mezcals. Annually (3 years in a row), we host a Salsa Y Tequila Party with formal salsa judging. While most folks come to taste amazing salsas and to win the salsa competition, my real agenda is truly to introduce a new tequila to someone who ends up liking it. 

Mezcal and tequila, what's the difference? 

• Mezcal (The Category): Covers spirits made from over 30 types of agave across many Mexican states.
• Tequila (The Sub-category): Restricted to only one specific plant (Blue Agave) grown in designated regions.

Where am I going with this? We really really really like tequila. 

It was therefore natural for us to want to visit the town of Tequila, the magical place that produces the elixir that allowed our love to blossom and grow. We had been wanting to hop on a tequila train for a while now and when we were invited to a wedding in Guadalajara (January 2026, thanks for the invite David/Janet), we decided to also take the opportunity to visit Tequila. 

Living in San Diego, we have the luxury of being able to cross the border by foot into Tijuana airport. We complete customs / immigration steps during the crossing, then from Tijuana airport, we can hop on a plane and travel within Mexico without having to deal with it when we land. 

From Guadalajara (which deserves its own post at some point), we had a couple of options for tequila trains: José Cuervo Express or Tequila Express (previously named Herradura Express). There were strong arguments for both - José Cuervo offered a full experience, and Tequila Express offered a train ride to and from the final destination. We chose José Cuervo because the final destination was the town of Tequila, while the Tequila Express ends in Amatitán (a neighboring town credited as being the birthplace of reposado).

We met at the José Cuervo warehouse in Guadalajara, were given wrist bands, and hopped on a bus to start the tour. We passed various agave farms along the way and the overcast morning set a sort of romantic stage for the experience.

We stopped at Campos de Agave José Cuervo, where we were fed some pretty good tamales (3 different kinds!) and had unlimited margaritas…at 10am in the morning.

Though drinking tequila is a big part of the tour, the experience also included some educational aspects. We got a demonstration of how the agaves are harvested. It’s still a very manual process and requires expert jimadores to use a coa de jima (big, round-bladed knife with a long handle) to take the spikes off the agave and expose the piña. And of course, we were given another margarita - in a sippy cup! We reboarded the bus and headed to Tequila.

When we arrived in Tequila, we entered an auditorium to do tastings of various Jose Cuervo tequilas. We were supposed to be able to enter the factory, but due to a conflicting event, we weren’t able to go in. We were given tickets to a museum and a guided tour instead. Again, the goal of the tour is a full experience, not just to get blacked out drunk (though it is easy given the generous access to tequila).

We had a couple of hours to have lunch in the town of Tequila and wander around. It was great to see all the different tequila brands and their family restaurants. It’s a charming town.

As part of the tour, we visited various parts of Fábrica La Rojeña, the oldest active distillery in Latin America and the historic home of José Cuervo tequila. We saw: raw agave pinas being processed, the copper pot stills used for purification, and the rooms where the tequila are aged in barrels.

For me, the highlight was the underground private cellar, where they age their extra añejo tequila. For generations, the Cuervo family kept these special tequila reserves hidden away, sharing them only with family and close friends. This is also where they store the unique bottles that the extra añejo batches come in, which are packed in hand-painted wooden boxes designed by contemporary Mexican artists. It’s rumored that some tequilas in the cellar are over 100 years old!

When we were done with the tour, we were led back to the auditorium where we got more margaritas and a show. But the next part of the experience - this is the part that we had been waiting for - the actual tequila train! 

We booked the Elite wagon and wow, it was gorgeous. The service and food/drinks were spectacular: we got fed way more than we needed, the drinks kept coming, and in addition to cocktails, they poured tequila neat in champagne glasses. We’re not talking about cheap Cuervo - we had top shelf Reserva de la Familia across the range, from blanco, repo, añejo, and extra añejo. We had a great time!

We ate and drank to our heart’s content while the sun dramatically set against the backdrop of agaves and mountains.

We were so happy to have finally visited Tequila; the José Cuervo experience elevated the trip. And without tequila, I wouldn’t have the best travel partner to do this with, which is really what makes all this extra special :) 

The Mosque-Cathedral.  the Jewish Quarter & Its feline protectors. Salmorejo! 

Hello! Welcome to our travel and experiences blog where we'll be posting about places we've been, food we've savored, and other fun things we've tried.

This is the first travel post! No pressure...

It was difficult to choose what this should be about, but I landed on Córdoba because it was a manageable experience to recount and, of course, one of our loveliest in Spain.

We wanted to visit this beautiful country in early November 2025, but the big question was - where  should we go? Spain has so much to offer and there was no way our 2 week vacation would be enough to cover all regions, so we focused on southern areas given the time of the year. But again, the question came up - where should we go? 

I asked a few friends who are much more well-traveled than we are for some advice. There was consensus on Seville and Granada (more to come on those in later posts), and Madrid/Barcelona were a given since we were flying into/out of these cities. One friend insisted on Córdoba and looked at me with disgust when I said we didn't have time to squeeze in another city. She said make time; it's not just "another city" and that it's a magical place!

Then came the solution thanks to Spain's wonderful rail system: a day trip to Córdoba from Seville! From the Sevilla Santa Justa station, we took a Renfe train to Córdoba which took less than 45 minutes. We had a  lovely walk through various gardens and along outer walls of the Judería (Jewish Quarter) to get to our tour meeting point.

Córdoba gardens and outer walls of the Juderia

At this point, I was already enamored; it was love at first sight. Walking alongside the walls, so ancient, where so many had walked before us; it was almost overwhelming.

We met near Puerta del Puente (Bridge Gate, constructed in the 16th century) and walked along the river, which provided us great views of the Puente Romano de Córdoba (Roman Bridge of Córdoba). It's also known as the "Old Bridge", originally built in the 1st century BC by the Romans then rebuilt in the 8th century by the Arabs. We also saw an old watermill on the way to the Alcázar.

Puerta del Puente, Puente Romano de Córdoba, and Molino de la Albolafia

We arrived at the Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos when the sun was starting to break through the clouds. November is not peak season so the crowds were minimal. The garden was peaceful and we could admire the fountains without much distraction. We headed inside to the Mosque-Cathedral, the main reason why we decided to visit Córdoba. 

Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos

The Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba

I was captivated the moment I stepped inside, and the feeling of being awestruck never stopped. I felt like I was transported to a different time, then somehow sped through time and watched history unfold before my eyes, told through the evolution of this monument's architecture.

It was a wonderful experience! When we stepped outside, we both knew how lucky we were to have been able to walk through this magical site. At that point, I figured we saw most of what Córdoba had to offer.

We were wrong.

We walked out into the Judería and our senses were mesmerized by the lovely streets, the artisans, delicious smells, the chatter. We could feel the buzz all around us. 

In peak season, the patios are heavily decorated. In fact, there's an event, Festival de los Patios, that occurs in May where residents strut their stuff and go all out on patio flowers and decor. I'd like to go back one day for this event, but the drawback is it comes with heavy crowds. 

We also met some feline friends.

We were getting hungry and we heard the spot to be was Casa Pepe for the iconic salmorejo. We didn't have reservations so we  put our names on the waitlist in hopes of getting a table, and we did!

Salmorejo cordobés is a rich, chilled Andalusian purée made by blending ripe tomatoes, stale crusty bread, extra virgin olive oil, and garlic into a thick, velvety emulsion and topped with  cured jamón serrano. It was delicious and lived up to the hype. The recipe was graciously posted on a street wall.

Salmorejo at Casa Pepe de la Judería. Authentic salmorejo recipe posted in the Judería.

After our late lunch (late to Jon and me, probably normal time for locals), we headed back to the train station and arrived just in time to miss a downpour. It started raining buckets while we waited for our train to arrive!

Our day in Córdoba was filled with everything I was hoping for on this trip - history, something uniquely Cordoban, and the indescribable, humbling feeling of being small in the presence of grandness.