Fantastic landmark located in the center of the glorieta, celebrating the Roman goddess of wisdom…read more She is not only a beauty, but one the most magnificent landmarks of GDL. My best advice is to come on a Sunday, when the streets are closed off to auto traffic, walk around the circle, and take in the magnificence of the statue.

This is a really special place for me. I spent 1 year living in the building that overlooks the…read morefountain and think it was one of the coolest experiences of my life. While downtown may have some churches, museums and big market with a bunch of Chinese knock offs, the Minerva is where López Mateos meets Av. Vallarta; and in my book this is the heart of the city. If I wanted to know what was important in Guadalajara I would put my head out the window and see what was happening in the Minerva. Parties, protests, the Pan American games and that barely scratches the surface of all the events that take place around that big fountain. I love looking at old photos of the Minerva, before there were a ton of cars. More people used the area as a park and would hang out on what is now the landscaped ring around the fountain. Still, to this day, tourists come from all over the world, ride the tapatio tour bus and take in the beauty that you find in the oddest places of Guadalajara, like a traffic circle. Sundays are dedicated to the Via Recreactiva and the long boarders are always putting on a show right there. I mean the whole stretch of more than 25 km of streets closed to automobiles starts in the Minerva. They have created a spectacular sense of community that few cities can duplicate. The Jalisco en Vivo concert series, while I thought was a huge waste of taxpayer's pesos, packs over 50,000 people way down Av. Vallarta for a pretty cool event. I got to see Marc Anthony, Jenny Rivera (RIP), Bellanova and a ton of really important entertainers from my patio. I think the highlight of my year in the Minerva was the Mexican national soccer team's first round victory against the French in the 2010 world cup. The place went nuts. Tens of thousands of fans congregated in the glorieta to celebrate and jump up and down on top of police vehicles. They even show the games on a big screen in the circle and fans post up hours before hand. Grab a bike or a skateboard and get with it this Sunday. This place really is the best of the best in the 'perla tapatia'.