Yeah, when everyone in the world leaves, cancels or avoids the place, we head off to Mexico City. We boarded the bus at 8pm in Cancun and at 10pm the next day, that's right, 26 hours later, we arrive. Mexico City is so huge, it's like Paris with the train stations, there is more than one. Four actually (Bus Terminals), and the one we arrived at looked like SF international airport. Making our way to the "official" taxi stand, because not only do we need to worry about swine flu (he, he - not), but scam artists as well. We head off to the hostel recommended in the good book (I'm speaking of the Lonely Planet guide, off course).
We arrive at the Cathedral Hostel, located in the Historical Centro, literally on the plaza next to the biggest Cathedral in all of Mexico City DF. As most people are not aware, Mexico City is not actually a city, rather a Federal District like that of Washington DC. I didn't know that either! Anyhow, the hostel was awesome, with free WI-fi, breakfast, dinner, scheduled activities, recreation room, and bicycles (to check out and use). It was definitely a deal, at $338 pesos a night! It also had a bar and restaurant and laundry facilities. Oh, and the best part, the room came with a kitty cat - Mr. Corona! Well, actually, when asked, the cat didn't come with the room; he just acted like he owned the place, roaming the halls, meowing all night. Good thing I brought the kitty treats with me. Alas, nothing would appease Mr. Grumpy, but I loved him anyhow.
Our first day in Mexico DF, we decide to take the geeky double decker tourist bus just to get our bearings and the lay of the land. Actually, we overslept the walking tour so this was our next best option and I am glad we did it. It covered quite a bit of the city, but it took us most of the day to do it. The city was much different than I imagine, but with me, you know my mind was running with some crazy idea of a scene out of the movie "the Matador" (with Pierce Bronson). It actually was very Euro or okay, Spanish, reminding me a little of Barcelona's main street - the (Los) Rambles. Anyhow, it had huge parks, filled with rowboats you could rent (no boats please), the Zoo, the Archaeological museum, and the Museum of Modern Art. And that was just one of the parks. Off course the different districts were made up of street side cafes, and sidewalk vendors/street shopping, each with a different flair. By far, the Historical Center was our favorite. We ended our tour by going to the Palacio Post, yes the post office to mail my Dad a Birthday card. However, it was also on the things to see list, as it was a historical building, and quite unique. We ended the night going to one of the Vegetarian restaurants listed in the book. Funny side note, everywhere we went, the first thing anyone did was greet us at the door with hand sanitizer! No joke and we did not mind in the least since it was blatantly obvious from the bus tour, that Brian and I might have been the only 2 American in all of Mexico DF! And all of Mexico was not taking the chance of any American's, or anyone for that matter, getting the Swine Flu.
The next day, I had big plans for us. We conducted our own walking tour, well; we followed the suggested route, ending that evening by planning to go to a Soccer game. First, we started at the Cathedral, and it was grandiose. It covers an entire city block. It has the largest pipe organ we’d ever seen. The side rooms where large and many. We paid for the bell tower tour and hiked up to the top. Even though it was in Spanish, we caught most of what the guide was saying. The largest bell weighs 13 tons and the smallest 6 tons - 23 bells total. It is always so cool to be on top :). Next to it was a smaller Church, actually the first one which was not big enough, hence the larger one next to it. The smaller/older one is noticeably leaning to the West as Mexico DF is sinking. Another small detail I never knew. One, Mexico DF is at altitude, built on a lake bed next to a volcano and it's sinking. It is obvious all over the city when you look at leaning buildings or down crooked alleyways. Next we were off to see some Diego Rivera murals at one of the Public secretery of state buildings, but being Saturday it was closed - Dope! That bites, as I had two objectives for Mexico DF - Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo. Oh well, we would just have to go to the museum but that wasn't on the to do list until tomorrow. Continuing on our path, we stopped at a little street side grill for lunch. It was delicious as I snacked on beans, tortillas, grilled Nopila (cactus), grilled green onions, and fresh homemade salsas. Brian had fish tacos but they were more like tacitos (so very fried). We wondered off to see an art deco theatre and a market where some disciples of Diego Rivera had done some murals. You could definitely tell the style. When we finally made it back to the hostel, we needed a break. Then we were off to the largest stadium in the world – Stadium Azteca - for Americas vs. Nexaco. Our pal at the Hostel, Marcus, helped set up the ride and tickets since the stadium was on the outskirts of town, and in a tough neighborhood. How did he put it- "Not to be mean, but you guys kind of stand out like tourists....Really? Is it because we are tall? No. Because we are Blonde? No. Because we are not tan enough? Si, sort of. It's because you are red like lobsters. Great, thanks Marcus!" It didn't matter, I was so excited to go to the game.
The stadium did not disappoint. It was huge. It holds 115,000 people but because of the whole Swine Flu thing, all venues were mandated to a max of 50% capacity at any event (this included restaurants). The government and people were so freaked out. The hand sani and facemasks were everywhere, along with pamphlets about how to prevent disease & proper personal hygiene. Fine by us. Anyhow, I got a really cool Mexico team jersey and bought Brian an Americas FC (football club) team flag. We entered the stadium, took our seats, which were great, mid level and mid field, and watched an amazing game. Finally score was only 1 - 0 Americas, but it was still such a thrill. Running back to our waiting driver, literally, we arrived back at the hostel just before midnight.
On our last day in Mexico DF I was determined to meet my objective - see some works by both Rivera and Kahlo. First however, we needed breakfast. Off we went to El Cardenal but since it was Feliz Dia Mama (Mother's day), and a 2 hour wait at this particular place, we opted for the veggie restaurant once again. Brian was off the hook, as he did not get to try
escamoles (ant larvae), an El Cardenal speciality! I don't think he was that bummed out about it though. This time I checked before hand about the hours of operation and all was a go. First up, the Diego Rivera Museum to see his most famous work, a mural entitled:
Sueno de una Tarde Dominical en la Alameda (Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in the Alameda). It was all that I hoped for. Along with it were some pictures from his life. Next up, was Casa Azul, Frida Kahlo's home that is now a museum. As we hopped back on the Metro, which we took to like a fish to water, well, it was color coded, but immense like the British Underground, I realized I was hungry again. Just my luck, the restaurant we picked, yes out of the good book, was on the Plaza (Hidalgo) where the hippy/artisan street market I wanted to go visit was. It was a two fer!
The restaurant was packed. Oh yeah, Mother's day, duh - Love you Mom. Anyhow, this place was noted for their own label of white Mescal they produced up in the hills someplace. Of course, we ordered it along with an app, a soup, a salad, and an entree. Yes, we shared but it was still a ton of food, and fun! The energy on the square was awesome as well as the entire experience. We killed about 2 hours when I finally realized, we had to go, and now. Jumping in a cab we made it to Casa Azul right a 5pm (it closed at 6pm). One hour, not that much time, but enough. Outside we ran into the only other 2 Americans we've seen in 3 days. After a brief chat, we were in. It was so cool, amazing really. What a beautiful place and the artwork and quotes on the wall from Diego Rivera and Frida herself were poignant. After a quick trip to the museum store in the courtyard, I scored an awesome garnet necklace - thanks Bri! - we hopped back on the subway and headed back to the Hostel. Time to gather our things, catch our bus at 9pm and ride over night to Puerto Vallarta!
We were to meet Allan & friend in PV to help him sail his boat back up to La Paz. Sailing at last, and we were looking forward to it.
Enjoy the pictures on Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/katnbrian/sets/72157618549615600/
Yes, you heard correctly, full circle for us, but at least we were sailing. We met up with Allan and his additional crew member - Enrique, in Puerto Vallarta and were immediately welcomed by the sticky, humid, almost stagnate, hot air as we stepped off the bus. Due to the swine flu scare, their was a noticeable different in and around PV, as their was no one around. It was a virtual ghost town, well, more or less. No problem, as we were anxious to get on the water and get sailing.
