Arriving in Mexico city it would be an understatement to say that we were a little sleep deprived and jetlagged. The first day we slept and when we did manage to venture out, we were barely able to keep our eyes open. Our ‘adventurous’ start didn’t help – our taxi from the airport managed to hit a motorcyclist on the way into town. An incident with Mecican police 30 minutes into our trip!
The city is pretty amazing, blending the lives of 28 million people. It is huge, the traffic is a nightmare and the locals like to stare at the white women walking down the street. The people here, women in particular, are very proud of their appearances, often wearing makeup and tight fitting clothes. They appear to not want to hide their rounded figures as we do in the west.
The food here is incredible. Tacos, enchiladas, anything with cheese. Cheese is a staple food. Put it in a taco, melt it in corn dough or even just get a fist sized lump of it. Gotta have cheese. And of course, tequila – which now can only be called tequila if it actually comes from Tequila. And you sip it here, or have it in cocktails. No shots thank goodness.
(Drinking tequila – and yes, that white lump is cheese)
(Cactus in the vege section of the supermarket)
Using the metro to get around we explored the city. All the neighbourhoods are quite distinctive, with their own parks, monuments and streets. Some are gritty and local Mexican, where others are so European you would think you are in Paris. These European parts have wide boulevards, flowers sellers, parks with water fountains and cafes and chai tea bars. Beautiful. The Mexican areas have taco stands, local eateries and groups of locals hanging out.
(Consulting the ‘bible’)
(We got roses from an overly friendly rose seller)
(Stopping for chai tea and falafels)
The centre of town – Centro Historico – is dominated by a large plaza (square) called The Zocolo and surrounded by old colonial buildings that now house government offices. At the top of the square is the cathedral, sloping and sinking like many others in this area. Mexico City is sinking. It is built on a lake, due to an important sighting that was believed to be a sign from the gods. It is strange to see beautiful old buildings with a noticeable significant lean to them.
(Notice the lean? And no, it’s not my camera work!)
Mexico City has so many monuments, parks, plazas, museums, historic sights and restaurants you could easily spend a week here and not see everything. But bring your Spanish. I am shocked at how little English is spoken, especially considering they are on the border of one of the largest English speaking nations in the world. Needless to say I am brushing up on my (non-existent) Spanish. Hola!
