It was my final full day incountry. I arrived around 8am at the TAPO bus station I had left from earlier in the trip. I caught the metro downtown and went to my hostel (Mexico City Hostel)
My private was not ready and they would not let me up to use the showers until 10am. I dropped my bags and started the walking tour of the city (Mexico Walking tour). I walked from the Historic District West through various neighborhoods. Below is a model I saw in the train station of the modern main square and the way it looked when first settled by the Aztecs
The Zocala is lined by government buildings which also brings plenty of military personnel
I walked into the main cathedral and it was much like all the rest. I did find the below display interesting.
I assume people with pain in their legs, arms, hearts etc, bring in a medal of that body part in hopes that prayer will aid in the recovery process. I have seen this nowhere else to date. What if you have breast cancer? not funny?
I continued on into the Zona Rosa area where there are a few large parks
It is interesting how, outside of Central Park, the United States does not have many large parks or open squares in their downtown areas.
Next up on my tour west was the Zona Roma, where writers of the beat generation frequented in the 50s. It was described as having French influence with many outside coffee cafes.
The below building looked like it might have had French doors, but that was as
close as I could see
I found a cafe and had breakfast. Some sort of take on Juevos Rancheros
This guy near me was cleaning the street with a tree branch
I had seen this throughout my travels in Mexico and was unsure why they don’t
just use brooms or trash spikes. It is not like they are raking leaves or something. Then five
minutes later he reaches into his bucket and grabs a broom. What is wrong with
these people?
After breakfast I continued walking to a park, Bosque de Chapultepec. Much was closed as it was Monday, but it did not seem too impressive anyway.
I headed back towards the main square to check into the hotel and passed by this protest. When I was in Oaxaca I forgot to mention that I walked by a large gathering right as a guy with a megaphone was yelling something about America Imperialists. I decided to give these people a wide berth
Here are some shots of the hostel
After getting cleaned up I took the metro way outta town to check out the Xochimilco. It is basically a river system where tourists go to float, drink and eat. It took an hour to get there as I rode the Metro till the end and then caught a bus the last part of the way.
On the way this guy was singing in the train selling candy of some sort. Could not tell if he was drunk or happy, but people seemed to enjoy it for a while
Riding the metro is interesting. At every stop someone gets on and tries to
sell something to the group. It could be scissors, a music CD, some cheap candy,
etc. It was comical, annoying and fascinating all at once. I thought of the United States.
Here our poor or homeless just beg for money, but you don’t see that in Mexico. They
are out selling anything and the public seems to respond. We always consider
people in third world countries to be lazier, but not in this case. I am not
sure how well it would be received in the US and how long before they would
be arrested, but I was impressed with their vigor and found myself not handing
out cash to beggars when I returned to the States. You got to work for it, come
up with something original. Dance for me!
I eventually got off the bus and ended up in a neighborhood, bumming around the markets for a few hours before stumbling upon the boat system
People can rent a boat and gondola driver for about 18 dollars, but you can also pay about $1 for a community ride, which is what I opted for
It was pretty much a free for all, and can only imagine what this place is like
on a weekend.
This person had an open fire going on their boat and was selling corn. I am
sure nothing could go wrong here. It was a chaotic mess of crazy Ivans. People
grabbing at you trying to sell their crap. Carmel apples, beers, purses, etc.
You could even hire a Mariachi band to board your boat and sing songs for 100
pesos
I was on the boat for about an hour
So we pull up to a dock and everyone gets off. I was confused as this was not where we started. Usually you go on a ride and they return you to where you started. This boat just went down the river for an hour and dropped everyone off. Everyone scattered in no specific direction. I walked aimlessly for a few minutes then saw a big blue sign with a capital "M" on it. I assumed this was the Metro, and followed it for 30 minutes seeking confirmation frequently. I eventually got to the source of the "M" and found out it was a museum not the metro.
I found this blown up thing and it somehow triggered my memory and was fortunate to catch the last metro of the night back into the city.
It was my birthday and I decided to close the night out with a nice dinner overlooking the main square. The restaurant is on the top floor of this building
I ordered the buffet, taking full advantage of it, and sat outside to watch the military come out to remove the Mexican flag at sunset
It was quite comical because it looked like people at the Macys thanksgiving parade trying to wrestle a 200 ft tall float. Troops struggling, getting blown off their feet.
I went to bed early. My flight was not until 2pm the next day but I had a subway, bus and taxi ride before reachigthen airport. All went smooth, thetri p was a successful mix of hiking and sunning, with a bit of culture thrown ini. would reccommend it to anyone, but who in their right is going to travel to Mexico these days unless they want to get kidnapped or killed.
Until Next Time
Darren