Mexico City

---

We left the cozy comfort of Alex and Gaye’s in the Bahia (only to find a few weeks later that a huge hurricane had visited the area leaving many houses torn asunder. We hope all is well with everyone in La Ventana and have heard that there were no casualties) and headed for the mainland.
We slept as happily as one can on the deck of the ferry (close to the lifeboats) and booked our tickets straight to Mexico City as soon as we arrived. Liam had met Diego, a friend of Pat and Hayley (friends in Canada), at their wedding in Mexico and knew he lived in Mexico City. We were pretty much on our way to Mexico City when we received the reply from Diego quoting a Canadian phrase something to the effect of “F*** in´ AAAAAye, man!”. I understand this to be a positive reaction. Diego was indeed very pleased to meet up and delighted, I believe, that we looked him up. Taking the metro, which was enjoyably cheap at the equivalent of 20c / 10p for any one journey whatever the distance, we followed Diego’s careful instructions. Liam was somewhat concerned that we might be backtracking as we had happened upon the same station more than once, in fact it was three times now. The station was called SALIDA, for those of you who understand Spanish. For those who don’t, Salida means EXIT in Spanish!
Arriving at the time of elections added a little excitement to our arrival in Mexico since there had been somewhat of a dispute who the winner might be. The central square was awash with protesters capitalizing on the opportunity by providing a fun fair, food, bags, haircutting services, trinkets commonly seen in most markets, with the odd banner of support for the opposition displayed nearby. In our ignorance and with our limited Spanish, it all seemed rather fun.
The weekend destination for Mexico City slickers is the Valle de Bravo, some way from the city. The 60kms of spine pinching road was elegantly negotiated by Diego who knows where every pot hole is, thankfully. Hosted by Flako, we had a wonderful view of the man-made hydroelectric power dam. This lake / dam has become a more desirable weekend destination year by year pushing the cost of properties to dizzy heights, economically selecting those who can afford it. The lakeside locations obviously being the most desirable, are primarily owned by the few who saw a good thing before everyone else, some 20years ago, and hung onto it. Memorable moments include: an evening with the Daniel Day Louis of Mexico (Luis Daniel) who sails J24s and will be in the next world cup regatta, until the wee hours. A wonderful afternoon with Diego’s uncle Luis and wife Sharon, sharing food and sorbets and opinions about Britain and its impact on countries such as Mexico.
Another evening with more friends in a house so beautifully designed it inspires awe (Marcello’s design - incidentally, I’m still waiting on those drawings of your social housing idea, Marcello). A day of rock climbing (Liam and Filipe) and wakeboarding / surfing (Flako, Liam, Katharine (tiring attempt!), Filipe, Marcello) and a cozy fire by which to eat pizza and soak up that Sunday afternoon feeling. Thank you, all of you, for making the weekend such a memorable one. This is not a tourist spot at all, in fact, our guidebook did not inspire us to visit this destination at all, so we were indeed very privileged to see, and experience, the Valle de Bravo as those who love it, live it.
A visit to Teotihuacán (pronounced Titi-wa-can) was a must, despite the tenacious trinket touts who, I imagined, must be descendants of ancient trinket touts inhabiting the city many years ago - that persistence is surely inherited. In 400AD with over 200,000 inhabitants, Teotihuacán was the sixth largest city in the world - 300 years later it was found virtually abandoned. On the 7th refusal to buy a badly made green mask we were on our way up the pyramid of the Moon, my favourite, which looked along the length of the city 5km. This was an incredible view and one which I was convinced I could see, somewhat hazily, with ancient eyes of a different mind in a different time.
The day we left, Mercedes, who works for Diego’s family, kindly schooled us in the art of making the perfect tortilla and definitely THE perfect salsa verde.
All in all, our visit to Mexico City was one we will remember for many moons. Diego is not only an incredible person, but also a flawless host. We were welcomed into his home and his life and family, and looked after with boundless care and enthusiasm. Thank you, Diego, for sharing your home, your family, your friends and your time with us. You are one in a million!

---