Mexico City

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After a hectic end to my time in London (for a while) I managed to get myself on a flight to Mexico City.

I arrived a couple of days ago and I've definitely taken to this city. I don't recommend watching Denzel Washington in Man on Fire before you get here, however. This place isn't nearly as dodgy as its reputation, although I'm sure there's parts of it you wouldn't want to stray into. I stayed in the historic centre which is filled with beautiful old buildings and local markets. It feels pretty safe to walk around and I've caught the metro today which was cool. It's a good way to check out the population. Unlike in London, it looks like everyone speaks one language on the tube. I filmed some buskers who jumped on and played guitars for a few stops...it felt very familiar.

The food here has been fantastic with so many dishes I'd never heard of. Most of it is hot too! They even do eggs and tortillas and beans for breakfast! Tried it once but not a big fan. I've eaten from a few side stalls which has been great and haven't been struck down by colera yet.

Now Mexico City has a long history that is fairly blood-thirsty it'd be fair to say. The Aztecs had their capital here and their many temples dedicated to the Sun God and the like. I checked out the Anthropology Museum which was pretty impressive. The Aztecs believed that the Sun wouldn't appear the next day unless they sacrificed some poor bugger (or usually quite a few) with a sharp stone...I believe they actually had to cut out their hearts whilst they were still alive. Apprentice priests never had it so bad!

I'm travelling on my own which I like doing every once in a while. It's been great and pretty easy meeting other people. I found this bar in the old city and hung out there for a couple of hours yesterday and met a few fellow travellers. I'll be catching up with some of them tonight for a bit of a drinking session which will be fun.

The problem with finding cities like this, is that you really want to come back and live in them for a while. Hmmm.


I'm heading off down to the Pacific coast to a place called Puerto Escondido tomorrow and I can't wait. Hanging on the beach for a couple of weeks is just what I need.

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Photos

Demonstration outside the courts
There was this demonstration going on outside what looked like the courtrooms. It was like being at the football as the protesters had drums and trumpets and everyone was singing. There were loads of police but the atmosphere was light-hearted.

Protesters having a laugh
I like this shot as it shows a very human image. Someone cracked a joke at the police and all these protesters were laughing.

Aztec Shaman
This Aztec Shaman was blessing a local women

Old building
This beautiful old building was in the Historic Central District. It was built around the mid 1500s. You would have loved the architecture Ange.

The best tacos in town
This guy cooked up the best tacos...or they might have been called salidas. Delicious.

Church door
For some reason I have this fascination for doors.

Aztec Calendar
This Sun Disk is the Aztec Calendar. It'd be fair to say the Aztecs were a bit of a bloodthirsty bunch. They believed that if they didn't sacrifice some poor bugger every day, or usually much more than one, the sun would fail to rise the next day.
God help you if you got caught messing around with the high priest's daughter!

Comments

[Matt Russell]

Man on Fire was on telly Saturday night strangely enough and it made me think of you down there! Actually a great film. Great pics and an interesting read, keep it up...