Welcome to Mexico

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We arrived in mexico city on the afternoon of Monday the 18th of January after a flight from new york with an hour stopover in Charlotte North Carolina. It was an early start in new york with a 4.30 wake up from Auntie Theresa who of course had a little brekkie and coffee ready for us. Theresa and Jay left us to the airport even though it was 5am and it was their day off. They just cant ever do enough for ya.

Fully loaded with the rucksacks we walked in the sunshine (bye bye winter) from the airport terminal to the Mexican Metro. The metro is supprisingly clean and efficient. At almost every stop someone gets on, usually roaring, an tries to sell their products, books, CDs, DVDs, chocolate. After a few changes we arrived at our stop and walked to our Hostel in the Historical center of Mexico city. Here the spaniards destroyed the ancient Aztec city and built their own city right on top of the rubble.

We took a stroll around the area and the sinking spanish church was one of the most interesting things. One corner is sinking more than the rest and when inside you can see that some of the pillars are leaning over. Outisde the cathedral there were thousands of bottles of water and food supplies being loaded into lorries to be sent to Haiti donated by the city of mexico. We got a bite to eat in a expensive fancy restaurant with a guy playing the piano in the corner, so that we could start geting used of the food with a good quality meal. I got fancy meat and beans which wasnt all that special to be honest.

Tuesday morning we went with a guide to the museum of Anthropology where we learned about the ancient mexican civilisations from before christ right up to the spanish. The aztecs were quite interesting, gifted mathematicians who sacrificied people each evening to the sun (by cutting out their hearts) so that the sun would come back the next day. Fools.

The following day we visited impressive Teotihuacan, 50km from the city centre. It is the ruins of an ancient city, with the third biggest pyramid in the world built around 200AD. The people who built it were long gone before the aztecs came along and no one really knows why it was abandoned around 700AD. The next day after getting our visas for visiting Cuba we visited the museum of Frida Kalho one of the most famous mexican atists in the area of Coyoacan 10km south of the city centre. The museum was originally her house and everything in it from the bed to the salad bowls was art. But the chilled out atmosphere in the near by central plaza was more impressive than the museum.

Mexico city was overall very pleasant (Note that we did not visit the slums) and it didnt seem all that dangerous despite all the reports. The weather was amazing all the time. The food so far is ok. Im still lerning the difference between Tortas, tortillas, tostados, burritos, enchilladas so every meal is a bit of a surprise but at the same time very similar. Maybe it will improve outside the city. The beer, however, is fantastic.

Next stop San Miguel de Allende to the north west of Mexico.

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Photos

The aztec Calendar
20 Months