Travel Day

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This entry is actually being done on the 26^th, after the day of travel I was in bed by 9:30 and exhausted.

The day started very early, we were up at 4:30 and at the gate by 6. In hindsight we could have probably slept another 45 minutes, but you never know what the lines will be like a Newark Liberty Airport. The airport was packed, I think many travelers did what we had done and came down the night before to insure they made their connections.

The weather was a bit cold and freezing rain. It delayed our flight by about 30 minutes as all planes had to be de-iced. That is not a comforting thought for me, I don’t like flying that much in the first place, but add an extra procedure and my stress level goes up another notch. The first 30 minutes of the flight was much too turbulent for me, and it was very evident on my face, even if you could only see my eyes.

The flight overall was good, we were in first class so had much more comfort than on the Flintstones air plane we were on the day before. We were served breakfast, option egg white kale Omelette, there are so many things wrong with that dish, I not even going to get started. We both choose the other option a banana fosters waffle, it was pretty good. After breakfast Jerry tried to sleep and I just watched movies, including a very old Cleopatra with Elizabeth Taylor. About half way through the flight, it was time for wine, so had a pretty decent class (or three) of Chardonnay.

The landing in Mexico City, was pretty smooth and it was a very nice day, 78 and sunny skies. Our luggage was actually waiting for us at baggage claim by the time we cleared customs, which was pretty painless. On the last few trips, we have been taking a taxi to our hotel, but this trip we decided to go back to the way we traveled when we were younger, and took the metro.

The Metro Trip

The good news is that the metro does go directly to the airport, the not so good mood, it is a very long walk from international arrival baggage claim to the metro stop. It is all flat, be got our steps in for the day, before we ever left the airport.

Our plan is to use the metro a lot while we are here, so first stop at the station was getting a metro card. The language barrier kicked in, (my Spanish won’t kick in until day three), fortunately there was a young man behind us who helped us get through the process. Ok, I have to stop here, I am old, I just said young man, instead of a man. We don’t think of ourselves as being senior citizens, but with the constant AARP mailings it is getting harder to deny, I even took advantage of Senior Tuesdays at a local grocery store the other day. Ok back to our travels. The trip to our hotel involved two separate transfers, the first leg was pretty straight forward, the transfer was a bit confusing and a lot of up and down stairs (we were lucky we were not packed for Europe, we only had one checked bag and two carry-ons compared to our normal 2 or three checked and 4 carry-ons, worse if traveling with Tarragon. The second leg of the trip which was also the longest started off fine, but as we came to each successive stop, more and more people got on a few got off. It was NYC rush hour pre-covid packed on the 6 train. When we arrived at our stop, we doubted we even make it off, but we did. It was a very interesting people watching experience. Culturally speaking Mexican’s are very laid back, but on the metro, you thought you were in Manhattan. At a few stops, the boarding people simply would not let the offboarding get off the metro and people form the back were shoving people on to the metro, I have visions of Tokyo (not that we have been) where I hear there are people that it is there job to shove people in to the train.

We did manage to get off and make it to the final transfer. The transfer between is not a matter of walking across the tracks, it involves a bit of a rock, for those of you familiar with the A train and Time Square, it would be like transferring from the A to the 1 at time Square, except up and down stairs would be involved.

The last metro was the 2 to the Zocalo, the center of the historic district and where our hotel is located. Here we relied on our 7 ½ years subway skills and walked away from the main entrance and patiently waited for the third train. They run about every 5 minutes. Still crowed but not smashed. I do need to point out, while I in no way will get on a subway in New York anymore (safety more than covid) here was manageable, because everyone and I mean everyone not only was masked up they were masked up properly (more on covid a bit later.)

We were a bit turned around after coming up out of the metro and it took a bit longer to find our hotel than it should of, since it was directly across from the stop, but google (thin she needs to go back to navigation school) wanted us to go around the block. Anyway, Jerry as always got us there.

Gran Hotel Ciudad de Mexico

In any other country we would not be staying here (well except Thailand). The hotel is a 5 star and in a beautiful building first opened in 1899. From the moment you walk in you are transported back to the Gilded Age. We normally deal with our own luggage, but this wasn’t even an option, they bellman just insisted on helping. While we checked in, we were given a very nice glass of Champagne. Check in was easy and friendly. We were then escorted to our room via the very old elevator that is still hand operated, to our suite (yes, it’s my 60^th birthday, I splurged on a suite with a view of the Zocalo. The room is huge, if Tarragon was traveling with us, he would very much approve of the accommodations.

Jerry did a bit of unpacking, but we were starving and needed to eat. The original plan was to eat at a restaurant that overlooked Aztec ruins, but it was 3:30 and we just opted for the hotel terrace restaurant.

A note on covid. They are very serious about covid here, the vast majority of people wear masks in and out door, the hotel and the hotel restaurant took our temperature before we entered. While the country has zero covid travel restrictions and don’t require vaccination to enter most places, they still take all necessary precautions, especially the masking. While we were eating lunch there was a large group of (yes, I am going to say it) entitled trust fund Americans, that just could not get the mask concept in their thick heads. Every time they got up from the table, no mask, and the host tracked them down and said mask on. Three times they had to be told. This is why US travelers have such a bad reputation, rules just don’t seem to apply.

But as usual I digress. Lunch was great, guests of the hotel don’t need reservations and have special tables reserved for them at all times. We were seated at a great table overlooking the plaza. The terrace is covered, but the side facing the plaza is open air. There was a great breeze and it was very relaxing.

We started with two huge Margarita’s (with ice) the ice was safe as it was made with purified water. (The hotel has bottled water in the rooms and on each floor). This is one of the only trips we will ever be ordering bottled water instead of drinking tap, it just doesn’t work on the American digestive system. We had a series of small plates, house made guacamole, shrimp tacos, duo of empanadas, Quesos Fundidos con Chistorra Asada (chorizo). The dish of the day was the Shrimp Taco’s (minus the pickled cabbage). We had a true siesta style lunch didn’t leave until after 5.

After lunch it was back to the room so Jerry could finish unpacking and then change for dinner. Yes, we were going to dinner even after our late lunch. However, the best laid plans. Dinner was a metro trip away and we left at 7 thinking we would have plenty of time to get there, and we would have if the 1 train would have been running. When we got to the transfer station, we turned the corner and there was a crowd of people going nowhere. We looked for other options to get there, but nothing would get us there on time. So, we headed back to the hotel walked down a major shopping street (reminded us of a street in La Gorno Spain and Verona Italy.) We found the wine store and made our purchase for the room, then just back to the hotel. I really wasn’t hungry so we did forgo dinner. I was in bed by 9:30 and passed out.

Earlier in the day we did watch the taking down of the Mexican flag from the center of the Zocalo, it was pretty humorous because the wind was making it very difficult for them to catch it, and of course there was a crowd watching them. They did manage to get it done.

Tomorrow is cooking class.

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Comments

[Ximena Santillan]

Viva Mexico!! Vivan esos 60!! ????
Please be careful!!!