Advertisement
Published: February 9th 2007
Damn Skippy
Haven't heard much about the parallel government lately, though...Actually, despite the title of the blog, I haven't been able to really get a feel for just how big the city is yet. Way back in 2006 when I bought my airline ticket from Vegas to Mexico City, I selected window seats for both legs of the flight, but when I made the switch in Houston, somehow I found myself sitting in the middle. Not fun, and also meaning the first I saw of DF was the airport. That went pretty smoothly except my luggage was selected for the random search. The system works like this: you fill out the customs form, hand it to the agent, and press a button underneath a TV monitor. If the screen shows green, you're free to go; if it's red, your stuff gets rummaged through. Watching four people before me get green, I just knew it was coming. She was gentle, though - she must have known it was my first time.
I got to the hostel at a reasonable time, and ended up spending hours walking and getting myself lost and found. The hostel was close to the Zocalo, the heart of the Centro Historico, and also the heart of Tenochtitlan,
Eh...
View from the hostel bed...best thing about the place when the Aztecs ruled the Valley. It's hard to imagine now, but Tenochtitlan was an island city in the middle of the huge Lake Texcoco, accessed by three large causeways. No lake now, just city city city. I made it just in time to see the military procession lowering the giant flag that flies above the Zocalo. I saw a lot of things in Centro Historico and towards the Reforma area without really seeing anything in depth. I'm going to be here for a while, though, so I'm going to get to know everything better soon.
Some first impressions: there are people selling everything you could want everywhere you go, but unlike in Mexico's border cities, no one is pushy about it - you either want to look or you don't. Of course, many of the street vendors are selling tacos and tortas and fruit cups and fresh squeezed juice. I haven't tried everything I'm going to try yet, but I've already sampled some treats. There are also cops and dogs and 7-11s everywhere. The dogs are quite sad, laying wherever they can find space. They sure look well fed, though. All in all, coming from Las Vegas, I'm
enjoying just being in a city that's a real city with distinct areas and real character. Much more exciting than a one-street town surrounded by a suburb of a million people.
I had booked five nights with the hostel, but since I've decided (for various reasons) to stay in Mexico City for the next six weeks or so (with a side trip here or there), I left the hostel today and found a studio apartment to rent. The hostel was okay, nice and cheap, but the travelling in order to party scene isn't really for me. Besides that, the dorm smelled of feet and this one kid snored the night away. No thanks, I don't snore, and if I do it doesn't bother me, so I'll take my own company at nighttime given the choice. My apartment is right at the intersection of two main streets, Avenida Insurgentes and Paseo de la Reforma. The area over here is a little less hectic and much more upscale than the Historic Center a couple of miles away. Reforma is split in the middle by a pedestrian walkway and park almost, with tons of trees, statues, public art, and wild benches and
chairs (maybe I'll get a picture up of some of those). And on either side, the street is lined with banks and stores and restaurants and even the US Embassy. And right on Reforma by my place is Dunkin' Donuts. I do love the donuts.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.145s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 10; qc: 48; dbt: 0.0905s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Jo
non-member comment
photos
The apartment looks nice.