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Published: August 23rd 2007
View from the hostel roof terrace
You can see the Cathedral and the Zocala (main square)Hola amigos!
Well, after a year of planning and saving I am finally here! I arrived at my hostel in Mexico City around 10pm on Monday night after what seemed like 100 years in a plane and in MC airport. After a few mini-disasters (taking 200 pesos out of the bank instead of 2000, and getting dropped off at Hotel Catedral rather than Hostel Catedral- luckily v close to each other!) I got settled in my dorm bed for the night and even though I was still working on British time (6 hours ahead) I could hardly sleep! It was really noisy and lights kept going on outside the room. Since then I´ve learned the value of earplugs and eyecover things- I slept like a baby last night!
Anyway, on my first proper day here I signed up to do a free walking tour of the city so that I could get my bearings. We went to the Metro station first (10p for a single ride compared to 2 pound 70p on the London Únderground!) and travelled to Chapultepec Park. This is the self-proclaimed ´lung´of Mexico City, and you can really feel the difference in the air quality as you
walk through it. There were lots of Mexican families strolling about and absolutely loving the squirrels that were running about. Hmmmmm..
We stopped in the park to watch one of the bizarrest entertainment displays that I´ve ever seen. There was a 30m metal pole with ropes hanging down which brightly dressed Mexican men danced around. I thought that it was going to be some strange Maypole dance-esque display, but then they all climbed to the top of the pole, wrapped the rope around it, tied the rope to their feet and then swung upside down until they reached the floor. I have absolutely no idea the significance of this feat, but I was truly scared for their lives!
Next was the National Museum of Anthropology which is apparently very well respected world wide and was very good. Our guide was very knowledgeable and it seemed to me that every Aztec or Mayan drawing/sculpture/symbol in Mexico has got 2 meanings and 1 is usually something to do with fertility or sex. My favourite fact of the day was that ancient civilizations regarded gold as ´excrement of the Gods´. Tee hee!
The only problem with the tour was that
it didn´t stop for lunch!!!! Anyone that knows me knows that I have to eat approximately every 4 hours before I start feeling faint! Mexican people have their lunch quite late in the day, so it got to around 2ish and I had one of my funny hunger turns- I went hot & sweaty, then cold & clammy and all weirdy. Luckily someone had a packet of crisps on them which quickly sorted me out!
Note to self- must always take snacks with me when I´m out and about.
Had a tasty chicken enchilada dinner, then to bed early, ready for a day at the pyramids.
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Melissa
non-member comment
hooray!
Hooray it all sounds very exciting! Always carry snacks thats a life lesson not just a travel plan! x