Two Adventurers

19 November 2009 (Mexico)

How exciting is this, to wake up knowing we’re in a country we’d always wanted to visit! Breakfast was a real eye-opener, with all kinds of spicy dishes to choose from, like Tortillas with ham and cheese, Pork crackling in green curry sauce (yes), refried black beans, omelettes of your choice with/without jalapeno sauce, Mexican sausages, Potato pancakes, chicken pieces in red chilli sauce, etc. We did try a couple of these and they were yummy. There was of course the usual Oatmeal, cereals, pastries and fruits, many of which were foreign to us but we tried them just the same! Our coffee cups were constantly refilled by our lovely waitress, Antonia, and we almost rolled out of there knowing that we would be skipping lunch that day!

Tried to book for a further night at Fiesta but they were fully booked so with check-out fast approaching (1pm) we hastily managed an on-line reservation at the Camino Real, right opposite the airport. Once there and happily checked in, we took a taxi off into Mexico City itself! It had been a week of festivities in Mexico, and the next day, Friday 20th, was the culmination of it all, Revolution Day, which is celebrated every year. We knew that the huge square where it was all happening was in the centre of town so our friendly young taxi driver dropped us right near it and we walked from there. There were hundreds of people all with the same idea, just walking here and there, while the central part of the square was a hive of activity with huge towers being erected for the Light and Sound show the next day. The Cathedral in the square was quite awe-inspiring and there were many artistes, clowns and organ grinders winding their twangy instruments along with food, sellers of trinkets, and jewellery everywhere. We even found a keen fellow doing some knitting.

The  camera was never still as we captured all of this incredible vibe!

Our daughter, Nicole, along with her good friend, Harriet, had spent a few days here in 2000, after their Youth Challenge Australia volunteer work was finished in Costa Rica. She asked us to look for the Hostel where the girls had stayed and we were lucky to find it very easily, just off the main square, where we took photos of the interior and up on the roof where the girls had spent a few nights of musical pleasure, along with many of the other young residents of the hostel.

A short walk took us to see the beautiful Palacio de Bellas Artes, an absolutely magnificent building used for the performing arts, folklore dance shows etc. The entire inside was made of a beautiful beige, brown and white marble, just stunning, while the outside was built entirely of white marble. Though construction on the Palace began in 1904 due to a whole lot of reasons it was not inaugurated until 1934. Many famous opera singers, including our own Kiri Te Kanawa and Pavarotti have performed here. The weight of the building is so massive that it has been slowly sinking a few centimetres annually since completion of its construction. In front of the building, a beautiful square with pegasus statues and gardens has been completed in recent years. It was simply one of the most beautiful buildings we have ever seen.

Caught a taxi back to the Hotel from in front of the Palace and paid the ridiculous meter charge of 44 pesos ($3.60) for the 20 minute journey, which compared to our inward ride in another taxi of 130 pesos ($11.00) means we were ‘ripped off’ big time! Along the way, we noticed that there were parts of the city which looked quite poor, not exactly slums but certainly showed definite signs of needing a clean-up. We had a truly wonderful day nevertheless.