DESTINATION 13 - MEXICO!!
 
Day 1 and 2 - The hustle and bustle of historic Mexico City!
 
We awoke to our amazement at gone midday, I think the altitude change, time difference and antics of the flights the previous day to get here had taken their toll! After about 2 hours of attempting to get ready, we finally went out to hit the streets of Mexico City, but just as we stepped out the door, the heavens literally opened, the rainy season was going to be fun to say the least ...were we really in Mexico and not home?!
 
Heading towards the 'Centro Historico' (check out my Spanish....not!) we headed out on the main road that takes you into the city. Thankfully it was quite cool so the pollution didn't really hit you but the altitude took its toll to start with..... it was crazy and mad all around us, Mexicans shouting to us in Spanish as we walked past tempting us to buy god knows what, streets packed with people, men sitting on platforms having their shoes cleaned, hairdresser shacks lining the pavement, rubbish everywhere and amazing battered lime green beetle taxi's filling the roads! A stark contrast to our last 4 destinations!
 
On walking just 100metres though, we then came upon what was soon to be a tour of an ancient and beautiful city that could in all accounts have you in London, Rome or even Paris, the historical centre was just stunning!!!
 
First we came upon the 'Palicio de Bella Artes' a beautiful white domed building that dominated the road, then on turning into the old quarter, at every corner 18th century historic architecture, the magnitude of buildings and detail within the stonework hit you and was very impressive to say the least, the streets were wide and clean and the contrasts of bright colonial terraced houses lining the backstreets was just beautiful.... Already I had fallen in love with the place, you really felt like you had turned the corner and arrived in rural France or ancient Rome!
 
Turning towards the famous 'Zocalo' square we came across 'Casa de los a Zulegos', which to us British means 'House of Tiles!' It was a pretty remarkable building, built in the 18th century completely out of blue and white Puebla tiles, a place we were due to visit next!
 
First things first, after crooning our necks taking in the history all around us, we found a local restaurant 'Café Pagoda,' recommended to us and started our first attempt at speaking Spanish!!! One thing that really hit me here was that noone hardly speaks English, even the basics! Even in Asia you could just about get by but here no menu's were in English and even when you attempted to say you couldn't understand the local language, they still jibbered back to you at a hundred miles an hour in Spanish and didn't stop! We are definitely not complaining though, quite the opposite and it was wonderful to be in this situation and soak up the culture, thank god we had bought a Spanish phrase book as without that we would have been doomed! You really need to learn the language to be here so we set ourselves the task of learning a few words a day, which promptly I forgot about 5 seconds after Ads had taught me them, but thankfully he remembered some Spanish lessons from old and saved the day many times!!! Our meal was good and to be back to eating 2 courses with drinks for just 4 pounds again was fab!!
 
We then carried on to the famous Zocalo Square, the 'hub' of the 'Centro Historico', lined on two sides by the Latin America's largest cathedral and the other, the 'Palicio Nacional .' The palace was built in 1692 and its entire front façade is made of impressive red volcanic stone, along with a 'Liberty bell' above the main door which is rung very loudly on independence day - Sept 15th! The square is host to many ceremonies, concerts etc.. you name it, there is always something noisy apparently going on in this place!
 
First we went inside the cathedral. We are not religious people but this cathedral was without doubt one of the most impressive I had ever been in. Built in 1525, it was HUGE and the height of the ceilings, the carvings, the gold religious chapels and statues were beautiful..... After our religious experience we then headed into the centre of the square to see what was happening under the vast flagpole which sat in the centre, slowly vast amounts of people were gathering to watch the hundreds of cadets, army and all other types of military police/bands etc.. march, play trumpets, bang drums, line up haphazardly in every spot a tourist was!, all to symbolise the taking down of the mexican flag . It was quite amusing to see the young girls marching with precision and rythmn whilst the young male cadets were totally uncoordinated and all over the place....nothing unusual there then! This ceremony apparently happens EVERY morning and every evening, which in the hour that we stood as they all marched into the square, with a few fainting from all the standing and one ambulance turning up, not sure if this is a regular occurrence for their daily ceremonies, but it definitely all took a long time and when you don't understand a word of what is being said, it becomes quite tedious to just stand there.....needless to say we missed the flag coming down unfortunately!
 
We then wandered round the back streets, admiring the weird statues in the street, the many colonial houses and architecture, the colours were just beautiful and you really could have been in any of the great European cities! At every turn there was another ancient building, dome, statue or square full of Mexicans sitting chatting or going about their daily lives ...it was great to be back experiencing a new culture again. There really is so much to do in Mexico City, you really would need an entire month here to take it all in and be able to explore all that the city has to offer....
 
After cheering Adam up with a coffee after seeing his face drop on our return to the square as he saw the flag on the floor, we then headed through the old quarter to Alameda Central Park. This is the place where Mexicans come to chill and get away from the hustle and bustle of the city and also where the execution of the spanish inquisition once took place! After we had seen visited the 'Hericiclo A Juarez,' a white marble statue which built in 1910 symbolises the centenary of independence, (independence seems to be marked everywhere you go in Mexico City!), treating ourselves to a posh coffee (probably our last at this rate on our budget!) we headed back to the hotel and sat chilling with an ice cold bottle of Corona, just perfect....and then a few more for the road!
 
Day 2, we decided to head across the city to the famous 'Chapultepec Park' which supposedly is the most visited parks in the world! As usual, my claustrophobia for underground transport meant that we had another day of many miles of hiking but it meant that we really got to take in all of Mexico which was great in my opinion, not sure about Ads though! We set off on another main road into Mexico, a lot dirtier than the old quarter and lined with shack type stalls selling everything from razors to carribenas, the latter being perfect for Adams new 'security style' of locking our bags!, i .e. it takes 10 years to get back into the buggers! Next we headed down the main tree lined business district road of the city - 'Paseo De La Reforma.' Dotted along are many statues, again marking more independence, the striking one being the 'Monumento Angel de la Independence' a beautiful gold angel which sits on a 45m white marble column to mark, you guessed it, independence! It was interesting to read that this column used to be so much higher but unfortunately fell down in the 1985 earthquake and now sits a tad shorter...
 
After a good falafel in a local café in the posher district of Zona Rosa where our Spanish practice was tested yet again, we finally made it to the park. Full of ahuehuete trees which are sacred to the Aztecs, the park was pretty vast and was full of monumental museums, palaces, lakes etc... First we hiked up the hill to see the vista of Mexico City all around us, the mountains lining the valley and of course the smog of pollution that is a visible layer across the city. We then visited the 'Castillo de Chapultepec' which is a grand castle that sits on top of the hill housing the 'Museo Nacional de Historia', the old Presidents Residence when he was in the city. It was hard to learn much about it as everything was in Spanish! But I suppose looking at a bedroom, bathroom, grand reception room etc... Pretty much speaks for itself!! The gold and newness of everything was pretty remarkable and they really had spent a lot of money on restoring this place. On leaving the park we passed the statue of Ghandi, then after my treat of the day - a Mcflurry!! We headed back and must have done about 8 miles in total... so a cold Corona to end the day was 'muchos' needed!