El DF

Deciding at the last minute to skip a trip into the nearby Sierra Madres mountains for a few days, we checked out of our hotel this morning and caught a bus north to Mexico City. It took about 6 hours, and we arrived in the huge capital around 5:00, just as the evening traffic was getting heavy. We got a cab into the Centro Histórico, dodged a weird art parade and found a hotel. Mexico city is huge at over 18 million people. Despite this, it isn´t the dirty, smog-filled capital I had envisioned. Maybe because it´s a bit breezy and cloudy, but who knows. It´s also at 2200m above sea level, so it´s nice and cool this time of year.

We then spent the rest of the evening wandering around the city. It reminds us of bits from other large cities we´ve been to: a bit of London, a bit of Santiago, a bit of Bangkok, a bit of others too. We love the big cities though, and it was a nice evening wandering around. We walked through the Zócalo, or Plaza de la Constitución, which reminds us a lot of Tianenmen Square. It´s a huge, open space with a massive flagpole and flag in the centre. It is surrounded by the absolutely huge, gothic-looking Catedral Metropolitana, the Palacio Nacional (President´s offices), the Federal Government offices, and a few shops, restaurants and hotels. The flag was at half-mast, and there were people forming a spiraled circle around the flagpole, holding hands, lighting candles and praying. We were not sure what it was all about, but finally figured out that today is the 20th anniversary of the 1985 earthquake in Mexico City, which killed over 10,000 people.

We thought we might have a change for dinner and decided to head into the nearby Barrio Chino (Chinatown). We found it, but we didn´t find any Chinese restaurants, let alone anything even remotely associated with China. Luckily we had passed a Krispy Kreme shop along the way and treated ourselves to a little snack as we walked, otherwise we would have been starving. We walked through the crowded streets with tables and stalls selling anything and everything, and finally shared a tuna sandwich for dinner before heading back to the hotel.