More pictures of Mexico City Jan 8 - 11

Lovely Coincidence

As it happened, my Spanish teacher and his partner, Mark, were in Mexico City in La Condesa at the same time I was.  They were very busy renovating Mario's condo which had been destroyed by his last renter, but we got to spend some time together walking and having dinner at his friend Chary's home.  Then on my last evening, they came over to RTH for happy hour wine.  They were exhausted and feeling bad after having to sleep at the condo with dust, no shower and paint fumes.  I checked and, what luck!, there had been a cancellation and there was a room available for them that night.  So they got to spend an evening in relative luxury and we had breakfast together the next day.

More Walking in Mexico City

Day 2 I set out on my own.  My goal was to visit Bellas Artes sort of near El Zocalo, visit the Mercado Ciudadela, and to find an official Ronaldo jersey for Asa's birthday.  Victor at RTH showed me on a map where to find the MetroBus which is sort an above ground metro system.  I found the stop and took the bus to Plaza de la Revolución and began walking to Bellas Artes - asked at Sears where to find the jersey, got directions to the official RealMadrid store - scored the jersey - visited Bellas Artes and el mercado and returned to El Monumento de la Revolución where I took the glass elevator to the top to get a view of the city.  Great walk - everyone friendly - never felt unsafe.

Walking in Mexico CIty

At Red Tree House, during happy hour, I met another woman traveling alone who also likes to walk a lot.  She was from New Zealand and was stopping for a few days in Mexico between Cuba and Costa Rica.  She and I walked all day from La Condesa through Polanco to Museo La Soumaya built by Carlos Slim to hold his vast art collection including the largest collection of Rodin sculptures outside of Paris.  The building is quite unusual to say the least and the collection is impossible to see in one visit.  We concentrated on the Rodin floor.

Mexico City and The Red Tree House

Thanks to Barb York and David Adair for their recommendation of the Red Tree House in La Condesa neighborhood.  It is a wonderful little B and B in a lovely neighborhood - I really can't recommend it enough to those who want to visit Mexico City.  The staff were friendly, helpful and treated guests like family members ( family members that they really liked).  At happy hour they served wine to guests gathered in several adjoining rooms - and my glass was never empty for 2 hours.  In the morning there was a complete breakfast - coffee, fruit, churros ( my favorite) and a different hot typical Mexican dish.

TIME TO CATCH UP

Irma and I left Oaxaca city on January 2 - a day later than planned and without a rental car because Hertz screwed up.  Irma had reserved one well in advance and confirmed it when she met me at the airport, but when the day came - no car.  But anyway, we arrived in Pochutla by van and then Puerto Escondido by taxi. I couldn't post anything on the blog because the internet at our hotel was weak and very capricious.  We spent 3 days in Puerto at the beach eating, drinking beer and swimming -  remarkable how easy it was to swim in warm, salty water.  Then 3 more days in Huatulco doing the same -  and walking a lot. Forgot the walking. Beautiful beaches:  Carrizalillo and Zicatela in Puerto and Santa Cruz, Chahue and another (can't remember the name) in Huatulco.

Wall Art

Sometimes just walking along the streets here is like going through an art gallery of sorts.  Sure there is a lot of random and ugly tagging - vandalismo here -  but there is also some pretty amazing stuff.  Great images and fabulous colors - but I'll let the images speak for themselves.