Crowne Plaza Hotel Hotel De Mexico Mexico City

... young population.
Met Elias at the hostel (Hi !) who was very kind and showed me around. Too bad I was too tired to really enjoy the nightclubs...

Next day, my plane for Bogota took off at 3:50pm. I accidentally broke a piece inside the -cheap-plane, and was kindly asked to not destroy it during the flight ^^.

... of the Sun! So amazing!

Before I tell you anymore about today, let me first start with Tuesday.

If you ever want to be treated like a celebrity, just join Up With People and perform at a high school in Mexico.

I'm talking about mobs upon mobs of crazy, screaming fans waving cameras and autograph books in our faces!

Right away in the morning, we (a small group of us who were performing in the mini-show) performed for a television ...

... girl who said she was 18, and one who said she was 17 but definitely wasn’t and eating dinner with them while their parents watched from the next table. The 18y/o would not drink beer in front of her parents, which lead me to believe she was younger than she said as well. Then the girls friends appeared outside the restaurant and started calling out to us. The calls swapped between “gringo”, and “can you buy me a burger”. They ...

... girls, 2 Germans and 1 Brazilian. Nice mix. Our guide was great too. Best guide yet. He actually had a sense of humour! And if he didnīt know something he just said so rather than making stuff up or side stepping the question. There arenīt as many American tourists here as I expected. Maybe the swine flu thing has them scared. I think there are a lot of tourists here now, but apparently numbers are way down on normal. Hate to see normal!

... needed. Once Fordy woke up, we headed back to the Centro Historico. We needed to visit the impressive Palacio Nacional, Caterdral Metropolitana, Templo Mayor and other sites in the area. I dont really like churches, or the fact the Spanish and Catholic church have wiped out nearly all the old indigenous cultures in Central and South America. But I have to say the Caterdral Metropolitana was one of the most impressive buildings I've seen in my life. I managed to lose Fordy in ...

... to the sinking. One side of the cathedral sinks faster than the other and there is a pendulum in the middle to show how the church has moved over the years. Our tour guide then took us on a brief walk through the square and explained some of the other important buildings such as the Palacio Nacional (equivalent of our Capital building) and how the street are named after important people and dates in Mexican history. By this point, 12 noon ...

... at night to the New Year's Eve celebration of the city along Paseo Reforma. There were food, music and performances from local artistes. Later we adjourned back to Condensa area to continue our drinking.

... it is, it's best we keep the experiment to ourselves until we get it right. What do chili beers taste like? What do they look like? What are the do's and don'ts a first-time chili-beer brewer should heed? Well, come back here, out of the light, and I'll share my secrets. But don't tell anyone else. First and foremost, a chili beer must be a beer. The chili is secondary. The beer itself must be sound, solid, balanced and worth brewing. Second, even if you love hot food, a chili ...

... seats was about $6 and we weren't disappointed being right up with the action. Some of the wrestinling moves were actaully quite good but the real entertainment is the theatrics of the wrestlers and there interaction with the crowd who seem to take it all a little too seriously... We weren't allowed to take cameras in but we got a few good photos later of us all wearing the masks you could buy outside. Definitely a must see in Mexico.

... went to Merced Market which is claimed to be the biggest in the Americas. It was pretty crazy, but interesting (I do have an odd obsession with Markets) there was one bit that was disgusting where they we selling sweets and the place was just swarming with wasps - yuck. After that we took a trip to the Zona Rosa which we had been told was really nice but as with a lot of these things we left disappointed, it was pleasant enough but nothing to write home about ...