Mexico City: the ultimate tequila sunrise

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Trip Start May 12, 2007 Previous
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  Mexico City, Mexico
Friday, May 18, 2007

We flew out of LA at around 1pm local time and arrived soon in Mexico City. We grabbed a cab to our hostel, Hostel Amigo. Once we found our room we got chatting to a girl who had already been there for a few nights. She said that she hadn't been going out a night times as she thought it was too dangerous. However, I spoke to the chap on the reception and he said that the area we were in was safe as there were loads o police about (and believe me, there are!) After sorting ourselves out we went down to the bar for a bev. Suddenly after about 10 mins the bartender jumped on the bar and started pouring tequila down everyone's throat. When he came to me I didn't know what to do as I am not a big fan of the stuff but I though ´what the hell´ and opened my mouth (see picture!) After a while we were tempted to go out to a bar nearby. When we got there it didn't seem anything special but we ended up having a good time dancing with loads of people from our hostel

The next morning/afternoon neither of us were feeling right as rain, Eventually we got up and walked into town

A rooftop view

. The main square, Zocalo, in Central Historico, was amazing. They had a massive flag flying high in the centre, which comes down every night at 6pm during a small ceremony. We went into the Cathedral first; it had an interesting layout but was very spectacular. Next, to the Palace! It was interesting that we had to show ID to get into the palace. Once we were in we took our time walking about. All on the walls were beautiful murals (couldn't take any photos though) We spent about an hour wondering around - even coming across a guard on duty getting very close to a lady - and headed for some lunch. I didn't realise that we would have to depend on Spanish so much over here, I suppose its good though! Somehow I ordered me and James through the meal, and it was very nice. Next on the list was Temple Mayor. This was an ancient Temple that had seen 6 stages of re-building. I think it was destroyed via earthquakes and flooding eventually. It was such a hot day that we scampered around a bit! Just before heading home we had a look at the local market. James purchased a hilarious wrestling mask for a friend back home whilst we I picked up Shrek 3 and Pirates of the Caribbean 3 on DVD for a grand total of 25 pence! We have no idea whether they work or whether they are in English but for that amount of money you can't really go wrong! That evening we went out for dinner. It took us a while to find a restaurant as I remembered that the Spanish/Mexican culture eat their main meal at lunch, so not many places were open for dinner

Me and James with the Moon Pyramid

. Eventually we found a place that was alright. Enchiladas were sooo spicy though and me and James had to blow our noses a couple of times whilst consuming it!

We booked a trip for the next day which lasted around 8 hours. It took us to a few significant churches (don't ask me the names as they were soooo complicated!) We learnt how Lady Guadalupe (Virgin Mary) is a big part of the religion over here. We then did some tequila tasting down the road. One was nice as it was sweet but the rest were hardcore :-P. Next was the final part of the trip, the pyramids of Teotihuacán. There were two on site, the Pyramid of the Sun and the one of the Moon. We walked around for around 3 hours learning the history of the site and climbing the pyramids themselves. We got back from our trip around 5pm. We decided to go out for dinner again, this time a little further out. Our roomie came with us and we got the metro west of where we were staying. After a little exploring we found a cute little place. We all treated ourselves and ordered pre-dinner cocktails. James randomly picked one which he thought sounded nice. However, upon arrival he found it to be a very large shot of tequila! Yuck! hahaha! We got the metro back after we had some nice Spanish food, including yummie chorizo! We met with Laura and Dave back at the hostel where we chilled in the bar before going to bed.

The Sun Pyramid

Today we went to the Anthropology Museum. It had some really interesting things to read on the Aztecs, Mayans and the attack of the Spanish, but there was a bit too much of it (could of done with days to cover it all) Also my legs were all strained from climbing the pyramids and they kept on giving out! After the museum we walked through the zoo. It was free entry so we weren't expecting much but it was awesome! It had animals which I have never really seen up close like Hippos, Chimpanzees, and Orangutans! Brilliant for free! Lunch took us to Zona Rosa, an area on the way back to our place. It was quite expensive there but found a cool spot. I had fajitas de pollo (chicken fajitas) and they were amazing!

Tonight we head to Friday night Masked Wrestling. It does exactly what it says on the tin! It should be a laugh and nice to do on our last night before we fly to Cancun tomorrow.

Mexico City has been a brilliant place. I felt I have definitely done it justice! Sometimes its nice to spend a little longer in certain places. After reading all the ´dangers´ in Mexico City, after experiencing the City firsthand I can say that all the stories are blown out of proportion. I know that there are areas which are no go and some things do happen here but all I have experienced are brilliant friendly, kind and helpful locals. I definitely wouldn't say no to another trip here!

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Zocalo - the main plaza in Centro Historico

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