Today was Friday here in Mexico City. We woke up to a cool morning, clear skies. Really refreshing. Because the crew was not coming to get us until later, we had a lazy morning. I did some work things and Denise relaxed. Blanca had brought us some food that she had made for Karlie and Neza. It was tortillas, rice and a soup that had vegetables and delicious meat. They told us to eat it for breakfast. We did. It was a different breakfast nonetheless. And since it was different, we also had some pastries that we had bought. :-)
Karlie, Neza, two boys, Blanca and Juan arrived around 11 AM. Since bathing at Banca and Juan's includes warming up water over a gas stove, standing in a barrel like thing and then mixing hot and cold water in a small bucket to then pour over you as you soap and wash while standing in this barrel thing. Well, Karlie thought it would be easier to just shower her and the boys at our place. So that is what they did. But I told Karlie, next time she has to do it her in-laws way! She said she was kind of excited to give it a try.
With the traffic being so bad and because it takes so long to drive into the city, Neza convinced Juan that it would be ok to take the Subway into the city. Juan is so caring. He was truly concerned about our safety on the metro. Nonetheless, he dropped us off at the central bus station (which does not seem to be so 'central'). There Neza purchased round trip tickets that I thought cost him 100 pesos per person...50 pesos per trip. It turns out to ride the metro, it only costs 5 pesos per entrance. That is around 25 cents USD. Really cheap. And no wonder 20 million people use it every day. I've never seen anything like it. Mid-day, when we headed into the city it was crowded enough that we had to stand most of the way. We eventually found seats. And the ride was about 20 minutes I'm guessing. It would have been over an hour in a car.
We got off the subway at a certain stop for 2 reasons. First, Neza's father (Roberto) was going to meet us there. And 2nd, it was by the only 'castle' in all of Mexico....probably in all of Latin America. Roberto, who leaves a bit away from Mexico City, caught a bus at midnight to get to Mexico City. He then spent the afternoon with us as we toured places. He's an interesting guy. Really nice. He brought two big bricks of Aztec cheese, a big glass of fig stuff, some big things that normally hold wine for him and Carlos. They are going to have lots of stuff to take home. Or maybe it is going to be Denise and I will have lots of stuff to take home as I think we will be checking a bag for them when we fly. The castle visit was really, really nice. It is up high on a hill that we had to leisurely walk to. But if you stayed out of the sun, the air was cool and refreshing. It was a nice walk. It was like most castles with rooms partitioned off in such a way that you could only peer into them. I don't know the history much and most of the signs were in Spanish. I know it goes back into the mid 1800's and Presidents have actually lived there in the early 1900's. We spent an hour or so there. One highlight was the fact that an orchestra was presenting a concert there in one of the open air areas. They were fanstastic. Fun to listen to and watch.
After leaving the castle and walking down the hill, we went back to the subway and caught a couple of trains to the older 'central' part of the city. Upon coming out of the subway, we came to a plaza FULL of people where a HUGE cathedral was. But what was interesting was that there were many people there in full Aztec dress dancing, spreading burning incense of some kind around people and such. It was interesting to watch. Also there was one of the old Aztec ruins that we could have toured. But with two tired and a bit cranky boys who had not been fed, it did not make sense. From this site, we needed to go find food. So off we went down a number of narrow streets asking people if there were any restaurants nearby. These streets were FULL of street vendors with their wares laid out all along the street. And some of the streets had been dug up due to construction and seemed quite dirty (and muddy after the daily down pour of rain that came each afternoon). Anyway, we eventually found a restaurant which looked like a street stand. But if you go back in there was a very small, very tight spiral staircase up to the 2nd floor of the building where indeed there was a restaurant. We did not think we could go up there as Lorenzo was asleep in the stroller. He was so tired and had just fallen asleep. But the restaurant workers wanted our business so they said they would somehow carry the stroller up for us, with Lorenzo in it, to the 2nd floor. It was amazing to watch. They did it and Lorenzo survived and stayed asleep. The food was from Southern Mexico and was a bit different. They had tamales selling on the street downstairs so I asked if I could order one of them. I did. It was really, really small. But it was very good. The food all had Mole with it or in it. My tamale had black Mole in it. But everyone's dish did, even Denise's Torta that she ordered had Mole. I guess the best Mole is found in Southern Mexico.
As we prepared to leave, once again the heavens opened and began to cry...really hard. It is like clock work here this time of year...afternoon rains every day. And the rain drops are huge! Lots of water down really quick and it can last for some time. Anyway, this shower lasted about 15 minutes and once it turned to a drizzle, we took off heading back to the subway. At one point, Roberto stopped us and told us it would be better if he departed and went a different direction so that he could catch his bus home. So on the street we all gave him hugs and thanked him for coming and spending the day with us. It was good to see him again. We had met him years ago in SLC after Neza and Karlie were married. He had not met his grand children either. After he departed, we walked quickly back towards the metro. Lorenzo woke up along the way and needed to go #1. So like Mexican fashion, Neza grabbed him, took him to a car and he peed in the gutter next to it. So funny. Brings back memories of Colombia where grown men were seen just peeing alongside the road all the time.
The goal was to be on the metro before 5 PM to beat the rush hour. Well, it was 5:30 PM. But I think all hours were rush hours. We got into the subway and the first train was an easy one...not too many people getting on. We only had to go one stop backwards to catch the line to where we thought we needed to go...the stop by our apartment. But getting on Line 1 to go about 6 stops was going to be a push your way on type thing. Neza was really concerned about safety and where and when to get on. We waited a couple of trains and low and behold, one showed up with hardly anyone on it. We were thrilled. We arrived at our stop, got off and it was pouring rain. And it turned out that Neza had selected the wrong line and stop. This stop was over a mile from our place. So, working with Neza while it rained, we figured out that we had to go back one stop and catch Line B and then only go for one stop more. So we bought tickets again (only $1.25 USD for all of us) and went back into the metro. Catching Line 1 back towards the city was easy...not many people going into the city. However, catching Line B to our stop...only one stop from where we were getting on at...was almost impossible...or so it looked. Massive amounts of people literally PUSHING their way on to over croweded cars. The trains are long, they are packed with people and they come every two minutes. Well, we all decided it was every man for themself. Just get on and go one stop and we would reunite there. 2 or 3 trains passed before we got to the head of the 'pushing' line. And when the train came that we were going to make our push, there was not a single person on it. Apparently, once in a while they put on a new train at this location to clear out this station. And we got it! So easy. We arrived easily and then we walked the 8 minutes or so to our apartment. And just as we arrived, so did Juan with the car. He did not tour with us. He dropped us off and then back home. He then came and got Blanca, Neza, Karlie and the boys to take them back. I think it was about 7 PM when we arrived back. It would have been much faster had we found and taken line B from downtown. But it was a great adventure we all will remember as we watched humans become sardines in the metro system in Mexico City.
To end our night, Denise and I watched a movie on my laptop, then turned the lights out and adios...we were tired!
Tomorrow, it is family reunion time I guess. We are heading out to Blanca and Juan's place where much of Neza's family is coming to party all day with them. Not speaking spanish well, either of us, it is going to be interesting. Ohh...which makes me think about Roberto and Denise talking constantly. Roberto does not understand English and Denise little spanish. Yet they carried conversations all day as though they understood each other. Karlie and I just died laughing all day on that. So funny!!!
Pictures:
Cathedral picture. Very lovely inside!
Roberto and Atticus....
Blanca, Karlie, Neza, Roberto and the boys....
Helado (Ice Cream) at a small stand....
They have these on every street where people place religious items. I guess there is a day each year for each street when they have a celebration to whatever saint they are making their offerings to.
Neza’s family at the castle...
Atticus with Blanca and Lorenzo in the background playing in a fountain at the Castle.
The outside walls of the old Cathedral in downtown Mexico City.....
Two grown men wrestling one small boy and losing!!!!
This was taken the day before on our tour bus ride. I mentioned the crazy wires. This is one example of many at an intersection. You can reach up and touch them from the top of the bus where we were sitting.
Huddling under canopy’s as the rain came a tumbling down.....
One of the odd structures in the city. Not sure what this was. But you can see the air quality. Mexico City has some of the worst air quality due to so many people here an the mountains surrounding.
Horchata.....Sourthern Mexican style. I tasted it. It was ok. It had all kinds of stuff in it, including nuts.
A castle garden up on the roof....
The tourists enjoying their time in Mexico.....
Mom, Neza, Dad....Roberto and Blanca divorced many years ago. I think Blanca was 14 when she had Neza...something like that. I don’t recall how long they were married. I don’t know when they last saw each other.
Una Torta....pretty tasty.
Eating my tamale.....
One hall way in the castle was lined with beautiful stained glass. This was one window.
All of us in front of monument concerning the Mexican\American war....
There were many stands selling masks like this one. They all had a mask for Donald Trump.
The Prieto Family at the Castle.....
Mucha gente aqui en la ciudad de Mexico.....people selling stuff in the rain.
One of the many calles we walked.....
Getting our order taken at the restaurant.....
The hall with the beautiful stained glass windows....
Our dessert...chocolate ice cream on top of cinnamon topped bread that was warmed. Really, really good!
An Aztec Warrior......
Sitting on the subway.....
One of he ponds on the way up to the castle.....
Lorenzo relieving himself in the middle of a busy street.....
The Aztec pyramid ruin.....
Part of the castle.....
Military guarding the subway entrance at the main plaza in Mexico City.....
A cute boy playing video games with his ears.....
Feeding the squirrels....
The orchestra that was playing at the castle. Really good. Really fun to listen to.
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