Ciudad De Mexico

It turns out I quite like Mexico City, and I’d never have thought that were possible. 

The fact that Omar was driving and it was a Sunday with, I’m told, less traffic made the experience easier. 

First things first; breakfast at the Finca “the farm” a pretty nice restaurant with a theme based around 19th century field work. 

It was a busy spot but we got there before the big rush.

I know we often show roadside food and low end eateries because they are cheap and cheerful but with guides who know good food we are enjoying eating at middle class restaurants, places that according to Omar sometimes get by on good looks but serve poor food. 

I hope it doesn’t come as a surprise that Mexico has a burgeoning middle class that enjoys eating on table linens with first class service. 

We all had chilaquiles verdes which is tortilla chips in a tart tomatillo green sauce with eggs and cheese. Plenty of food you’d think but first…

The waitress came by with a basket of pastries. I had a concha (“shell”) with “natta” inside which it turns out is a delicious form of ricotta. My table mates selected crisp fresh churros, the familiar fried dough sticks. I like to try new stuff and I am now a fan of natta. 

Properly stuffed with food and delicious cinnamon coffee (“café de olla”) I sat in the passenger seat and watched the capital city unfold before me. 

We took a tour to see the highlights but Mexico City is packed with history and buildings that reflect that. They shot by one after another…though Angelica did explain to me that President Porfirio Diaz loved European architecture and as Mexico’s dictator was in a position to satisfy his desire. 

I stepped into the metropolitan cathedral after I read the usual warnings about respect for the sacred location and no flash photography and so forth. The first thing I came across weirdly enough were money changers in the temple!

Color me surprised! 

The lady chapel: 

Apparently like much of the rest of old town the cathedral is suffering from subsidence.  It’s sunk three feet in the centuries since it was built and the sinking effect continues. Call it the Aztecs’ revenge. 

Mexico is built on the filled in lakes of the capital of the Aztecs Hernan Cortez discovered and conquered in the 16th century. 

Mass was underway in the parish church next door…

But of course it’s never a bad moment for a vacation picture.

We had planned a visit with Omar’s ancestors. It was only in 1978 that archeologists realized there were the undiscovered remains of the great temple of the Aztecs still sitting under the capital city 

It’s a cast complex with three floors of artifacts dug up from the Aztec city. 

The d she model illustrates the size of the temple against other international landmarks. 

A fire god as I recall with a particular smile that caught my attention. 

Looking at the head below I was forced to wonder where the Pac-Man creators got their inspiration. 

The tree below dig up on the site was supposed to be the entrance to the underworld. I have no idea how they believed this stuff but there again even today common sense seems out the window on all sorts of subjects. 

They are spending about 300 million dollars to excavate this place and the work started in 1982. It has a ways to go. 

The huge depiction apparently shows the goddess of the moon cut into our es and bleeding which seems a common theme in Aztec myth. 

They had a van magnet to offer to the goddess. I thought I’d better cover all bases. 

The presidential palace, below. Mexican presidents get one six year term with no reelection. The current resident is a leftist not much liked by the US government but is a friend of Russia. He’s working to get the mayor of Mexico City elected after his term expires but she’s not terribly popular. Lopez Obrador’s enemies are expecting foul play as he tends to take his lead from the Trump playbook oddly where a loss is unacceptable. Makes me glad I’m just a tourist. 

Omar negotiated a ride back to the car in electric cycle taxis. 

Odd but functional. Mexico City is struggling to deal with air pollution in a city of twenty million people. 

A nice surprise when we got back to the parking garage where the personnel left the car on the street and police removed the front tag. There was no ticket on the windshield. 

$40 cash (700 pesos) got the tag back. You need a permit to drive into the city if you are an outsider. I don’t plan to get one. 

Alls well that ends well. Home to a nap after a great day. Rusty and little Tule were happy to see us back. 

Mexico City, The Suburbs

It’s been a tough few days on the road, principally because we left El Rancho RV park outside Oaxaca with a passenger. 

A very small scared dog was hanging around the gate to the park when we returned from our final trip into the town of El Tule. We stuffed with sushi rolls and loaded with mezcal and the little dog was shivering and hiding every time a large dog, one of a pack of loose dogs on the street walked by. I tried to lure him but he wasn’t having any of it. I went inside to cement ate our departure with a pizza night. 

Lo and behold our neighbor from Québec pushed his bike and said “I’d he yours? He just followed me in?”  Duwan did a brilliant job of doing what I couldn’t and got on the ground and seduced the scared little package into her arms. He was ours. 

Pizza night was pretty good in the campgrounds wood burning oven but in the morning we still had a stray dog to wash with flea soap (Thank you Mandy) and figure out how to placate Rusty the threatened. 

We left El Rancho and over two days drive the gorgeous mountainous Highway 135 to meet our friends Omar and Angelica who live in the northeast of the capital. Naturally we got stuck in some traffic, the view behind us at one point, and he sold us some rather tasty pistachios:

The little dog we call Tule did well, and yes he did have a couple of accidents in the van but he came when called and soon got used to the idea that not every meal would be his last. We fed him three times a day at first to settle his starvation. 

Rusty is not happy. We each have a veto aboard GANNET2 and while ours are usually directed at where to go and when to stop or not stop if we get a bad vibe, Rusty also has his. He has vetoed little Tule. He is exhibiting anxiety and stress and we can’t have that. 

So we are struggling to find a place for the little dog. I fear he may end up in a shelter but at least he will be safe and he is the size and kind of dog, healthy and one year old and very loving that will find a home. He has bonded with me, I got him off the streets and it breaks my heart to have to put him in a shelter. 

Angelica took him to her vet who gave him his shots and his pet passport, de-wormed him and checked him for ticks and I had overlooked a half dozen! He pronounced him in excellent health and took $55 for his trouble, very reasonable. Rule took the treatment like the patient little champ he is. 

I can’t disappoint Rusty so he has to go. If you want a 13 pound bundle of love we will deliver him to you but I can’t let Rusty down. I hope you understand. I don’t know if he will. 

No car sickness, no hassles apparently he loves van life. Ironic!