Last stop in the Americas

Mexico City, Mexico

It had been almost 3 months since we had been in a city and as such we were both looking forward to it. It did however mark the end of our 2 month long stretch of beach time, but only for a few days!
In the past I had heard only that Mexico City was a massive, sprawling and dirty city. I guess for a city with a population of somewhere around 25 million that would be expected. However we were really pleasantly surprised by the mexican capital, it was remarkably clean and had a warm atmosphere. We found a great little hotel right near the main square, the Zocalo, which at 8 quid a night was the cheapest place we'd stayed in a while (but it even had marble tiles in the bathroom!!) The great location enabled us to wander the streets and see the sights. We considered doing the proper tourist bit and getting on the open bus tour but in the end decided that it was best to explore on foot.

And explore we did, for most of the 4 days we were there. We pounded the streets then took in the view from the observation tower. The city sprawled out in every direction and it was impossible to see where it started or finished. Massive. We took a couple of trips on the underground there at 10 pence a ride! Went to the cinema, considered a real treat, and generally soaked up the atmosphere. As we wandered round we realised that lots of the impressive old colonial buildings were on the wonk. This, we discovered was due to the fact that most of Mexico City is built on an old lake bed. This had caused major subsidence, the opera house has sunk 4 metres but still remains intact!

Funnily enough the bit we probably enjoy most about cities in the enormous range of food they offer. As mexican food had proved so good up til now we hoped we wouldn't be disappointed. We weren't. The best food by far were the bits we ate from the street vendors. They served up fantastic deep fried quasadillas filled with whatever you liked, and tacos galore. We ate meat tacos for just 15 pence each, and for 35 pence you could get a larger taco stuffed with steak, onions and chips! Needless to say we went back many lunchtimes, much to the amusement of the locals. Even more so when they watched me pour loads of what I thought was guacamole onto my taco and then realise with burning lips that it was something quite different. Mik got that one, and I ordered a fresh one, well at 15 pence a pop I could!

I gave the locals something else to chuckle about one morning as we walked round the Zocalo. Whilst trying to avoid the people washing down the pavements I managed to walk smack into a hanging basket. And no it wasn't just a plastic thing filled with a few plants it was a big metal thing which made for a great thunk when my head came into contact with it. The thunk was almost as loud as the expletives that followed it, so soon everyone was staring at me. I can see how they would have found it amusing, I mean all of them would have been able to pass right under the blessed thing no problem. I guess that's the price we pay for being that much taller than the locals!

Finally it was time for us to leave the spanish speaking world. We had spent a fantastic 7 months in South and Central America but now it was time to stop pretending we could speak any Spanish, and move on to English speaking parts of the world. Our flight to the Cook Islands took us via Los Angeles. Anyone who has been here will know it does not give the best impression of the States, it's a dump. In fact the only plus point was that here I was able to put the toilet paperdown the toilet instead of in a bin, something I hadn't done in 7 months!!

Cara