Mexico City April 2024

We returned to Mexico because it was a refreshing experience. Mexico has much more variety than we give it credit for in the US. The stereotype for my generation was the sombrero and desert or the beaches in Acapulco. Now I'm finding that there are so many options. We tried to stay away from the tourist spots. This visit I'm 600 straight days into learning Spanish, so I'm definitely twice as ready to speak and listen.

Mexico is both a big country and varied in climate, geology and cultures. We are travelers who like a bit of adventure beyond tourist resorts. We like our luxury but we also want to experience the cultural of our locale. We will spend money on exciting things but save a lot of money by foregoing what may be usual. This trip we didn't have enough researched ahead of time. We were surprised by the water shortage a month ahead and afterwards found out about the volcano erupting in February, 2024.

The luxuries we enjoyed were good food out at restaurants all the time - no cooking. We enjoyed a hot springs for a day, but not the massage we planned but never did. This time I was able to do more. I did not have altitude sickness. But we did notice that the altitude took its' toll. We were tired. We walked to the elevator and were out of breath.

Our return

We had not visited this Tower of the Revolution last time

This is kind of a dangerous part of the tower. The railing on one side was low so I felt like I could fall over it. On the other side there was no railing at all and a curved wall. Definitely not handicapped accessible. Below is a picture looking down from the elevator landing on the tower. It was hollow so there were interesting views. We see a group of cyclists preparing to go out on the avenue on Sunday with the roads closed to motorists. It was invigorating to see them so confident.

Bin of water in trash can.
We went to Mexico City when there was a drought. There was a water shortage in the city due to the drought. The management posted a sign indicating the hours when water would be available. It was in Spanish. In our apartment there was a large green trash bin. The bin was filled with water. It was probably about 35 or 40 gallons of water. I think it was to be used to flush the toilet if there was no water. No one ever said that. After I had booked the vacation I read an article about the drought and water shortages. I tried to cancel the reservation, but the owner would only cancel and refund if he could be fully booked for the period we had reserved. Later we got an email from AirBnB saying their policy had changed as of 6/6 making our situation better if it happened again. We paid about $55/night for the AirBnB. Hotels in the area were about $35/night.

Crazy bears.
In Mexico City as we approached the Monument to the Revolution tower we saw a group of motorcyclists. They had on vests with gang colors. The gangs name was in English "angry bears". It seemed like a Disney name for a gang. They seemed friendly but I didn't approach them for a photo. They did not ride Harleys. One of them was a prospect.

Child labor at 9:30 at night.
- we were seated at an outdoor restaurant late one night when a 4 or 5 year old approached us with a basket of flowers. Then I noticed a few steps behind him was his older sister selling something else. As I was processing all this in my head I saw their mother pushing a baby carriage. I can't imagine what they are thinking. What time do they get up? What is their routine? Where is the father(s)?

Respecting the Culture

The tower was interesting and prominent. To go to the viewing area you had to go thru a long winding visit of the museum in the basement of the tower.

The Popocatlpetl Volcano in Puebla. We took a bus about 2 hours from Mexico City to see the volcano and the town of Puebla. There was a hot spring advertised. Popo is 18,000 feet above sea level. Puebla is about 6000 feet. So, the mountain towers above the town. It was amazing. Popo is an active volcano. It erupted 13 times in 24 hours February 27-28, 2024. We just missed it. They cancelled flights into Mexico City and Puebla for a short period. The photos below are taken from a rooftop in Puebla by my son Matt. The photo above was from the road back to Mexico City. 0673

Look closely. This is an electric line attached to a tree. The electric line goes into a water bottle that has been cut in half. The design is to allow a local street vendor parked at the curb to access electricity during the rain. I don't know if it is successful but the idea is good. The bottle, if sealed to the wire, would prevent rain water from dripping into the open electrical connection. I don't know what house the wire is connected to, but...

Mexico City had an earthquake in 2017 on the Richter scale of 7.1. It damaged a lot of buildings. This one appears to have been abandoned rather than taken down. It is expensive to tear down a huge building like this. 7019

We have had wonderful experiences here in Ciudad de Mexico. We had a long conversation at the local bakery with a woman practicing her English and we practiced our Spanish. She has a daughter living in NYC who works long hours. Sounded like she missed her daughter. She reached out to us. It was a wonderful meeting for us all. This is what makes travel beautiful.

We also met a French guy living in Mexico. He was our waiter at a pizza place called Mezza Mezza in the San Rafael neighborhood. So, to recap, we met a Spanish speaking French man serving Italian pizzas.

. We had two desperate poor people approach us while we were eating dinner there. One was playing a recorder accompanied by music BLARING from a speaker he carried. That was really annoying. Times are hard en la ciudad

So many Asian Indians, other Asian, Jewish people even. I was amazed at how many Asians were in Mexico City, even Puebla. We saw signs of Jewish people there as well, but very few Black people. There was an apartment down the hall that had a constant group of 4 or more Asian men playing cards around their dining room table with the door open. We saw an Indian Asian man conducting a transaction of about 2400 pesos which is about $300. I figured he was cashing his check. If he worked 40 hours, he was making about $7 an hour. Do you think he worked more?