taco's & toucan's travels ~ 2019

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DAY 15

Week 3

MEXICO CITY (Ciudad de México, MEX)

Friday March 29^th, 2019

TODAYS MILEAGE – 40 miles / 64 kilometres

TRIP MILEAGE – 13,980 miles / 22,499 kilometres

After a bit of research, I settled on the Amigo Tours $65 USD ($94.50 AUD) Mexico City Super Saver: Coyoacán, Frida Kahlo Museum, Xochimilco & National University day trip.

We got picked up at 8:30 from the Hotel NH Reforma, transferred to our actual tour bus at the Palacio de Bellas Artes and then on to a toilet stop at Cafe El Jarocho in Coyoacán, where I came across my very first automated pay-per-use toilet paper dispenser. Be warned, you only receive 4 'poo tickets' for your 10 Pesos (76 cents AUD) - so use them wisely.

It was only a quick 15 minute break before we off again and walking over to the Iglesia de San Juan Bautista (San Juan Bautista Catholic Church) that was founded in the 15^th century, which all took the best part of two hours.

We crossed the street to the Fuente de los Coyotes (Fountain of the Coyotes) after all, Coyoacán comes from Nahuatl Aztec language and literally means 'place of coyotes'.

From there we wandered down to the supposedly world renowned Frida Kahlo Museum, that was literally encircled with queues of people stretching around the block. Fortunately for us Gringo’s on the Amigo’s tour, we only had to wait 15 minutes to get in.

I’d be the first to admit that when it comes to the arts, yogurt has got more culture to me and that Frida Kahlo de Rivera was more anonymous that wrong phone number to me, but I’m pleased to say that in the allotted hour we had in the museum, I learnt that in her 47 years Frida contracted polio at birth, had a car accident causing debilitating chronic pain, joined the Communist Party, divorced her husband for snookering her sister ..... then remarried him, had her leg amputated, became addicted to pain killers and wasn't able to celebrate her 50^th – all this is said to have drawn her to Mexican folk art and its elements of "fantasy, naivety, and fascination with violence and death" - go figure.

Late lunch was spent at Embarcadero Nuevo Nativitas Xochimilco in which we boarded one of the reported 2,500 Trajinera’s (flat bottomed boats), which run people around the Canals of Xochimilco. As there are absolutely no motor propulsion allowed, the colourfully decorated vessels are powered with a long wooden pole, similar to a punt. Goods and services like food, drink, souvenirs and Mariachi bands literally come to you on their own trajinera.

For mind, it felt like a cattle cruise where we went for a 20 minute ride up the canal, pulled up to get fed & watered, then herded back to spend ½ and hour at the trinket stalls. I asked about stepping off at the Gardens, Island of the Dolls or the historic town - it was at this time that the guide seemed to lose all understanding of the English language for some reason.

Our final stop of the day was at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (National University of Mexico) to take in one of the world’s largest mosaic murals that covers the 10 story tall UNAM Central Library that was created by Juan O'Gorman and took two years to complete.

While on the University campus, we took a few minutes to look out across the busy Avenue de los Insurgentes Sur to the Estadio Olímpico Universitario that's better known as Mexico's Olympic Stadium.

Our day finished back that the NH Reforma hotel around 6PM and during the walk home I had time to reflect on the day. As day trips went, we seemed to spend more time stuck in Mexico City’s notorious bumper to bumper traffic. To say I was disappointed with the trip would be an understatement with the major contributing factor being the lack of engagement by the guide. He simply did not know how to connect with the group of Spanish and English speakers, which is what the bilingual speakers said they were struggling with as well.

Not to worry though - tomorrow is another day.

Dinner was a half decent beef burrito and a pint of Tecate at the busy & bustling La Chelestial which could be best described as Mexican pub grub - neither good nor bad, but 'filling the hole' adequately.