Monumento de la Revolucion y el Castillo de Chapultopec

Brand new park opened up with crazy cool fountains and statues.

They love their disco lights here.  Every bar, every park...just everywhere!

View from the top of the monument of the revolution.

In Chapultopec park--its massive, you could spend a week there alone.  There are like 10 museums, the zoo, a little lake you can go paddling in and lots and lots of trees.

The castle of Chapultopec used to belong the Spanish royalty.  When they went back to Europe, it became the residence for the president of the country.  In the 1930s the president donated it to be turned into a national history museum and moved the official residence.

There are a ton of balconies and gardens and fountains and turrets and courtyards, and it sits quite high up so you can overlook the city.

Teotihuacan, Templo Meyor, Casa de Trotsky

Temple of the Sun at Teotihuacan.

Temple of the Moon

Sculls uncovered at Templo Meyor.

Cool skull art underneath a bridge in Coyoucan.

Pyramids at Teotihuacan were amazing.  Today we checked out the ruins that the Catherdral on the main Zocalo was built on top of, and then we went to Coyoucan to see Trotsky´s house, the market, and the Zocalo de Coyoucan.

Oaxaca Day Trip

 I went on a tour to the world´s biggest tree, and then we saw how artisan goods were made, were taken to a Mezcal factory to see the process and sample all the flavours, went to petrified waterfalls which were really cool because the sulfur content and limestone deposits in the water are so high, the water solidifies before getting to the bottom.  Finally we went to Mitla, wandered around the market, and the tour group tried to con us into having an expensive buffet dinner by taking us to a restuarant in the middle of fucking nowhere, but Sam and I just wandered along the highway and found a local soccer match going on that we watched while the others ate.  When we got back into the city, a bunch of us went back to the cool tapas bar\microbrewery and had a delicious dinner with some great beers.

The biggest tree in the world.

Demonstration on how they make artisanal goods, from spinning the wool, to dying the fabric, to making the products on the loom.

 Mezcal factory.

Petrified water falls.

Soccer match with a stunning backdrop.

Oaxaca City (cont'd)

Thursday I met up with Sam again for breakfast in the market.  Zsuzsa had told us about this delicious corn and chocolate drink, but we had forgotten the name of it, and ordered the wrong thing...it was this kind of sweet, starchy watery beverage that we each had about 3 sips of before calling it quits haha.  We had some delicious tamales, and then found out the actual drink was called champurrado and ordered that.  If you ever have a chance to try it, I would definitely recommend.  Then we wandered about the city for a bit and saw a few churches and gardens and then went to this massive ex-convent which has been converted into a historical Museum.

Both the architecture and the content of the museum were really interesting.  There were like 3 courtytards, and if I could have lived there, I may have decided to be a nun back in the day.

After this, we went to this really cool tapas bar/microbrewery.  We had already eaten a pretty lack-lustre meal (should the fact that the restaurant had been empty have been a sign?), so we didn't try the food, but the beers were really yum.  I tried a mango beer, and Sam had a red ale called Catalina, which had a really cool Day of the Dead label.

Oaxca City

I arrived in Oaxaca City on Wednesday, and it is much smaller than I had expected, but it´s a cute city.  There are a lot of artists and young people here and it seems like it has a lot of cool little cafes and bars with great terrasses and courtyards.  The Zocalo is always packed; there are a ton of little stalls, buskers, and people walking around selling goods (including a few 10 year olds selling gum and cigarettes).  On the bus ride in, we passed by a volcano that is always fuming; one of 2 active volcanoes along the route.

They also played Glee on the bus, dubbed into spanish, but with the original english song tracks.  Very bizarre... The buses tend to put on a lot of kids shows, even though the majority of the passengers are adults.

The first day I got in, I walked around the city a bit by myself and then met up with Sam for dinner, and a couple people he met at his hostel.  They were on exchange in Guadelajara from Australia and (Switzerland?) and were really cool.  We went to the market for dinner which was pretty awesome; there's a ton of different stalls that will make fresh Oaxacan food right in front of you.  One of the traditional dishes here is called Mole and is a sauce made of chocolate and chilli and is delicious.

Also, one of the delicacies here is grasshoppers, which I dutifully tried.  It just tastes like all the spices that are put on it, but it was a surprisingly good accompaniment to beer.

After dinner we went to a bar and tried Mezcal for the first time!

The City of my Birth

I got into Cuernavaca yesterday and will be heading off to Oaxaca tomorrow.  It´s a beautiful place, and I´m really happy that I came, but 2 days was definitely enough.  There is greenery everywhere and gorgeous flowering trees on every corner, but a lot of the beauty is hidden behind walls, as the majority of properties are surrounded by tall fences or are in gated communities.

I was staying with a family friend in a huge house on a beautiful property that seemed to go on forever.  It was really warm and Zocalo was nice--there always seemed to be people hanging out there.  I went to a cool museum that talked about the history of the colonization, independence, and revolution in Mexico; I saw a few pretty churches; and I wandered about the market for a bit today.

Yesterday I went to one of the pyramids, and then walked around downtown with Erna Dis and her son.  It´s a nice place to relax...definitely not as bustling as Mexico City.  I´m excited to see Oaxaca tomorrow, which has the biggest population of indigenous people in the country!

Izquierda, derecha, y a derecho

The 3 most useful words that we used today.  Went to Xochimilco today with a girl from England, a guy from Australia, and a guy from Austria to go in the canals.  After a train, a tram, and a local bus we finally made it to the area, but walked around for a couple hours before actually finding the quay.  It was like bumper cars in the canal, with other boats coming by selling food, beer, and souvenirs.  You could even hire a Mariachi band to jump onto your boat and play a song. On the way back the bus we were on broke down; we were about to jump ship when it finally started working again at which point the driver started blasting reggae beats for the entire almost hour long ride back to the metro...definitely the party bus.

Last night we ended up going to the monument of the revolucion for a free concert, but we got there just as it ended.  We talked to some protestors there about their cause--they were camped out underneath the monument because apparently the elections in July were corrupt, and they're demanding a new one.  Atfer this we went to an all night Mariachi festival, did some salsa in a mariachi bar, and talked to a Mariachi guy in the Giraldi square for a bit.

The night before this we ended up going to Mexican wrestling (lucha libre), and it was hilarious!

The tickets were only 35 pesos and you could get 2 beers for 50 pesos, so we had a great time.  There was randomly a midget in costume that didn't wrestle but just got thrown in at the end.

 The rules didn't make too much sense, as sometimes it was 1on1 sometimes 3on3, but it was still great to watch.

I also yesterday went to the museo anthropologico and ended up spending over 6 hours there!  It's massive, and really interesting; made me want to go to the pyramids, but I'm leaving for Cuernavaca tomorrow, so maybe I'll come back to Mexico city a bit early to check out Teotihuacan.

The previous day I went with the crazy austrian bee farmer, an italian, a guy from Holland, and an American to the Zoo in Chapultopec.  The german phrase for school of fish is "oodle de schvaron"

Also saw the ceremony of taking down the huge flag by the military in the Zocalo today, it was a pretty cool site.

Kahlo, Riviera, the Zoo, and Wrestling

Wednesday night I went on a tour with the hostel to a place to try a local drink made of agave called Pulche; was pretty delish.  Yesterday I went to Frieda Kahlo's house in Couyacan, saw the Grand Palace which has Diego Riviera's murals on the walls-- they were so impressive!  There was also an art gallery in there which showcased all of Mexico's prominent artists and told the history of Mexico, especially the revolution, through art.  Was going to go to the canals today, but the guy I was gonna go with got sick, so instead I'm going with some Austrians to the free zoo in the south of the city.  Most of the people I've met so far have been Aussies, and a few Americans, so I haven't been able to practice too much spanish yet, but a guy at the hostel invited some of us to his house party tonight, so hopefully I'll be able to chat w more locals there.  Tonight I'm heading to "Lucha Libre" the Mexican wrestling, so that should be jokes/fun.  This city is so huge! 27 million people, so there's sooo much to do here!

Pescatarianism ended

Tacos de Pollo (don{t worry mom, I didnt eat the salad)

Most of the choices on the menus are between pollo, carne, and jamon.  And since I can't eat salad washed in tap water, I figured I may as well just take the plunge.

Cervezas overlooking the city.  The cool building is a culture centre for on of the universities.

Zapato in christmas lights in the Zocalo.

Estoy Aqui

Arrived in Mexico.  Loving the warmth.  Detroit is a baller airport.  Hostel is right on the Zocalo.  Gonna go explore the city now!

My bags are packed...

This is my blog to keep you all updated on my travels through Mexico and South America!  I'll try to post pictures and update it semi-regularly.  I'm super stoked--I'm leaving tomorrow morning for Mexico City, and will be getting in at 13:37!  I'm pretty flexible with my plans, but after 3 weeks in Mexico, I'm going to fly down to Lima, and do a "V" of the continent--Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Brazil.  Some cool things I'll be doing down there is hiking Machu Picchu, taking a ferry through the Chilean Fjords, taking the steam train express through Patagonia, celebrating Carnival in Rio, and cruising the Amazon River!  I'll be sure to take tons of photos while I'm gone, and while I may be missing the people I'm leaving behind, I most definitely will not be missing the weather.  See you in 4 months!