I must admit, driving through Mexico City was unbelievable.  The buildings are quite beautiful, both the classic and modern, extraordinary in their colors - hot pink, cobalt blue, and pumpkin.  The policeman on the sidewalk holding a machine gun was reassuring to me but Joshua was a little shaken.  What was amazing to me was the quite literal free for all on the roads.  Where there are lanes indicated, the lines are disregarded completely, and often there just aren't any lines.  Turn signals mean nothing and NO ONE will let you in.  It is a ruthless and continuous game of chicken.  The police are present everywhere, but do not enforce traffic laws, if there are any.  At one point, I was concentrating so hard on where I needed to go that I ran right through a major intersection during a red light but I guess that's not out of the ordinary since nobody seemed to care.  We did have Gerardo in the car who grew up in Mexico City and understands the brand of corruption and where the bad areas of town are so he advised me as to when to be in the center lane to decrease the possibility of being targeted while stopped at a light.  Yeah, you would've peed your pants, and the part of me still a nervous wreck behind the wheel due to our accident had to be pushed way down and denied access.  The pleasant surprise was reuniting with my long dormant, adventurous spirit.  More so than distress, I felt exhilaration.  Those extreme sports fans really should come down here and drive a few loops at work traffic!  I simply cannot exaggerate the speed and total lack of caution taken by the anarchic mass of drivers.  Invigorating to say the least.



the view of the Parque Cultural from our room



    Yesterday Joshua and I stayed close to the hotel, had a gorgeous buffet breakfast, then walked out to investigate the unusual construction and vast mosaic that we can see from our room.  For several years the government has been developing a Culural Parque here, of which our hotel is a part.  This includes a convention center, theatre, meditation garden, walking trails, monuments, a library, and more.  The giant sphere being built will be a futbol hall of fame, financed by the owner of the Pachuca soccer team.  The mosaic is made of tens of thousands of brightly colored glazed tiles of all shapes and sizes and is surrounded by towers of lights to illuminate it.  Of course, we walked over to the library and were not disappointed.  The books were all in Spanish so we didn't do any reading, but the facility itself is worth a look, typical of the modern style architecture employed in this part of Mexico.  There was a large exhibit of world stamps on display and we sat in on a school class of young children watching a film that we deduced was to warn them away from gangs.  It was rather graphic in nature, showing actual operations removing bullets and treating drug related maladies, and these were young students, maybe 10.  Sad to say, such measures are warranted here these days.





Biblioteca - The Library



Our hotel, Our room



   Upon returning to the hotel, we assisted Svetlana's father in ordering his meal.  This was a riot!  He is a jovial Russian man in a wheelchair who speaks no English or Spanish and Svetlana had preparations to make for the wedding so it was just the three of us.  I drew pictures of menu options and he pointed to fish and I selected a dish.  Luckily, Joshua is taking Spanish in school and a has actually been providing a great deal of assistance, despite his low marks.  Eventually, we resorted to paying the fee for internet access and using an online translator to speak with Sveta's father.  He is charming in that he always smiles regardless of the challenges he faces.  I envy him that.

    Last evening, I could bear it no more.  It just didn't make sense to be down here sitting in a hotel, even though it's quite nice.  Gerardo and Svetlana came by but they still had myriad preparations to make and were not available to take us out.  He is something of a nervous Nelly and did not recommend that we go out exploring on our own, suggesting that we just walk over to the new shopping mall across the street.  Joshua went for it but I avoid the mall whenever possible.  I don't think I've enjoyed going to the mall since you worked there.  ;)  I couldn't do it so I got online and looked at what was relatively close, got some directions and tips from various hotel staff, hired a taxi to follow out of town and get us pointed in the right direction, and Joshua and I went on an adventure.  Our destination was Mineral del Monte, a picturesque, historic mining town.  Just after the taxi left us to make our way, the road curved out of town and up a mountain, suddenly dark and deserted.  Joshua asked,"Is this the tourist road?" with obvious concern, but we soon saw a sign for Real del Monte so I was happy to relax and enjoy the empty road, taking in the view of the sparkling valley as we climbed to ear popping heights.  Although the signs looked to be hand painted, they were more efficiently placed than I've found in England or the US and we made our way through smaller and smaller streets, directly to the Centre Historica.  The orange and gold stucco buildings, tenuously supporting their decorative iron balconies and hugging the curves of the narrow, cobbled streets, were well worth the drive and the taxi fare.  This is more the Mexico I came to see.  We found a parking place just along the main road near the heart of town at what must be the town square judging by the promenade and ornate metal gazebo.  We took a leisurely stroll, perused the shops, and enjoyed a variety of pastes.  I believe Real del Monte is known for it's small, filled pastries which, just like in England, were devised as a way to provide a hearty meal for the miners.  We had potato, cheese and chirizo, apple, pineapple, and the strangest of them, rice pudding.  Every one was fabulous!  The shop attendants were all friendly and the only one that we encountered who spoke a little bit of English gave me a small gift for struggling to compliment the beauty of her town in Spanish.  She thoughtfully composed the sentence "Maybe it is not important to me because I live here" which I took to mean, thanks for reminding me.

   Around 8:30 the clubs started pumping music into the streets and the fluorescent adorned low riders started to come out for Friday night hi jinx, and we were getting a little chilly, so we asked in a shop for a map to facilitate navigating back out of town and toward Pachuca and our hotel.  The shop didn't speak any English but was very kind and helpful, tearing a page out of a local leaflet and marking a route for us on the little map.  Joshua is a fine navigator, has held the post for years now, and did a splendid job steering us through the one way system and back out of town to descend the mountain.  We cranked up the mariachi radio and took in the views again, quite pleased with ourselves for a splendid, spontaneous night out.  He had the fore site to note landmarks in his droid while we were following the taxi so we could watch for them as we returned and know when we were close.  The Camino Real hotel is seated in an awkward way regarding the access road, but it is nice and big so we could see it and not be bothered by having to circle around - home was in sight!

   Now it is time for us to have a bit of breakfast and dress for the wedding in Actopan, another town I cannot wait to see.