Another Day in Mexico City

A walking tour of Mexico City 5/28/08The center of the city (yes, another church)
See the stone roads?
Out for a beer while the boys watch soccer (aka football). So, here's a story I haven't told my mother....our guide, Ernesto, told us that there are two religions in Mexico: Catholicism and football. He was right. And unfortunatly in this bar he was the only one rooting for his team. He was (stupidly) quite vocal about it and quickly drew the attention of everyone else in the bar. It wasn't long before a goal was scored by the other team and about 20 Mexicans felt the need to rub Ernesto's face in it--literally. They all rushed toward us and screamed at Ernesto what I would interpret as "your team sucks, our team rules. Who's your daddy?" One guy was literally rubbing his team's jersey in Ernesto's face. Nobody came after us girls, but I was sitting right next to Ernesto with no way of escaping these crazy people they call fans. The bartenders got them back in their seats, after which they proceded to throw limes and ice at Ernesto.

After the game was over (it was a tie) all the drunken Mexicans came up and apologized for being so very 'passionate' about their sports....oh, and "Welcome to Mexico" they said.

Above is the entrance to the first smelly market we went to. When we got off the subway I was gagging. I didn't take many pictures becuase I just wanted to get out of there. Besides being smelly it made me claustrophobic because the isle ways were so narrow and the goods being sold were stacked up to the ceiling. Not to mention it was just a bunch of junk as far as I could see.
Derek, Peter, Mel, and I decided to go on a gondola ride. A few people had gone the day before and said it was worth while. Well, this our day to get fleeced in Mexico. The gondolas charge a flat rate, but these guys decided to charge us per person (I think it's called a stupid-gringo fee or something like that). We thought something didn't seem right, but went ahead and paid. As we were leaving we saw the big signs everywhere (in Spanish, but still clear as day) stating that there was not a per person fee.

Derek (left) and Peter (right)
My roommate, Mel.

Would it surprise you to know that after she did this and got some of that water on her hands she got deathly ill for three days?

All in all, a good time....and lots of interesting stories to tell. I liked Mexico City in some ways, but we were there three nights and I would have rather that be just one night and stayed two extra nights somewhere else...stay tuned for more pictures and you'll see why!!