Sunday, December 05, 2010

lesson one...don't upgrade blog...

i guess there are canucks fans everywhere.

(this is my second attempt at today's missive.)
this morning i was kinda slow moving so i didn't really get going until after 10 a.m. sure, i was up long before that but i just felt like staying in bed and then once i discovered the shower had water coming out of the shower head and it was hot - well, all bets were off for a speedy exit.
i had hoped for a coffee next door at the cool looking shop there but they weren't open when i left..i mean, who would want coffee so early, it was only 10:30 am...so i opted for the crappy coffee they serve in the lobby and had been told when i check-in that i got a free breakfast...but it was nowhere in sight and truthfully, after the taco-fest last night i didn't need anything to eat...so off i went.
taxi's are interesting here. there are cars you call and they look like regular cars with no cab light on top but do have a radio but are more like hiring a private car. then there are regular taxis that, according to ricardo and his friends, are not very safe and that have drivers that may turn around halfway through the trip and rob you - not likely but it does happen and then there are other 'taxis' run by guys who'd love to be real taxi drivers but are not. you stay away from them. so...today i called a taxi and had an uneventful ride to the zocalo. perfect.
the zocalo here is very different from the zocalo in oaxaca. here it is, indeed, a huge city square and really, not much more. in oaxaca it's a large square that is surrounded by cafes and has a large commercial element to it whereas there is very little, by comparison, commercial action at the mexico zocalo. well, except for the five million jewelry shops on the, i believe, west side. i've never seen so many jewelry shops ever. every street downtown has shop after shop selling essentially the same stock. hundreds of shops - literally. the main use of the zocalo seems to be as with any city square - events set up and torn down, concerts, rallies, etc. and the focal point there is the cathedral that has multiple altars - therefore there were many different services going on at one time when i was there today, entrances and is a huge sight to behold.
i walked around the area for a while and then headed back towards the area of the city where ricardo's shop is - a walking trip that he said could take me more than an hour, probably more. so off i went. i had thought about getting a taxi but kind of wanted to get lost in the city a bit - which i actually didn't. i just kept heading the way i thought it was, asked a couple guys for directions just to make sure i was on the right track and had a great time walking back. and it was quite a long way. but along the way i passed by several markets, had some lunch at one of them, bought a few things at another and was ready for a rest once i got back.
i'm not sure what's up for tonight - if anything - but i do know a snack will be in my future.
below, the day in pictures.


garncarlos.
xo

ricardo is trying to get us tickets to some luche libre tuesday.


there are vendors all over the city selling any manner of things...this was a bit much i thought. and over the day i saw, at several different markets, more guys selling this stuff...weird.
these guys make these things that are like pigs in blankets - sausages inside tortillas with any manner of stuff added.


this was my lunch - like a citrus pork...oh, not one. three...and a horchata.


later on i found this tasty lime bread.

and fruit and yogurt...it was good to have some fruit.

cactus, onions and meat cooking in the market.

at the zocalo today there was some sort sex awareness thingy going on...these kids were having their picture taken with a guy dressed in a penis costume. cool!

speaking of organs...

the outside of the cathedral at the zocalo.

they're getting ready for xmas in the zocalo.

it was busy today in the zocalo.

this guy was doing some healing.





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