Olah!
Immigration & customs was a piece of cake. For obvious reasons they have very strict security.
At the luggage collection point we waited for nearly 20 minutes but were easily amused by a sniffer dog running along the carousel busy at work identifying bags that needed further scrutiny. I'm not sure what he was trained to smell, but 1 in 4 bags got the signal and a big green sticker.
Immigration & customs was a piece of cake. For obvious reasons they have very strict security.
At the luggage collection point we waited for nearly 20 minutes but were easily amused by a sniffer dog running along the carousel busy at work identifying bags that needed further scrutiny. I'm not sure what he was trained to smell, but 1 in 4 bags got the signal and a big green sticker.
We left the terminal at 8am with a pre booked & paid taxi which only cost us $14US for a 20 minute ride into the city. We are super excited to see Mexico!
It's a rainy overcast day outside & the streets look fairly typical of a city. The only obvious difference is the Spanish everywhere.
As we drive closer to our hostel accommodation, we notice a lot of police. Tom asks our driver if the area is safe. His reply is "during the day it's very busy, very crowded area, lot's of people, at night it can be not so safe, lots of hookers".
We find our hostel, which has a nice sign next to the road & go inside a corridor. There is a security guard who let's us into the lift & takes us up to level 5.
We checked into a room number 5 which has 2 single beds. Immediately we unpack, scattering our stuff around, as we do & hit the showers.
The hostel is new, so new you can still smell the plaster left over from the renovations.
It has a strange feel & is lacking the homely, warm vibes that hostels normally have.
The common area is huge with new, but odd bits of furniture. White imitation wood lineulin, white walls & strange art. It feels like an asylum & it's very echoey.
But it's a home base for the next 2 nights & at least it feels secure & is in a central location.
The one big bonus is that there is a big functional kitchen & a nice patio area with plants.
Once we've showered the plan was to find food, but the temptation to lie down & rest my swollen feet is too great.
Tom wakes me up at lunch time & we set off shortly after.
We walk through the streets towards the central square area & a restaurant Tom has found online with good views.
There are people everywhere with small stalls on the sidewalk selling fruit, top off brand accessories & Mexican souvenirs. Lots & lots of Mexican flags can be seen in people's hands, in shop & on their cars. It feels very patriotic & celebratory.
As we get closer to the centre area we can see lots of street decorations & workers setting up stadiums.
There must be a festival coming up soon. Mexico is known for having a non stop festival calendar.
We find the restaurant with help from locals & are given seats facing out towards one of the central squares. The buildings here are very very old & to our eyes they look very gothic. Some more cultured people would probably disagree, after all Tom & I haven't been to Europe (yet) & don't have a lot to compare with.
They all appear to be built with a rough, grey stone & stand very tall with lots of towers & a few have stone statues of gargoyles on the corners. A lot of them are churches or cathedrals. It feels like there is a huge ancient church on every street corner here.
We order beers in an effort to shake the sleepiness & 2 main dishes. While the mains are cooking were given bread, corn chips & 2 different dipping sauces. One of these is green & tastes like fresh jalapeno, while the other has a heavy smoky chipotle flavour, yummo!
The corn chips are very different to the ones we eat back home. They are much thicker & feel almost like a hardened pastry.
The food was amazing! 1 dish had layers of prickly pair, avocado, cilantro & jalapeno. The other dish had capsicum stuffed with black beans, guacamole, with a cream & chilli sauce.
Very different to what we thought Mexican food was gonna be like. Mind you, this was in a nice restaurant. I'm sure we will eat buckets of cheap 'street food' tacos & burritos while here.
Once we were finished lunch, we were more tired than when we started & decided to head back to the hostel. On our way back we saw a protest that looked peaceful & seemed to be about some proposed new development.
The police were there on standby, in full riot gear with shields. I doubt they will be needed.
Everywhere we go there is security guards & police in vests with semi automatic rifles.
We saw a whole police bus with siren & lights go past, transporting approximately 50 police officers in full gear. I guess the police presence is good, but it also eludes to the large amount of crime this country sees.
On our arrival home Tom watched some Netflix & I fell asleep. I felt physically I'll & nauseous from lack of sleep/jetlag.
The rest of the day was a right off. We didn't do anything else of note & barely left our beds.
- Alli
We find our hostel, which has a nice sign next to the road & go inside a corridor. There is a security guard who let's us into the lift & takes us up to level 5.
We checked into a room number 5 which has 2 single beds. Immediately we unpack, scattering our stuff around, as we do & hit the showers.
The hostel is new, so new you can still smell the plaster left over from the renovations.
It has a strange feel & is lacking the homely, warm vibes that hostels normally have.
The common area is huge with new, but odd bits of furniture. White imitation wood lineulin, white walls & strange art. It feels like an asylum & it's very echoey.
But it's a home base for the next 2 nights & at least it feels secure & is in a central location.
The one big bonus is that there is a big functional kitchen & a nice patio area with plants.
Once we've showered the plan was to find food, but the temptation to lie down & rest my swollen feet is too great.
Tom wakes me up at lunch time & we set off shortly after.
We walk through the streets towards the central square area & a restaurant Tom has found online with good views.
There are people everywhere with small stalls on the sidewalk selling fruit, top off brand accessories & Mexican souvenirs. Lots & lots of Mexican flags can be seen in people's hands, in shop & on their cars. It feels very patriotic & celebratory.
As we get closer to the centre area we can see lots of street decorations & workers setting up stadiums.
There must be a festival coming up soon. Mexico is known for having a non stop festival calendar.
We find the restaurant with help from locals & are given seats facing out towards one of the central squares. The buildings here are very very old & to our eyes they look very gothic. Some more cultured people would probably disagree, after all Tom & I haven't been to Europe (yet) & don't have a lot to compare with.
They all appear to be built with a rough, grey stone & stand very tall with lots of towers & a few have stone statues of gargoyles on the corners. A lot of them are churches or cathedrals. It feels like there is a huge ancient church on every street corner here.
We order beers in an effort to shake the sleepiness & 2 main dishes. While the mains are cooking were given bread, corn chips & 2 different dipping sauces. One of these is green & tastes like fresh jalapeno, while the other has a heavy smoky chipotle flavour, yummo!
The corn chips are very different to the ones we eat back home. They are much thicker & feel almost like a hardened pastry.
The food was amazing! 1 dish had layers of prickly pair, avocado, cilantro & jalapeno. The other dish had capsicum stuffed with black beans, guacamole, with a cream & chilli sauce.
Very different to what we thought Mexican food was gonna be like. Mind you, this was in a nice restaurant. I'm sure we will eat buckets of cheap 'street food' tacos & burritos while here.
Once we were finished lunch, we were more tired than when we started & decided to head back to the hostel. On our way back we saw a protest that looked peaceful & seemed to be about some proposed new development.
The police were there on standby, in full riot gear with shields. I doubt they will be needed.
Everywhere we go there is security guards & police in vests with semi automatic rifles.
We saw a whole police bus with siren & lights go past, transporting approximately 50 police officers in full gear. I guess the police presence is good, but it also eludes to the large amount of crime this country sees.
On our arrival home Tom watched some Netflix & I fell asleep. I felt physically I'll & nauseous from lack of sleep/jetlag.
The rest of the day was a right off. We didn't do anything else of note & barely left our beds.
- Alli
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