So many people want to just go to the Beach when they go to Mexico
So many people want to just go to the Beach when they go to Mexico, and they don’t really understand when Bill and I say stuff like “Jeese I can hardly wait to go to Mexico City or “Guanajuato or Oaxaca or Guadalajara.”
Many folks just want to go to an all inclusive where they can lay in the sun and just have copious amounts of alcohol and food. They don’t really have to be in Mexico at all. They could be anywhere in the world that serves non-stop buffets and low end booze. And that’s all fine. But it’s not really the Mexico that is there to explore.
I ponder this as I sit at a restaurant about 100 feet down from the door of our apartment. We have just arrived in Mexico City from Vancouver and we are gently wabbly after a 2:30 am wake up, an hour drive to the airport, ½ an hour on the shuttle, 2 hours waiting in line for tickets, security and boarding. Finally, a 5 hours flight – 1 hour migration and luggage retrieval and then a 1 hour taxi ride to our apartment. BUT now we are here and drinking a cold cerveza at a restaurant a few steps down the block.
We are excited about our adventure into THE CITY as locals call it. The one and only. The Big one. The only one that counts.
We drink our cerveza – Bill with a DosX Ambar and me with a Heineken as we look over a very busy street lining Alameda Park.
Alameda Park was created in 1592 and is the oldest public park in all of the Americas. As Central park is to New York City, Alemada Park is to Mexico City.
It was once the location of an Aztec marketplace before the arrival of the Spanish. During the Mexican Inquisition -a period from the late 1500’s to the late 1700’s – the park was known as the Burning Place. Here homosexuals, witches, Jews and scientific scholars were burned at the stake for not conforming to strict Catholic ideology.
In 1791 a tall wooden fence around the park to ensure the nobility could saunter without bumping into the middle and lower classes. You know, US – the riff-raff. The noble exclusivity ended in 1821 with War of Mexican Independence. The gates were open and the park became the focal point for many local celebrations. When a triumphant President Santa Anna rode into Mexico City in 1846 , all the parks fountains were filled with Alcohol.
I digress. We sip out beers overlooking the Park. On the sidewalk in front of us a band is setting up on the sidewalk. A couple next to us is busily entertaining their mentally handicapped son Emiliano as he laughs at length or inappropriately touches or kisses other patron.
The Band start playing. The lead singer wears dark eye makeup and a black T-shirt with bold white lettering WEIRD stamped on it. He begins to sing and entertain belting out rock and roll tunes in English. Kiss. “I was Made for Loven you Baby…”
We each order an empanada – Bills was filled with Cheeses and mine with shrimp. Delicious. Another beer por pa vour.
The crowd congregates around the band. A few souls start dancing. An elderly couple starts rocking and mixes the twist with the swim. Another couple does acrobatic dances and another man does the snake. The very large crowd raises their fists to the sky with the beat of the sounds. The handicapped kid next to us gets up with his mom and then dad and dances with all his might. There are smiles everywhere, Energy. Raw energy. Another beer por pa vour.
We stay for 2 hours at the best seats in the house. 7 beers in all. 2 empanadas all for $20 US.
Could you ever get that in an all inclusive on the beach. The history, The life. The Mexican culture. We grab a coffee and retreat to our hotel. All within a block. I can hardly wait until tomorrow’s adventure.
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