New Year's Eve

Luc and Matt went to spend the day at the Museum of Anthropology and I held down the fort. After spending hours at the museum they came home to take a breather before the New Year's festivities began. Our plan was to have some great Mexican-Japanese Teppanyaki on Reforma. So we headed out to Reforma and admired all of the nativity scenes on display. We especially loved the cutout head scene and voted Luc to be baby Jesus. There was a "light and sound spectacular" which attracted a huge crowd right outside the Sheraton Maria Isabel Hotel. We checked it out for a bit then headed inside for dinner. (Who knew....all therestaurants were closed on New Year's Eve too?). We ate a great buffet dinner and afterwards hailed a cab to the Zocalo. When we got there it appeared pretty sparse. We had read that the Zocalo was the place to be and got really crazy. On the contrary, it seemed pretty tame. Mostly, families were camped out waiting til midnight. We got a great spot in front of the cathedral. All of the holiday setup (like the ice-skating rink and ice slide) were fenced off. Luc & Matt were mesmerized by crayon-looking blow up toys that could be bounced all over. Once I saw a vendor with GIANT sparklers, we were all over it. They were sold in sets of 4 so we had an extra one. It was so adorable when a little boy approached Luc and asked him for it. How could we say no? The Holiday Inn which overlooks the Zocalo jumped the gun a bit and lit off some quasi fireworks from their ledge. Our official countdown coincided with the bells of the cathedral. All in all a great start to 2009 in Mexico City!

The Arrival of Matto & Pyramids

Luc's pal Matt from MCLA decided to visit for the week of New Year's and we wer tickled pink. We saved him a giant headache by meeting him at the airport and picking him up. After getting lost in awful traffic, we went to Villa Maria so Matt could experience authentic Mexican food. The day after he arrived we decided to rent a car and take him to Teotihuacan to see the pyramids. Urvi's cousins were in town as well and joined us on our trip. It was my idea to leave ridiculously early, as I've been telling everyone my theory....Mexicans don't like to wake up early. So the earlier you go somewhere...the better. And it was a good idea that day b/c we didn't hit any traffic on our way up to the pyramids. Also, the place was a ghost town which worked to our advantage. We decided to hire a private tour guide and he turned out to be pretty great despite a freaky, deformed thumbnail. (I guess you had to be there.) The boys climbed the 'rids while I took pics. I was still getting over a sinus thing. I chatted w/the tour guide and he was telling me that they're setting up a big LCD light display on the pyramids. Once they're done, there will be a night "show" where the pyramids light up. After the 'rids we headed to a local restaurant for an early lunch. On our way back to the city there was tons of traffic. Have we ever mentioned how much people love to use their horns here? Well they do. And it doesn't sound pretty.

Fishing in La Paz

In Baja, it seemed fishing was a must. I figured that we could get a trip similar to those in New England, but stuff is just a little different down here.

The trip started early as we departed the hotel at 6am. Rebecca really loves fishing, there are few things that she would wake up so early for. We climbed into a van and travelled with a couple from New York City to the Bay of the Dead/Dreams.

As our driver explained to us, the area was called The Bay of the Dead, due to a Spanish ship that was anchored there. After the Spaniards infected the Baja's Indigenous (with cholera?), the local tribes retaliated by burning their ship and killing all on board. The Bay of the Dead, however, is not a name that sells very well. So real estate excutives have changed the name to The Bay of Dreams. By any name it was a beautiful looking bay. On the way there we almost ran over a mountain lion and a horse. We could tell this was an area where adventurists came to travel.

We met our "captain", of a 12 foot outboard motor boat and set out into the bay. Clearly we were not travelling too far off shore, to be honest I was a bit concerned as to exactly what the trip would entail.

We started by catching our bait.The captain casted a net into the water and pulled up some sardines. They were kept in the bow of the boat w/fresh water. From there we travelled to the other side of the bay and our captain baited and cast our lines, I was wondering when we would start fishing, because so far the capt had done all the work. We dragged our lines as the boat motored around and as Bex asked him, in Spanish, "How do we know we have a bite?" her pole bent towards the stern. She reeled in a Snapper to start our day. There would be many more to follow.

Bex caught a Mackerel that was a good 3 feet long, definately the biggest of the day. The best fish I caught was a Gallo in Spanish. We call it a Rooster Fish in English, I prefer the Spanish name. The capt said it was bad eating, a sport fish and routinely thrown back, so we kept with tradition and set the Gallo free. It was far too beautiful to be killed by a couple of Americans on holiday.

In the end, we had six bags worth of fish fillets. The snapper, a lot of Mackeral, and a Sea Bass. We gave one bag to our capt with a tip, and another to our driver, who asked if he could have one (remember, Mexicans aren't shy about asking for things). The rest I had the resturant in the hotel prepare for us to enjoy. We asked to have ceviche made from the mackerel, and the rest of the fish could be grilled. It was a neverending feast, which was delicious and the fillets came w/3 sauces: Veracruz (onions, olives, tomato), ajillo (garlic), and salsa picanta (hot sauce). We enjoyed the fruits of our labor.

Navidad Eve

Merry Christmas! Since we were staying in Mexico this holiday season we decided to make the best of it. A traditional
Xmas eve dinner is tamales. So Luc said he would treat me to a nice dinner at the Hotel Nikko in Polanco. After wishing our families a Merry Xmas, we headed to dinner around 8:30. We've never seen the streets so empty! As it turns out, the Hotel Nikko restaurants are mostly Asian and wouldn't have the traditional Mexican fare. So we went next door to the Intercontinental Hotel. There were only serving turkey dinners so that was out too. The concierge told us that all of the restaurants close at 6pm on holidays like Christmas Eve. Looks like we didn't get the memo! We figured the Camino Real would have something in their cantina, but again, it was turkey and fish. After it was obvious that tamales weren't in our future, we decided to hit up Le Cirque. They had a fixed price Christmas menu that was a great deal. Each course was a piece of art that was delicious. Luc discovered "ponche" in his desert, which is a traditional Mexican drink (served w/and w/o alcohol) that's served at Christmas. Yum! We had to get to bed early because we had an early flight to La Paz in Baja California.

We've also featured our 1 ft tall Charlie Brown Christmas tree for your viewing pleasure!

Nutcracker on Ice? Yes, Ice!

Part of the Christmas festivities in the Zocalo includes a showing of The Nutcracker on Ice. As we mentioned before, they built a HUGE ice-skating rink in the Zocalo. Each night at 6pm, they put on a show. Since the week engagement was ending soon, we thought we'd check it out. It was also my maiden voyage on the metro. Despite the rumors I've heard about it being dirty and unreliable, it was awesome! It was extremely clean and quick. We made it to the Zocalo but 5:30 but by that time, there was a line that snaked across the Zocalo about 4 times. We knew we wouldn't make the cut when at 6:30 they actually announced that the people at the end of the line were SOL. They made the announcement very politely and asked us to return at 2pm the following day? You mean to tell me those people were standing there for 4 1/2 hours? That's insane!

Instead, we grabbed some food "to go" and scoped out a spot to see the 'Cracker from afar. As luck would have it, a group of Peruvian wood flutists set up shop DIRECTLY in front of us. They assembled their mini stage/sound system right under our noses. We couldn't help but laugh at how funny it was. I was prepared to take a stand and stay strong in our awkward positions in the middle of their show. But after they played Paul Simon's "El Condor Pasa" for the second time, we conceded defeat. It turned out to be in our best interest since just a few steps away there was a flatscreen to project the ice ballet. We got some great real estate on the ground and waited for the show to start. It was so cute...a little girl sitting behind us stumbled over to Luc and was amazed by the sight of him. She started playing with his fuzzy arm hair! Oh Mexico!

Navidad en el Zocalo

We felt like having a lazy Sunday since we've been kind of non-stop lately. The weather was perfect for a short trip to the Zocalo. We left the house and headed towards the Zocalo. Upon arriving at the famous city center, we were surprised to see a winter wonderland. We knew there was an ice rink setup, but there was also a man-made sledding hill and a snowman making area. There were small snowmen maybe a foot high created from a mold. The Zocalo was packed with young Mexicans excited to enjoy the snow. We decided to get away from the crowd and go to the top of the Holiday Inn, where a restuarant would cure our growing hunger. While eating on the roof terrace, sipping bloody marys and listening to mariachi music, we made a friend. He was a psychotherapist from New Mexico that routinely visits the "old" Mexico. He told us how lucky we were that we were living down here, and gave us suggestions for things to do. It made for a great lunch overlooking the Zocalo.

Bizarre Bazaar

Luc's co-worker told us there was an Asian bazaar in Polanco. Since I had an unfounded craving for Asian food, this was perfect timing. There were rows of tables set up sellling goods from Malaysia, Phillipines, Vietnam, Thailand, and Indonesia. All of the goings on were centered around an outdoor theater. The best part, by far was the food station. They had yummy eats for super cheap. A plateful of food was about $2 and it was enough to fill us up for the rest of the afternoon. Along the way, I found a woman who was walking a Xoloitzcuintle dog. I've wanted this dog for so long! It's a Mexican hairless dog that's hypoallergenic and is soooo cute! I asked her where I could find one and she took my information when her dog has puppies. (I'm hoping for a Xmas miracle!) It was difficult, but I tore myself away from the dog and kept walking. We caught wind of the fact that there was also a raffle. After buying 5 tickets, we took our seats, sat in the sun, and waited for the raffle to begin. Since Luc usually has the best luck (last raffle winnings: bike messenger bag filled w/over $150 of bike accessories) I waited for our number(s) to be called. An hour and a half later we had to walk away empty handed. Boo! Afterwards we hung out at the Marriott while admiring their beautifully decorated X-mas lobby. We made a stop at Starbucks--sorry! But I'm ashamed to admit that I REALLY miss Gingerbread Latte and Pumpkin Spice Latte season.

Day 57: Airline Racket Rant

This week I've been stuck inside because the flooring is being done. In between prepping rooms to be painted, I've attempted to catch up w/my paperwork. First on my list....requesting a refund from Priceline, US Airways, and Mexicana. No luck. Priceline pins it on US Airways, then US Airways pins it on Priceline. They even make a suggestion for me to contact the Department of Transportation. After locating my monocle and a magnifying glass, I had to do some digging. Apparently US Airways changed their bogus baggage policy on July 9 and we bought our tickets on July 29. And Mexicana HAD a high rate baggage policy in place June 18 but quickly changed it on September 1. What does this all mean? It means we're royally screwed.

These sorts of schemes by large airline companies give me agita and an aversion to flying. We're now seriously thinking of driving back to the US when the time comes. Kind of an F you to the man.

...and scene.