Day 2 - The first exploration
The first thing that jumps to mind when you mention Mexico is sombrero's, poncho's and barren deserts full of cacti. In Mexico City, these images are quickly wiped away when you discover a city full of colour, parks, trees and grass where an afternoon can be easily lost whilst sitting around relaxing, drinking fresh juices and watching the locals going about their daily business.
After a great night sleep, the day started out with a visit to Polanco (the local suburb) for a morning coffee and croissant at one of the many café's and restaurants that the area is famous for. After the morning fuel stop, we made our way into Chapultepec Park which has been in existence since the 1400's if not earlier. Chapultepec Park is the home of the Castillo de Chapultepec (Castle of Chapultetec) which was once occupied by the Spanish before it was taken over by the Mexcians as well as the Jardin Zoological (Mexico Zoo). The Castle is now the home of the Museo Nacional De Historia (National Museum of History).
The park itself was amazing with people (and squirrels) galore all walking around and enjoying the sunshine and the many activities that are on offer from watching a Mexican clown busker (I am sure he was funny as the crowd was laughing at his jokes however not understanding Spanish we did lose a bit in translation) to boat rides on the Lago de Chapultepec (Chapultepec Lake) to wandering through the myriad of stalls that were selling everything from Lucha Libre masks (Mexican Wrestling - think Ray Mysterio) to sunglasses, cold drinks, jewellery and all other souvenir related items that you would find in most tourist markets.
This experience brought about our first (scary) challenge and that was enquiring into the cost of the items and then paying for them. After finally dragging up the courage and from persistent nagging by Zac, the first attempt at a purchase was for a Lucha Libre mask. I tentatively asked in my extremely poor Spanish: Cuanto Cuesta (How much). Now here was the problem, in summoning up the courage to ask a question in Spanish, I did not stop to think that the stall owner would answer in Spanish. His response was cincuenta. Now I was stuffed. I think the blank look followed by a quick dive for the iPhone translator followed by pure silence said it all. The only next step was to pull out the Mexican notes I had in my wallet and show him. With which he pointed to the $50 peso note and again repeated cincuenta. Aha, so that is what cincuenta means. Now before you think $50 for a wrestling mask is pretty high, the conversion rate meant it was worth $4.50 AUD.
From there we bravely bought a pair of sunglasses for $30 pesos ($2.40 AUD) and 2 x 600ml cokes and a can of soft drink with which I handed over $200 pesos and received $171 in change. Again, $29 pesos is $2.60 AUD so as you can see prices are very good. The fantastic thing about the stall holders that we dealt with was they knew we could not speak or understand Spanish and therefore did not understand the prices they were charging and based on this could have taken us to the cleaners on the price of the goods. They did not and for that I have walked away with a exceptional appreciation for them and their way of life.
After the purchases, we continued to walk through the park where we came across some amazing statues and architecture. Some of the photo's are below.
We finished the afternoon with some rest prior to helping Damian (my cousin) celebrate his birthday at a wonderful French restaurant where we enjoyed great food, great drinks and fantastic company (and also the chance to continue to practice our Spanish).
Tomorrow we are planning on heading down town to some historic buildings and churches which will again be wonderful.
After a great night sleep, the day started out with a visit to Polanco (the local suburb) for a morning coffee and croissant at one of the many café's and restaurants that the area is famous for. After the morning fuel stop, we made our way into Chapultepec Park which has been in existence since the 1400's if not earlier. Chapultepec Park is the home of the Castillo de Chapultepec (Castle of Chapultetec) which was once occupied by the Spanish before it was taken over by the Mexcians as well as the Jardin Zoological (Mexico Zoo). The Castle is now the home of the Museo Nacional De Historia (National Museum of History).
The park itself was amazing with people (and squirrels) galore all walking around and enjoying the sunshine and the many activities that are on offer from watching a Mexican clown busker (I am sure he was funny as the crowd was laughing at his jokes however not understanding Spanish we did lose a bit in translation) to boat rides on the Lago de Chapultepec (Chapultepec Lake) to wandering through the myriad of stalls that were selling everything from Lucha Libre masks (Mexican Wrestling - think Ray Mysterio) to sunglasses, cold drinks, jewellery and all other souvenir related items that you would find in most tourist markets.
This experience brought about our first (scary) challenge and that was enquiring into the cost of the items and then paying for them. After finally dragging up the courage and from persistent nagging by Zac, the first attempt at a purchase was for a Lucha Libre mask. I tentatively asked in my extremely poor Spanish: Cuanto Cuesta (How much). Now here was the problem, in summoning up the courage to ask a question in Spanish, I did not stop to think that the stall owner would answer in Spanish. His response was cincuenta. Now I was stuffed. I think the blank look followed by a quick dive for the iPhone translator followed by pure silence said it all. The only next step was to pull out the Mexican notes I had in my wallet and show him. With which he pointed to the $50 peso note and again repeated cincuenta. Aha, so that is what cincuenta means. Now before you think $50 for a wrestling mask is pretty high, the conversion rate meant it was worth $4.50 AUD.
From there we bravely bought a pair of sunglasses for $30 pesos ($2.40 AUD) and 2 x 600ml cokes and a can of soft drink with which I handed over $200 pesos and received $171 in change. Again, $29 pesos is $2.60 AUD so as you can see prices are very good. The fantastic thing about the stall holders that we dealt with was they knew we could not speak or understand Spanish and therefore did not understand the prices they were charging and based on this could have taken us to the cleaners on the price of the goods. They did not and for that I have walked away with a exceptional appreciation for them and their way of life.
After the purchases, we continued to walk through the park where we came across some amazing statues and architecture. Some of the photo's are below.
We finished the afternoon with some rest prior to helping Damian (my cousin) celebrate his birthday at a wonderful French restaurant where we enjoyed great food, great drinks and fantastic company (and also the chance to continue to practice our Spanish).
Tomorrow we are planning on heading down town to some historic buildings and churches which will again be wonderful.
