...Arty...

Having wandered around i now see why this city is the city of museums they are at every turn! After leaving the palace national i stumbled across a museum seemingly hidden across the road. It seemed like a door going to nowhere with just a guard out the front waving me through.  still not nowing where to go i went upstairs in hope that i was going the right way and found the first floor with lots of beautiful sculptures, mostly of jaguars and abstract forms, was really struck me was each piece was allowed so much space,  havent seen a gallery so spread out allowing each form to have their own space and not on top of each so you can appreciate each on its own.

Downstairs i was a quite  shocking exhbition of death which seemed quite visceral.  I didnt any photos of this space as found it abit grotesque. The entrance had sculptured life like babies bodies at all stages of foetal develpment, most with huge graphic mishapen details or birth defects. This was quite confronting, along with that paintings of many distressed women, interesting to see once but i wont be hurrying back anytime soon.

Next stop the Museo Del Bellas Artes huge, white building with beautiful domes on top.  They had a selection of murals on each level, where i found the my  most favourite painting so far by Jorge gonzalez camarena "liberacion la humanoid se libera, it seemed to have elements of futurism & cubism, my two most favourite art movements & was so huge! I love that so much of the art i have seen here is focused on murals, taking up not just a little frame, but a whole wall.

Its just so Colourful!

The thing that is so striking being in mexico is just how colourful everything is! My hostel is right in the centre of town near the Zocalo or Plaza del la constitution with six storeys and has a wonderful rooftop terrace that overlooks mexico city.  Its so lovely looking out and seeing houses in the distance painted in different bold colours, really brightens the city. 

My first little wanderings around the city followed no path, i prefer to walk and see where i end up, keeping close watch on where i've come from so i dont get too lost! First stop was the cathedral metropolitan, which i right next to my hostel the obvious first stop.  Beautiful towering almost gothic architecture (i'm told its baroque) its the oldest cathedral in mexico.  Although i don't really consider myself religious, cant help but feeel a deep sense of serenity in this building, even though it was quite hot outside, immediately inside it felt so cool and calming, i ended up staying to listen to one of the services.  Never really had anyting to do with catholicism but walking past all the altars and chapels inside, each dedicated to their own saints and different customs for eac chapel, i would love for someone involved in the church to be able to explain all these different customs, just for curiosity sake, not because im thinking of converting!

After the cathedral next stop the Palace National, locatd on the other side of the plaza del la constitution. Such a big building and have to go through many security check to get into the building (i got my water bottle taken off me again! I have to buy a new one everyday as nowhere lets you take it in with you!). Such a huge building the mains section has been transformed into a interactive museum style walkthrough. I was really impressed with this set up, i think many australian museums|historic centres could really benefit from how well this was organised.  One the second level are the famed diego riviera murals, which even thouh i had seem in booksbefore i had no idea just how HUGE they were, and wrapped around the whole of the building!

Speaking no spanish i was very apprehensive about going to a restaurant and having to order food, luckily on my first night here met a lovely swedish girl who had already been here 6months, so she took me out and showed me some of the nicer and cheaper places a little further away from the hostel.  Yummy yummy mexican food, after trying to navigate the menu i decided on 'Sopa de papa y poro' to start with arroz 'Tinga del pollo', yummy potato soup to begin  and a mains meal of small chicken pieces with bean and rice, so delicious im gonna have to come back! If only i could remember how to find it!

In Transit

Ah made it....was alittle bit bumpy but now i'm here.

I finally understand why so many people hate going through customs, i've never had any issues before going through LAX, and was always quite smug with myself having never had a problem trip!.  Before any of you think the worst i wasn't pulled up for doing anything bad, it was just a really long waiting game, over an hour and a half just to get through passport control (being fingerinted & photographed) and then another hours wait to through customs for a very weary traveller, this was a little bit too much to take. Having to clear these obtsacles then had to immediately check into my next flight & had to go through a similar process of bodyscanning, grumpy customs officers ending up in th smallest part of  LAX airport with only a handfll of shops & no internet connection and 3 hours to kill. 

I must have been the most suspicious person in this terminal in an effort to keep myself awake, i decided to go in each of the cafes (burger joints) and drink coffee.  Then as it was a really small terminal kept walking from one end of the terminal to the other pausing for a few mins to sit down at new chair each time. I was so paranoid that after having to go through all those customs/security checks that now i would be pulled up by security for suspicious behaviour!

Arriving in mexico city was just wonderful, the flight got in at 730pm just as the sun was setting & was showed a great view of the whole of mexico city lit up like fairyland (family do you remember fairyland, on the way to the kwinana house?).  Getting my taxi from the airport i was ripped off twice only picking up on one of them.  Here at the airport you buy your taxi ticket inside  from certain authorised companys, you never just hail one on the street.  I had been to one of the counters and got my ticket & when checking my change realised the guy had tried to trick me by handing me a 10peso coin instead of the 100 peso that was my change, i questioned him and he immediately gave me the change plus a cheeky smile that said "i do this all the time & not everyone picks up on it".

The taxi driver had no clue about where i wanted to go, i had all the directions written down, plus a wonderful mexican friend had given me a page long instructions on how to find my hostel, neither of these things helped, and we headed off not knowing if i was going in the right direction! On the way taking me past a very seedy red light district, fueling my fear that i was gonna end up in the middle of nowhere, however as he was driving down the street next to metroplitan cathedral i managed to spot my hostel from the car & had him pull over.

As soon as he saw the hostel, he smiled & said "ah Si!" he knew it all along!

Only 16 sleeps...

Only 16 sleeps and the nerves are setting in...

I dont know why i always get this way before i travel, so nervous about whether i have made the right choice and getting on a plane!

I thought some fears would get abit less as i get older but the more i fly the greater anxiety i feel about being on a plane!