Day 2: Mexico City Sinking (In)

OH yes, day 2 in Mexico..or really its the first day in Mexico City..

..Early birds we were today when after a virtually sleepless night (im blaming the jetlag) I got out of bed at around 720 local time, realizing that the alarm (which i had entrusted to steve to set) didnt go off i woke him up too.The plan for the early morning was to visit the Zocalo and take some pics of this during the day..apart from the countless Polizia Federal, which were getting ready for the celebrations day, we were the only two persons walking around in the morning along with a couple of steet vendors who were setting up around the church.

After the walk we went off to breakfast which I LOVED.On the menu: pancakes (with loads of honey) some taco-toast and what looked like sundried tomatoes..everything really good untill tasting the tomatoes which were HOTTT.

After the spicy breakfast our plan for the day was to visit Xochimilco just outside the city...a guide picked us up from the hostel with a typical american chevy van which was full with other young vistiors. The drive to the place felt quite like home, where in many ways the driving is similar to our style i.e. people parking in the middle of the road, changing lanes and of course...reversing in what is a main street..in the mean time the guide was explaining to us how Mexico City was an island before spanish came and decided to dry up the cancals..Xochimilco is a rehabilitation project to re-create a little canal...in the mean time we were making friends with the (nice) austrlian ladies in front of us and a danish couple who share our same hostel. Once there the next was to ride the 'boat house' which is simply a one-man powered floating piece of wood with some chairs for tourists...to our great comfort the guide explains that before all this was mud and now 'water recycled from the city' is being pumped for the cancal...oh wow...i wish i could swim in here...NOT - apart from this little detail, this was SO RELAXING, seriously an enjoyable ride where u can in absolute silence admire the flora and fauna and the 'crane' birds flying around..only a massage while on the canal would have beaten such a simple but yet an experience.

After this it was off to a Coyacan, where Frida Kahlo ('who the f*** is Frida Kahlo' i heard that !) use to live...the best experience of this however was not the museum of this artist but the visit to the market next to it..this was such an 'insider' experience. Many, many shops crammed into what looked as such a small space. We came to the market for eating some 'quesadillas' - in simple terms to us europeans pancakes made of sweet corn..the filling of these is totally up to ones likings. One stop before arriving to the vendor we bought some fruit squash (of black colour) which to our amazement was AWESOMELY GOOOD followed by some deep fried pig skin..yes thats right..PIG SKIN haha...it looked like the chinese crackers however the taste was different and not of my likings...dont be disgusted its MEXICO :) This was one of the preambles of coming here: being open minded and up for new experience..anyway back to the quesadillas...i guess you are wondering right now - what did we taste...oh well here it goes (warning: people with a delicate stomach should avoid reading the following list)
Chicken,
Cabbage,
Corn Fungus,
Boiled Pig Skin,
and last but not least Cow Brain...and yes I am not joking..

After this it was back way home, where on the way we found an open market place and we decided to stop there (not having a clue which way back to our hostel)...but then yes we managed. The market was full of nice stuff, many amazing skill full people working out live..wonderful..then it started to rain..ohh yes just a little drip which on our way was intensifying and thunder was being heard..quite close to us actually...thank god we made it safely to the hostel and BUM...havens broke loose and the little drip turned into a thunderstorm..while writing this on the (open roof) of the hostel (covered only by a plastic tent) the lightning was striking the buildings in front of us and adjecent to us..this was when we decided that it was best to retire to our rooms and call it a day..this was at approximately 20:30 local time..but tireness won over us...off to sleep :)