Leaving for San Miguel de Allende on Monday

Saturday, Mar. 12 (Part II)

I took the metro to the bus station and found what I expected. It is cheaper and easier for me to go to San Miguel de Allende and return to San Antonio from there than it is to try to go from here. From here, I must take a 15-hour bus trip to Nuevo Laredo which costs $75. I must wait about 2 hours for the next bus to San Antonio from there, and it will take 4 hours and cost another $18. I can take a 4-hour bus from here to San Miguel for about $15. Then I can take a 12-hour bus from there to San Antonio (same bus all the way) for $70. It{s 21 hours of continuous travel for $93 versus 4 hours and 12 hours broken with a stay in one of Mexico´s prettiest cities and a cost of only $85. I returned to my hotel and paid for two more nights. I will go to San Miguel on Monday and will either take the bus from there that night or return Thursday night with the tour group from the company that Wes and I used to go there in August. Vivian, the owner of both the tour company and the bus serivce, has said I can be her guest there and return with the tour group if I want.
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After napping, I went out exploring the neighborhood. It is much nicer than I had thought. PRI, one of the major political parties here, has its headquarters across the street. There are some very nice restaurants in the next block, there are quite a few other hotels, and there is a major local shopping street. There are two art museums within 4 blocks with one being in a former train station, and there is a Wal-Mart Supercenter about 8 blocks away.

I decided to also walk to the Zona Rosa, a fancy inner-city neighborhood that is popular with tourists. It is well landscaped and has stylish shops and restaurants and many expensive hotels. I found a restaurant (La Fonda del Refugio) where I have eaten many times that is considered one of the best in the city, but it was too early to eat. It was interesting to note that Londres is now the nicest street in the quarter; I seem to remember that Hamburgo was the main street 20 years ago.

I went to two cyber cafes on my way to the Zona Rosa. The first had filthy keyboards; you could both feel and see the accumulated grit on it. I had trouble opening and using programs there. I finally got into my e-mail and dealt with it, but I couldn´t get Blogger to work. It kept terminating when I tried to compose. The second shop was better, but you had to pay in advance for a designated time. I bought 30 minutes and had trouble posting to Blogger. It was in the process of posting when my 30 minutes was up and the computer shut off. I hope it posted; otherwise, I will have to retype everything. (A check a day later showed that it posted!!)

I returned to Las Delicias del Oaxaca, a very nice restaurant in my neighborhood for dinner. Before I ordered they served me a small drink and appetizer. The latter was an empanada filled with a spicy mixture and topped with black refried beans and grated white cheese. The drink was tequila-based, but I do not know what it was. It was different from a margarita. The rim of the glass had both pepper and salt for a very hot effect that left my throat stinging at one time. It was tasty and was pretty with an ice cube that seemed to have a drop of grenadine or something in it to give it a red color.

I ordered the 3-course menu of the day. The first course was a shimp caldo (soup). It was very spicy and tasty. The shrimp were small and dark. The next course was rice--simple, but nice. They brought two salsas, one red and one green, to the table, so I put those on corn tortillas to eat with the rice. The last course was a chicken thigh in a green sauce. It was tasy, but not hot. I added some of the green salsa to perk it up. A bowl of black beans was served on the side. It was an excellent meal, and I was stuffed.

A strange thing happened as I was paying. A man in street clothes smelling of alcohol came to my table. He spoke limited English, but he invited me to join him and his brother for the evening. I was surprised that the restaurant would allow someone like that to approach a customer. It turned out, however, that his brother is the owner of the restaurant. I lied and said I had just arrived after a 9-hour flight from Sao Paulo and was too tired to stay up any longer. Actually, I was really tired and returned to my hotel a block away.

Walking: 33,363 steps (24,293 aerobic steps), 1174 calories, 22 km (13 miles)

Sunday, Mar. 13 (Part I)

This was a city of noise this morning. There were large political rallies. Car horns were honking, speeches were given over loud speakers, crowds chanted, etc. One of the main rally points was the Monument to the Revolution which is only 3-4 blocks from my hotel. From what I could tell, opposing groups were there. They were separated by riot police, but each was trying to drown the other out with a louder sound.

I walked to Chapultepec Park thinking an afternoon in the park would be relaxing. it was such a crowded mess of people, however, that I took the metro back to my neighborhood.

I ate lunch in a restaurant where I had seen them making homemade corn tortillas yesterday. I had a soup that was broth with chunks of potato, a plate of rice, and green enchiladas. The soup was rather simple, but I perked it up with some lime juice and by putting some of the rice in it. The enchiladas were great. It was 3 of their homemade tortillas filled with chicken, topped by sour cream and shredded white cheese, and served on a bed of spicy green sauce. With a Sprite and jello as dessert, the meal cost less than $3!