Wow, i should have planned a few more weeks here. i have been walking alot of the same routes to and from the internet, the Jardin (city center) to photograph and eat Aztec soup. already i have a path and pattern to my travels and my days. a quick breakfast at the hotel then internet followed by frantic photos of everything in my path.
now i am pointing my map in new directions to see other areas of the city. yesterday i got in a taxi and pointed to a spot and asked him to take me there. turns out i was way up on a hillside i had not seen before. (my map is flat, but the city climbs many hills in every direction) the city spread out below me with the Jardin and tall church steeple for my refrence point. a slow ambling dog barking crawl down the hills brought me back to an area of the city i had seen before. today - i will venture the other direction. (just so i dont end up at the bottom of a hill)
YESTERDAY i did the home and garden tour as planned. we saw 2 houses. the first was really a hotel made up of three houses combined. they are opening the hotel after the first of the year so it was all decorated and finished. sort of all dressed up and no place to go... how many million was it valued? i have no concept or guess. pretend 3 mansions glued together by courtyards. the second house was ´better´as it was a single family dwelling. over 300 years old with massive walls and 20ft plus ceilings. i dont have a vocabulary to describe it all. this was a ´normal´wall and door out on the little cobbled street opening up to a palace. you´ll have to see the pictures. i took about 300 at the tour. (be patient) my problem is i have been having too much fun taking photos to look at photos. AFTER the house tour some friends from the hotel and i went to a steakhouse a few blocks away. an Árgentine´steak house. (more mexican food) it was great and priced in my pocketbook. THEN AFTER THAT i went to ´JJ´s´a biker bar 2 blocks away. (i had run into the owner of the bar just prior to the house and garden tour. i stopped for a quick coffee and sat on a patio in the Jardin. 3 guys in ´Harley Clothes´were at the next table and i asked if they would mind if i took their photo. turns out JJ and his pals were going riding and asked if i wanted to join them.... imagine my conflicted feelings. on one hand i could ride a harley through mexico with 3 desperados. on the other hand i could share spiced tea with 300 gringo tourists walking through stuffy houses. i am still not sure i made the right decision, but i did the house tour) At JJ´s i had a chance to visit with my ´new friends´and ask them about their ride.
TONIGHT i am going to midnight mass at the parroquia (big church in the jardin)for what will surely be some great photo ops. i am told they pass a baby Jesus through the church at midnight and everyone throws confetti on him. this i gotta see!
FELIZ NAVIDAD BABY. it rained last night just after the steakhouse and before i left the biker bar. so the air is fresh and clean without any dust. also it´s cooler here in the shade of the internet cafe. i need to run get some sun before i think about a jacket. i saw 64 on the thermometer in my room at 8am. it´s ´crisp´and cool now but in the sunshine it´s about 72 and just perfect. hope it´s perfect where you are.
HAPPY HOLIDAY. will work on the photos later during siesta time when it´s hot and i´m tired from walking.
´Warmest´ - Skip
LIFE on s/v Prodigal.... "Oh God, thy sea is so great, and my boat is so small."
