Mexico City
Thank God we no longer felt like cycling! I was terrified to see five-lane roads in Mexico City, and those drivers fighting between one another to cover a given distance as fast as possible! We had booked a hotel room online in advance, so we got directly to the right place. In Mexico City we had just enough time to visit the Archeological Museum (an absolute must!) and take a 2 hour bus ride to Taxco, a town in which time seemingly stood still. Its silver ore deposits are now largely depleted, but approximately 400 craft workshops are still processing silver. Narrow, cobbled streets, houses as if hanging over one another, inexpensive and beautiful silver products attract crowds of tourists from all over the world.
We were also going to take a subway to a sanctuary of the Virgin of Guadalupe. In the guidebook there was a warning against pickpockets at the Hidalgo station, which is why I hid passports in a pannier and held it tightly. Igor put his wallet deep in his pocket. Although we stood behind 7 or 8 rows of people while waiting at the platform, as soon as the train door opened, we were pushed inside within just 2 seconds. When the door closed, Igor shouted over the heads of passengers that his wallet was gone. "What a stupid joke", I thought, but Igor told me to get off at the next station. We were stunned, not knowing what to do. No cash, no credit cards – great! Using some petty cash we had been saving for souvenirs, we paid for a taxi. Then a quick call to the bank to cancel our credit cards. That was really uncalled-for. In a Polish consulate we borrowed USD 50.
It is difficult to sum up that entire month in a few short sentences. What will I remember about it? Everything, especially the people, food and the Caribbean Sea. An elderly lady selling boiled corn cobs straight from a pot, freshly fried tortillas with all kinds of stuffing… well, even a hamburger tasted delicious in Mexico. Coconut juice tasted by the road, bananas ripening behind a long-gone fence – those are the real tastes of Mexico! We did not catch any diseases there. The only ailment I diagnosed after coming back home was the incurable longing – the desire to go back, and again, and again… to find happiness, freedom, to find everything!
We were also going to take a subway to a sanctuary of the Virgin of Guadalupe. In the guidebook there was a warning against pickpockets at the Hidalgo station, which is why I hid passports in a pannier and held it tightly. Igor put his wallet deep in his pocket. Although we stood behind 7 or 8 rows of people while waiting at the platform, as soon as the train door opened, we were pushed inside within just 2 seconds. When the door closed, Igor shouted over the heads of passengers that his wallet was gone. "What a stupid joke", I thought, but Igor told me to get off at the next station. We were stunned, not knowing what to do. No cash, no credit cards – great! Using some petty cash we had been saving for souvenirs, we paid for a taxi. Then a quick call to the bank to cancel our credit cards. That was really uncalled-for. In a Polish consulate we borrowed USD 50.
It is difficult to sum up that entire month in a few short sentences. What will I remember about it? Everything, especially the people, food and the Caribbean Sea. An elderly lady selling boiled corn cobs straight from a pot, freshly fried tortillas with all kinds of stuffing… well, even a hamburger tasted delicious in Mexico. Coconut juice tasted by the road, bananas ripening behind a long-gone fence – those are the real tastes of Mexico! We did not catch any diseases there. The only ailment I diagnosed after coming back home was the incurable longing – the desire to go back, and again, and again… to find happiness, freedom, to find everything!
