My OneWorld Around The World Trip: Mexico City, Day 1

We woke up very early the next morning, since the time for us was 8 hours delayed, so even though we were quite worn out the night before, you can only sleep so long before your body wakes up naturally. So we went down and had breakfast, which was complimentary, and really good, too. They had the full spread, pretty much everything you can think of, and eggs and bacon to order, etc. So we really fueled up.

Then, after breakfast, we went back, and did absolutely nothing for the rest of the day, well, for the most part anyway. We found we were still completely exhausted from the long trip. So we just lounged in the luxurious hotel, but didn’t even go for a swim. Finally, in the late afternoon, we were starting to feel restless, and we had seen on the street below (the main thoroughfare through downtown Mexico City), there was a festival going on. There were booths setup from each of many countries, and we could see the country names, and people passing from one to the other. So finally, we went down and checked it out, and took a few pictures. The booths were just sort of miniature “world’s fair” kind of setups, for each country, advertising their good points. All the people were in a good mood, walking around . It was a Sunday afternoon, so families were out, and everybody was having a good time.

We milled around for a bit, and then realized we were actually still tired, so made our way back to the hotel without really doing much of anything. We hadn’t even eaten since breakfast, and there were good stalls with food and restaurants, but we didn’t even feel like eating. So, back to the hotel we came.

When we were about to the hotel, and planning to go right in, we noticed a large crowd of people holding signs and cheering intermittently. We figured out they were for somebody from Argentina. We also noticed a crowd of people who did NOT like the others, and were protesting, periodically singing some anthem together. And there was a huge swarm of security people, the secret service types with little ear pieces with curly clear plastic wires going under their collars, all in front of the hotel entrance. So we just decided to wait around and see what was going to happen. Those guys appeared very nervous about us, maybe because we kind of stood out from the crowd a bit, and had a big camera bag with us, which they kept eyeing very suspiciously. We noticed a considerable number of the police made their way directly behind us and were not trying to hide that they were watching every move I made, especially when I went for the bag! One of them kept his hand just inside his coat jacket pocket, obviously gun at the ready should I prove to be a would-be assassin. While I wholly disapprove of murder of course, it is still fun to think I may have looked the part of the CIA spy. Hahaha I don’t think they would have me unfortunately…

After a while, sure enough, the Presidenta of Argentina herself walked out the door to the sound of much cheering from the crowd. The protesters rejoined their efforts as well, and raised their anthem up. Honestly, I could not figure out who was who, except I had a feeling the Presidenta must be a socialist, a) since she was from Argentina, and b) since the supporters seemed much more poorly groomed than the protesters! Hahaha Sorry to all my socialist friends out there, but it turned out I was actually right I think, so maybe my observation was a bit harsh, but nonetheless, accurate. ;)

So we got the Presidenta on camera, and video, walking out, greeting her supporters. It was quite a spectacle, and the protest group really got riled up when they saw her. Her motorcade roared out noisily. Just like in the movies, I would say…

After that, we basically vegged the rest of that day. Just one more full day of the trip to go, we got to sleep pretty early, still way behind (or ahead, who knew by that point) in our schedules.

Just by the hotel, a famous landmark of Mexican Independence along the main downtown avenue

Nice shot of the square, with cool new construction in progress

Good shot of the independence memorial from the base toward the sky

Just had to add this one because it perfectly captures the mindset of this day - half asleep! hahaha

Unfortunately, looking through pics, and somehow the only actual picture I have of the La Presidenta episode is this one. I will extract some pics from video, which we have good quantity of, though.

La Presidenta emerges from the hotel (Presidenta Cristina Fernández de Kirchner of Argentina).

That lovely wave and smile (ok, and maybe also her "America and the rich are to blame for all your problems" policies) earned her the admiration and support of millions (including unfortunately Hugo Chavez and a bunch of other thugs).

Crowd surges forward to greet La Presidenta, police look uneasy!

After she shook hands with a few crazed fans, she got in the car. The security type guy leering in our direction - there were a lot of those!

Her earnest protesters definitely seemed like the "uncool" folks in the crowd, but they were steadfast in singing their dirge lamenting Argentina's downhill slide (no doubt - although I don't understand Spanish well enough to translate, tone and disposition says a lot by itself)

Just interesting because if you look closely, you can make out the guy in the back seat, intently staring out the back window, turned completely backward, watching La Presidenta's car like his life depends upon it (and indeed maybe it does!)