A Bird's Eye View

This morning, I left Ajijic to travel with Catherine and John to the Guadalajara airport. I had booked a flight with a small Mexican carrier, VivaAerobus, at a discount price. As things worked out, I had to pay much more than I thought since one of my bags was overweight, and the other one, my carry-on on Air Canada, was deemed too large to stow in the overhead compartment on the plane. Good thing I had made a stop at the ATM on the way, especially since the bank machine at the airport did not work. On the positive side, I was given VIP status (I am not sure why), which meant I got to board first and choose whichever seat I wanted. I chose the window.

My plane

Smoggy Mexico City

The courtyard at the Fiesta Inn

An hour and twenty minutes later, I was in Mexico City again. I retrieved my luggage and took a taxi to my hotel, the Fiesta Inn Aeroporto. Shortly thereafter, I was in another taxi heading to the Centro Historico in order to get myself a ticket for the Turibus, a double-decker hop-on, hop-off like those in most major cities.

The bus

For the next three and half hours, I rode through the streets of the city and listened to an English translation of the automatic audio. The bus traveled through the Centro Historico, Chapultepec (the park which contains several museums), the Polanco neighbourhood (very ritzy), the Condesa neighbourhood (where Sue and I stayed at the Red Tree House), the Zona Rosa (a Bohemian section of the city) and along the Paseo de la Reforma, (Mexico's Champs Elysées).  I am really glad I chose to spend my afternoon this way. There is so much of Mexico City that I did not get to see two weeks ago. From the photos below, you may think I saw nothing but monuments, but that is not so. I just happen to know the names of the monuments, so I am including them, rather than the buildings I cannot name.

Monumento a la Revolution

Iglesia de la Profesa (San Felipe Neri)

Card bench along the Paseo de la Reforma

Monumento a la Independencia, El Angel

Fuente de la Cibeles

Monumento de Colon

Monumento a Benito Juarez

Palacio de Bellas Artes

At the end of the tour, I hailed a taxi and made it back to my hotel for a light meal and an early bedtime, since my flight home tomorrow is very early. Buenas Noches.