Mexico City

Garry Dymond kindly met us at Lerma BMW to guide us back to his home in Chamontoya, Álvaro Obregón, Ciudad de México.

Garry and Yvonne settled us in and were amazing hosts! We may never want to leave “Garry’s Hostel”.

We ventured out (yes in MC and on our own) to connect up with some fellow BMW riders we had happened to meet at a Pemex on the way from Jalpan to San Miquel de Allende. Diana and Frederick invited us to the Moto Expo. They also introduced us to many of their friends including Juan.

We managed to find our way “home” in the dark without needing to make one of the famous “we found 2 of your lost Gringo” calls to Yvonne. Then we had our first of several late night visits to SUPER TACO. Plus to our delight Grandma had made us a delicious flan for dessert!

After a delicious breakfast by chef Garry we set off for downtown by bus and Metro.

We arrived in the Zocolo to find a huge book fair and writers expo. The Cathedral was crowded with a special celebration with live music and singing.

The National Palace houses the spectacular murals of Diego Rivera and several permanent and temporary art exhibits.

We chased down this man who left his bank card in the machine and he insisted we take a gift.

Walking down Reforma to the Plaza of the republic, there were several interesting churches including the Cathedral of San Francisco Grande where there were massive paintings on canvas. We wandered around the Zona Rosa and again made it easily home if a bit late. Luckily not to late for super taco!

On Saturday after Ivonne’s amazing chilaquiles we set out for the Museum of Anthropology, which is a must see if you visit the city.

The Danza de los Voladores (Dance of the Flyers), is an ancient Mesoamerican ceremony that consists of dance and the climbing of a 30 meter pole from which four of the five participants then launch themselves tied with ropes to descend to the ground. The fifth remains on top of the pole, dancing and playing a flute and drum. According to one myth, the ritual was created to ask the gods to end a severe drought.

The Mexico City Alebrije Parade is an annual event to honor Mexican handcrafts and folk art, especially a hard kind of papier-mâché called “cartonería” and the creation of fantastic figures with it called “alebrijes.” Alebrijes are chimera-like creatures painted in bright colors. They are up to four meters in height and three meters in width. The parade begins at the Zocolo or historic center of Mexico City and travels down the Paseo de la Reforma to the Angel de la Independencia. Musicians, clowns, and people with costumes and on stilts accompany the giant creatures.

Garry and Ivonne took us to the historic area of Coyacan to experience the festive weekend atmosphere and taste some of the delicious street foods.

Sunday we had the deluxe tour of the pyramids at Teotihuacan by Garry, including amazing lamb soup and tacos on the way.

He took us to all the places the Gringo never experience, including the shaved ice man.

We met up again with our BMW friends for an evening tour of the city and dinner with a lovely view of the Zocolo.

Well we thought we were off to Oaxaca. Unfortunately Daniel’s bike died, but luckily only 2 blocks from Garry’s and not 20 km away at Yamaha where he went to buy oil. They diagnosed the issue as the alternator, which we can get rewound here for about 1000 Pesos and keep as a spare. Fortunately we had friends coming from Seattle to bring us the new parts we needed to get the F800 back on the road. Nice to have some Mexican delicacies (huauzontle and Quejo fresco con membrillo) made by Ivonne.

We visited the Basilica of the Virgin of Guadeloupe. The ancient church is so lopsided you can feel it when you walk inside.

Daniel spent his birthday installing the new stator. He carefully followed the instructions and we were so happy when the bike was working again. Now finally off to Oaxaca.