Flame Thrower... that's what I'll do!
Trip Start
Sep 28, 2010
1
3
Trip End
Mar 31, 2011
Cuernavaca, Central Mexico and Gulf Coast, Mexico
Sunday, October 3, 2010
We first stopped in the town of Xochimilco where we visited a friend of Ken's. His house is situated on a mountain/hill and has the most amazing views.
Cuernavaca is the capital of the state of Morelos and the state's largest city. It's approx. 85 km from Mexico City and is called 'La Cuidad de la Eterna Pimavera' ('The City of Eternal Spring') because of it's warm climate all year round. The name of the city was originally Cuauhnahuac but this wasapparently too difficult for the Spaniards to pronounce so they changed it to Cuernavaca... yeah like that's easier! Cuernavaca began as a sleepy weekend/summer retreat for the rich and famous (mostly from Mexico City) but has since grown to over 1,000,000. This number expands to approximately 2,000,000 on weekends and holidays!
Monday morning we went and checked out a couple of the Spanish schools and I decided to sleep on it before making a choice.
Tuesday morning I registered for 4 weeks of Spanish at the Universidad Internacional - The Center for Linguistic Multicultural Studies! I was anxious to get started as I was really finding it frustrating not knowing the language.
The next few days we simply hung out in Cuernavaca eating at all the best restaraunts... pasta at Marco Polo with it's stunning view of the Cathedral in the centro and pozole at a great little place with a garden in the back. We hung out by the pool at our hotel and wandered the streets in el centro.
At many intersections in Mexico you come across vendors trying to sell their wares... newspapers, gum, toys, etc. or clean your windows for any spare change you can offer. In Cuernavaca they get creative... we saw a flame thrower who would come out into the street when the traffic stopped at a red light, perform and then weave through the cars to collect his tips. We also saw a mime doing his act at one intersection!
We headed back to Cuidad de Mexico on Wednesday in Ken's tiny (and totally impracticle but very fun) convertible Peugot.
