Men in lycra and other DF sights

Mexico City is just buzzing with people.  Just when I thought that there could not possibly be any more people crammed into the streets or the metro, the weekend arrived!  I try to ignore the similarities to London's Oxford Street on a weekend.

There is no shortage of interesting things to do and see in a city this big and with a history and culture so rich.  I've managed to cram in a lot of great tourist sights, such as awesome Teotihuacán, the National Palace, the Museum of Anthrolopogy (one of the best museums I've ever visited), the Catedral Metropolitana, the Templo Mayor, and the incredibly massive Chapultepec Forest and the Chapultepec Castle.

Some interesting or cool observations about Mexico City:

• The mo' is definitely still in!
• Mexican men LOVE the "wet look", and I have seen some absolutely enormous tubs of hair gel for sale in the markets
• The Metro system is brilliant - regular and clean, and at less than 10p to anywhere
• The smog and pollution here is slowly killing me
  
• Looking like a backpacker, who doesn't speak any Spanish, is enough to feign ignorance at all the touts or people trying to beg for money.

This evening, my mate Paul and I went to check out a fun family night out - the lucha libre!  It was much more entertaining than that WWE stuff that you occasionally glimpse whilst channel surfing (noone really admits to watching it right?), just because they don't take themselves as seriously.  The star performer of the night was Místico, and he got us all whooping at his amazing acrobatics and amazing leg throws.

This was my super sneaky iPhone shot after my camera wasn't allowed into the fight.

Of course, I was more than a little excited at all the lead up to the actual fight, with the wrestlers strutting out in their shiny jackets and capes, and then tearing off their velcro pants and tight tops, which had me swooning and squealing like a teenage girl at a Backstreet Boys concert.  At only 40 pesos, or less than 2 quid, for balcony tickets it has to be the cheapest strip show ever!

Tomorrow I am off to the beautiful city of Oaxaca.  Must remember to charge the iPod for the 6 hour bus ride.

'Gators and tacos

I spent my last few days in Miami soaking up the sun and hanging out with the fantastic people that I met at my hostel.  There are always some interesting characters that you meet when travelling - the strangest person I've met so far was an American bloke who fancied himself as a bit of a Che Guevara, anti-establishment type.  He was in Miami to buy a yacht so that he could sail to Cuba, despite not knowing at all how to sail.

But mostly, it's been great meeting people from all around the world that I will probably never see again, but thanks to Facebook, we can keep in touch and perhaps cross paths in the future.

 

I also took the opportunity to visit the Everglades national park, since I've always fancied going on a ride on those air boats!  The trip to the Everglades was quite fun, getting up close and personal with alligators, seeing on of the park guides jump on top of a 6 foot 'gator and the air boat ride out into the marshlands, zooming sideways over the shallow swamps and spotting turtles, little alligators and a few different varieties of birds.

I am now in Mexico City, enjoying the constant sounds and rhythms of this populous city.  There is music blaring constantly, drum beats, vibrant colours, and smells of street food!  I tried my first street taco yesterday at only M$10 each (less than US$1), which was was packed full of flavour and heat.  Being constantly surrounded by this amazing food, I think I will struggle to leave Mexico any less than 5 kilos heavier!!

Miami heat

Miami reminds a lot of the Gold Coast, and South Beach is pretty much
just like Surfer's Paradise - flashy and ostentatious. Even the
mannequins here have obscenely enhanced breasts!

With glorious autumn temperatures of at least 28C every day and clear blue waters, the beach is the main appeal here. The cuisine, on the other hand, is not so appealing though unless you live on pizza and sushi, in which case this place would be your idea of culinary heaven. I would estimate that 80% of the restaurants here on South Beach would be pizza joints and sushi bars, with the remaining 20% made up of burger joints. This is not the place to be craving a chicken pad thai (how Australian!).

The men here are very forward and a bit leery, and I get a lot of stares (perhaps I just look like a complete tourist??).  Men beep the horns of their pickup trucks at me as the drive past.  Guys will say, "oh, you are beautiful" as I walk past them in the street. I certainly don't get this sort of attention in Australia or in the UK - I don't know whether I should be flattered or embarrassed! I keep checking to see whether I have toilet paper hanging out of my skirt.