Touring Mexico City

Saturday was tourist day for us. Iskra was willing to take us wherever we wanted to go, to do whatever we wanted to do. The day started with an excellent breakfast prepared by Yolanda. The food she prepares isn’t complicated or extravagant, but the flavors are just so fresh and delicious.
Our first stop of the day was Wal-Mart. That was not at my insistence, although I didn’t complain having to go there! We could actually buy our bus tickets to Zamora at a ticket office in Wal-Mart. So Yolanda, Rachel and I roamed around the store for awhile while Brian and Iskra got the tickets. It was fun seeing how the store compared to what we were used to in NW Iowa (much bigger, lots more variety, mostly the same items).
Then Iskra drove us to downtown Mexico City and dropped us off at the Archaeology Museum. She recommended this museum as being something very worthwhile for us to see. We greatly enjoyed it, especially the displays about the Maya, including the Tojolabal. We walked around Chapultepec Park for over an hour, watching paddle boats and canoes in the lake, checking out the hundreds of booths selling everything from popcorn, Halloween costumes, souvenirs, candy, toys, and almost anything else you could want.
We walked along the Avenida Reforma on the way to the Zocalo. On the way, we saw a statue of Christopher Columbus and the Monument of Independence. Iskra picked us up and drove us the rest of the way to the Zocalo. We saw where the president does El Grito Viva Mexico on September 15 for Independence Day. We also went inside the Cathedral (I think Rachel’s lost count of how many Catholic churches we’ve been in the past 2 months.)
We hadn’t had lunch yet, so we drove to a Christian book store that had a small coffee shop in it. I had a delicious mango crepe, and Brian and Rachel had a chicken ciabatta (I know, not very Mexican!) We enjoyed a Christian concert that was going on at the book store before making a few purchases and continuing our adventures. D
By this time it was dark, so we went back to the Zocalo which was beautifully lit up. The entire day, Iskra and Yolanda were great about pointing out the main attractions. At times it was a bit overwhelming trying to absorb all of the information they shared with us about the many museums, churches, monuments, statues, important buildings, major streets, etc. that we passed by. We decided that when we saw a nudist cross the street, that we had seen it all!
There were several other places that Iskra was willing to take us, but we decided to call it a day. Traffic once again was pretty crazy, and it took quite awhile to get home. We made a brief stop at a taqueria for a quick bite, and finally by 9:00 we were “home.”
We’re so grateful to Iskra and Yolanda for their hospitality and all of their help with the bus tickets, power cable purchase, city tour, meals, as well as letting us do a couple of loads of laundry. What a blessing to have brothers and sisters in Christ around the world who freely give of themselves. We have been so blessed. Donna