I've heard of sad clowns. What about sad mariachis?

Days 4 and 5
Coyoacan
San Angel
Dinner with Rafa and Don Julio
Plaza Garibaldi
Mercado de la Merced
Xochimilco

Went to Coyoacan and San Angel (suburbs of Mexico CIty) on Saturday the 30^th. Saw an art market, Frida Kahlo’s house, and walked around. Pleasant suburbs. Added to the overall positive experience in Mexico City, but nothing mind-blowing. (Note: Mexico City is not as cheap as I had believed. I suppose this is a good thing, as it means that the overall economic well-being of the country is on the upswing. For us as travelers, however, not so much.

Rafa was an excellent host again, going with us to a “tequila dinner.” For those of you that were in Korea with me, this was somewhat similar to going to a bar, drinking soju and being served multiple side dishes to reduce the effects of the alcohol. The tequila dinner was on a much larger scale, as there were 3 courses of 4 entrees each (12 dishes total!) for 4 of us. The cornucopia of food plus the high quality tequila (Don Julio, I bow before you) made for a manageable hangover the next day.

Before heading back to our hostel, we went to Plaza Garibaldi. Every weekend, mariachis from around the city gather here and wait to be paid to play for couples who come specifically to hear them. This made for what first appeared to be riotous atmosphere. Upon closer look, we noticed that far too many mariachi were either sitting around, looking hopelessly for customers, or hustling for rides from people. This was a downer for me. I had always thought of mariachis as full of positive energy. It was sort of like walking backstage. (Note: This was later in the evening, so perhaps it was better earlier in the evening).

Next morning we went to the largest market in Latin America (I think), Mercado de la Merced. This was too much for me (maybe the hangover was stronger than I first thought). It was insanely loud and crowded and the hookers and their patrons swirling around the market didn’t help.

We then headed down to Xochimilco, the only remnant of the canal system that once crossed Mexico. The canals were apparently dried out by the Spanish several hundred years ago and it’s screwed with the environment of Mexico ever since (can this be blamed for the pollution?). Now, you can head 28 km out of central Mexico and hop on a boat, ride around the canals, buy food and beverages from vendor boats and generally enjoy the water. It was also nice that the name of our boat was the Princess Diana. Yes, we did survive.

Overall, Mexico City was a great place to start the trip and has set the bar high for the rest of the trip.