On to Mexico

I wrote in this morning's entry that all went well on the first leg of my journey, the flight from Cleveland to Chicago.  Even though the plane for my Chicago - Mexico City flight was ready and waiting at the gate, after some unpleasant experiences on my previous two trips, I was still keeping my fingers crossed that there would be no snafus.  I won't keep you in suspense, all went smoothly.

We boarded the plane on time and left a few minutes ahead of schedule.  Unlike the flight from Cleveland to Chicago, this one was packed.  I was in "economy plus" with more legroom, but this time all the seats in my row were occupied.  I sat next to a sweet, older lady from Mexico. She was returning from a visit with her son who lives in Chicago, and this trip had been her first time traveling on a plane.  I have to admit that between the noise of the jet engines and her rapid-fire speech, I really didn't hear everything that she said.  Often, I just nodded my head.  But I did understand that she is a widow from a town in the state of Puebla, that she is 77 years old, that she has 12 children, and that three of them live in the U.S.  She didn't like the food north of the border... "everything was dry," she said.  She has difficulty with her knee, and when I told her that I occasionally have a touch of arthritis in my right knee, she pulled out the bottle of pills she takes.  She insisted that I write down the brand name of the product.

Our conversation helped pass the time.  Obviously, it is a much longer flight from Chicago than when I travel via Houston... almost five hours to Mexico City.  We pulled away from the gate a few minutes early, although we spent much more time waiting our turn for take-off than we did in Cleveland.

Finally, up and away!

You can just make out the Chicago skyline on the horizon.

We flew south across the United States and then out over the Gulf of Mexico.  Finally, we came to the coast of Mexico and headed inland.

The mountains were shrouded in clouds, and I did not see any of the iconic volcanoes.

Very soon we began our descent and were over the vast metropolitan area of Mexico City, home to more than 22 million people.

 

In the center of the photo is the Mexico City World Trade Center, which is just a short walk from my apartment.  

When I am in the apartment, sitting at the desk, working on my blog, I can look out the window and see the constant parade of planes passing as they approach Mexico City International Airport.

The green swath across this photo is Chapultepec Park.  They are building a new amusement park within Chapultepec.  They appear to be making progress, because I could spot a large Ferris Wheel that wasn't there before.

Many of the city's skyscrapers form a row lining the famous boulevard, el Paseo de la Reforma.

Soon the city's Historic Center was visible.

Amid the jumble of buildings, I could make out the Latin American Tower, which was the country's tallest structure when it was built.  Next to it you can see the dome of the Palace of Fine Arts.

A bit to the east, you can see the towers of the Metropolitan Cathedral, and the enormous Mexican flag which flies over the Zócalo, the main plaza.

We were just moments from landing at the airport.

The structure which looks like a flying saucer is TAPO, one of the city's four bus terminals.  This one, the largest of them all, serves all destinations to the east and southeast of the city.  If you wanted to take a bus to Puebla, Veracruz, Oaxaca, Mérida or many other cities, this is the station that you would use.

In the distance, at the far northern limits of the city, is the Basilica of Guadalupe, the holiest shrine in the country.

About twenty-minutes ahead of schedule we landed at Mexico City International Airport.

I did not have to wait in line at all to pass through immigration.  The agent stamped my passport with permission to stay 180 days (the maximum tourists are allowed) even though I will only be here for three weeks.  

The only moment in which I thought I was going to have another flying misadventure was at the luggage carousel.  All the suitcases from the flight had come out, and I had not seen mine.  An airport employee saw me looking bewildered and motioned me over to some pieces of luggage that had been removed from the carousel.  I don't know if I had somehow missed my big black suitcase with a tassel of orange yarn tied to the handle to make it more identifiable.  Or perhaps someone had grabbed it and then realized that it was not theirs.  Anyway, my suitcase was there, thank goodness.  

I went through customs without any questions, passed through the doors, out into the terminal, and my husband Alejandro was there waiting for me.  I am back in the city which will soon be my permanent home!