Yesterday I wanted to go to the airport to meet my Swiss cousin's son and his girlfriend upon their arrival in Mexico City. I was coming from the apartment. Alejandro was at the family house and was going to drive to the airport, which is not too far away. Then Alejandro would be able to drive us all back to the apartment.
It was going to be rush hour, and I really didn't want to take a taxi or Uber in the traffic. I decided to use public transportation. There used to be a Metrobus that went directly from the old Buenavista Train Station to the terminals. However, the powers that be decided to change that route, and now you have to transfer buses at the San Lázaro stop. It is no longer a convenient option. I studied the Metrobus and Metro maps and discovered that I could take Line 1 of the Metrobus (the route that passes close to the apartment) and travel north along Insurgentes Avenue to La Raza stop. There I could transfer to a subway line that would take me to the airport.
I was a little hesitant since I have never done this route before. Also, being rush hour, I was afraid that the bus and subway would be uncomfortably crowded. Nevertheless, I left the apartment and allowed plenty of time to arrive.
Surprisingly the Metrobus was not too crowded, and after a couple of stops I actually had a seat. I got off at La Raza, a busy, chaotic transport hub in a neighborhood that is not the greatest. Nevertheless, I found the entrance to the subway without any trouble. I did have to walk some distance through a tunnel to reach Line 5 of the subway. It's an interesting walk because it is lined with astronomical photos dealing with the universe, the solar system, the moon and the formation of planet Earth.
Line 5 is quite short, so there were not many people on the subway. In spite of the hour, I had a seat for my brief journey. I got off at the "Terminal Aérea" station. From a review I had read on Google Maps, I thought that it was going to be a rather complicated walk to get to the airport, including a pedestrian bridge to cross a highway. I don't know if changes have been made, or if the reviewer had left the station through the wrong exit. It was a piece of cake. After leaving the station, the sidewalk went directly to airport Terminal 1, which is where the Lufthansa flight was arriving. I was there with plenty of time to spare and no problems at all. It is definitely a route that I will use again if I need to meet someone at the airport.
The airport right now is a mess. Both terminals are undergoing renovations in time for the World Cup this summer.
As I got nearer to the international arrivals area, the terminal appeared to be closer to completion. It looked fresh and brightly illuminated.
I sat down at in a seat at the arrivals area. (Previously, there had been no seats there for people to wait.) I watched the sliding doors from which people were passing after clearing customs. However, Christoph and Sabrina must have come through a different set of doors, and I did not see them. Fortunately Alejandro arrived at the moment that they were coming out, and he recognized them from a photo I had shown him. He called me. "Where are you?" he asked. I looked around and saw the three of them perhaps thirty feet away.
They were very tired after their long journey, but happy to see us and know that we would take them under their wing.
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