Back from Oaxaca!

Note:  I decided to go to bed directly after dinner, and asked R if he would write today’s blog!  Which he very kindly did!  This time, MY comments will be in brackets!

 

Hola –

 

The perils of travel!

 

Today is when we leave Oaxaca and return to Mexico City as we start heading for home.  As we all know, traveling sometimes does not go according to plan and today was one of those times. [I would like to point out, though, that I never actually plan to do anything else on a travel day – that is first of all because the older one gets, the more tiring the physical change of locations can be, and second, because, as we all know “you never know!”]

 

To begin: We left our hotel, Na Na Vida, at about 8:30 to get to the Oaxaca airport for out 11:48 flight.  As you may know, we like getting to the airport early and this time it really paid off.  On the way, we encountered a colossal traffic jam – colossal even by Oaxacan standards, and that is saying a lot.  Finally, after creeping along a few feet every couple of minutes, our driver executed a classical “Margaret Maneuver” – a U-turn across the median – and took an incredibly devious detour through side streets and back alleys.  Between the awful streets (enormous potholes) and an infinite number of speed bumps, I don’t think his cab will ever be the same.  But – Success!  We arrived at the airport with time to spare.

 

Actually, we had more time than we thought.  Our flight (AeroMexico 2048 Oaxaca to Mexico City) is the return of 2049 (Mexico City to Oaxaca).  But 2049 was about 45 minutes late, so our flight was likewise delayed.  Now, one of the mysteries of air travel is the time it takes to disembark one load of passengers and board the next bunch.  It seemed to us that it took an inordinately long time, all the while, the gate agents seemed unconcerned; but then, they weren’t going anywhere, so why worry?  Anyway, we boarded and finally got off at about 1:00 – over an hour late.  The 40 minute flight was uneventful abeit LOUD, as we had a truly screaming baby sitting two rows behind us.

 

Having only carry-on luggage, we were off the plane and in the arrivals area fairly quickly, especially because – unlike our general experience – our gate was right at the main terminal, not at the end of a long concourse, or, reached by bus, which is what happened when we flew into Oaxaca.

 

In Mexico City, one may buy a taxi ride at a fixed, standard rate – no haggling with the driver and no “unplanned” sight-seeing.  One simply goes to a kiosk in the terminal, tells the agent the destination, pays the fee and takes the receipt to the curb to get the taxi.  A good system that has worked very well for us on previous trips but this time….

 

When we got to the taxi rank, the line of waiting passengers was about 20 yards long – and growing.  We don’t know how many taxis the company we picked owns but none of them were at the airport.  After standing, immobile in line for over half an hour, we decided to try Uber.  [I had read previously that Uber wasn’t “allowed” inside the airport … but thought we’d give it a try anyway!]  Margaret made contact with a driver who was, according to the Uber computer, 2.8 miles (28 minutes!) away which shows you how congested the traffic was.  We decided to stay in the taxi queue until the Uber driver got close but the queue never moved, so – Uber it is.

 

Nicole finally showed up, and let me tell you, this gal really knows how to drive!  She has over 4,000 trips on her Uber record, which is quite a few in my book!  The traffic in Mexico City isn’t as bad as in Oaxaca but that isn’t a glowing endorsement.  Getting away from the airport was especially tough.  Finally, as we got nearer to our hotel – The Gran Hotel Ciudad de Mexico – it became clear that, yet again, there were street closures around the Zocalo, so our driver had to let us off a couple of blocks away.

 

We reached the hotel and the Red Sea parted and the Sun shone in clear, blue sky; all was transformed.  As we entered, the bellman grabbed our luggage and led us to the reception desk and then presented us with two glasses of excellent “Champagne” (from Baja California).  We were assigned to Room 203 (overlooking the Zocolo plaza and the Presidential Palace) but offered an alternative because a concert will take place in the square tomorrow (5 – 11 pm); we decided to stay with 203.

 

Master Zocalo Suite 203

Note the outside decorations from the Independence Day Fiesta

Hallway between sitting room and bedroom

Champagne is always helpful!

Sitting room

Bathroom vanity

Some yummy goodies waiting for us!

View from our tiny balcony

Looking at Royal Palace across Zocalo

Still decorated from holiday last week!

I TRULY love that ceiling!

Lobby

Heading toward the Terraza restaurant!

The Gran Hotel is truly just that – grand!  It was built in 1895 and is magnificent.  The ceiling of the atrium is of Tiffany-style stained glass – one of the four largest stained glass windows in the world.  And the original elevators, wrought iron are in place and working. [Of course, they have the regular kind too, just for convenience.] Our Zocalo Suite is lovely, with a sitting room, a bath and the bedroom overlooking the square. [Unfortunately, and for me, this is definitely unfortunate – no bathtub!  Granted, a HUGE shower – but I’d SO been looking forward to a good soak…just have to wait ‘til we get home!] [One other note is that it took two bellmen a manager and several hours to get our in-room safe to unlock, but finally it is clear and I can use it!  When you’re storing things like passports, credit cards and $$,  it’s always useful to have!]

 

Even before unpacking, we decided that a glass of something bubbly was called for after our day of travel, so we went up to the 4^th floor, then up to the rooftop restaurant, the Terraza.  Not only does it have an incredible view, but it is open to the air, which was great!   Since we hadn’t eaten more than sandwich all day, this looked like a good time for dinner.  In addition to a bottle of bubbly, we were served a plate of crisp tortilla pieces and a ramakin of black bean [and chorizo] puree with cheese.  Margaret ordered two appetizers: a rack of three tempura-style shrimp tacos and two beef empanadas; [Both were FANTASTIC, especially the shrimp!]  R had excellent roasted tomato soup, followed by a plate of lamb cutlets, with roasted potato wedges and grilled vegetables.  No room for dessert.

 

Great view from the Terrazzo!

Black bean and chorizo dip

R's excellent cream of tomato soup

My fabulous tempura shrimp tacos!

R's lamb cutlets with veggies and potatoes

My empanadas (which I couldn't finish!)

This lovely lady presented us the check!

Back to the room by 9:00 and off to bed.

 

More later [and lots of love!]

R & m

xxx 

 

Erratum: In the email version of the blog yesterday, our whiz-bang resident astronomer said “Happy Solstice”.  Actually, yesterday was the Equinox.  There is a difference [and he was mortified.  However, once a blog goes out in email form, there “is no going back!”]