How was your weekend? I may have overdone things slightly during mine.
I kicked off on Saturday with an 8am harbourside walk with friends, followed by a 45-minute aqua aerobics class.
Then I showered, dressed, ducked to the supermarket for dog food, walked the dogs around the block and jumped in the car to meet the youngest for dinner in Gerringong.
Blimey there were a lot of bogong moths smashing into my car on the way there, as the embarked on their annual migration south.
The poor things are an endangered species these days, so I felt very guilty about how many I wrote off.
I met the youngest at the Crooked River Winery, which is a gorgeous spot. The cellar door and bar were heaving with happy groups, sipping wine and looking out at this gorgeous view …
We had dinner booked in the restaurant, where we kicked off with woodfired sourdough with native dukkah, cherry vinegar and olive oil and native salt bush & pepper squid with tomato chilli jam and lemon mayo. I ordered the Murray River cod with smoked chorizo, paprika, coco blanc beans, saffron and smoked almonds for my main.
The youngest thought it was a “very cool place”.
Then I started the two-hour trip back to Sydney, pulling in around 9.45pm, absolutely knackered.
Why the quick turnaround? Well the youngest works all day Saturday and Sunday. We hardly see each other, so I figured dinner together was the best fall-back option.
I was up again at 6.30am on Sunday morning to walk the dogs, followed by a walk with a friend before heading home to tidy up the house and steam clean the bathroom ahead of DD’s arrival.
He flew in after a very long trip home from Mexico and I figured he might feel like a shower before heading back to his place.
After attending a body corporate meeting I followed him up the coast for a bowl of pasta together at our fave Italian spot, then made my weary way home again.
As an added bonus, DD’s going to do a bit of blogging over the next week or two about his trip to Mexico. Here’s the first installment …
Mexico – first impressions
I must admit that Mexico (population 133 million, 10th largest country in the world) was not on my travel bucket list.
Media reports of cartels, gang violence, drugs, kidnappings, murders, corruption and travellers diarrhoea (I could go on) – were not a great incentive to visit or research the country.
Australia’s Smarttraveller website says: “Overall use a high degree of caution due to risk of violent crime”.
I was also worried about altitude sickness – Mexico City (CDMX) sits at an elevation of 2240 metres – given I’d recently been diagnosed with mild anaemia. (I’d received an iron infusion shortly before departure, but it takes a few weeks to kick in properly).
Even Daughter #1 ( DDD1 – Daughter of Doctor Dave) got warned off Mexico by “the most Hispanic” looking immigration agent during her transit in Houston “Mexico – why would you want to there?” he derided.
So you will understand I felt a little trepidation stepping off the plane, but was immediately impressed – border control was completely electronic and my bag was already on the carousel when I exited.
Formalities were complete in 10 minutes. Best international arrival experience ever in over 40 years of international travel.
I then caught an airport taxi to our accommodation – the driver telling me “Australians is not so common here”.
The wider Mexico City area has a population of 22 million people and many of them were out and about – my driver ducking and weaving to avoid slower moving vehicles and potholes in equal number.
The first things I noticed were vibrant, colourful buildings, murals, many very old banged up cars on the road, potholes, barbed wire on high walls and many street vendors.
Oh, and a sweaty shirtless man boxing training in a bus shelter using a home made bag made of a large plastic bag filled with more plastic bags.
DDD1 had researched the location and safety of accommodation extensively and chose Casa Oliva in Roma Norte – a delightful almost Parisian style of building in shades of dusky pink and green.
Interestingly there was no signage so after pressing a buzzer, the clanking metal gates were opened and Juan the security guard took my passport details before showing me to the lovely compact apartment.
There were no keys – the apartment door opened with a PIN code and Juan and his colleague buzz everyone in and out 24 hours a day.
This is the delightful sight that greeted me behind the metal gates …
The first point of order was to stretch my legs and go in search of a much-needed coffee. Heading out onto the streets I passed several street vendors before coming across a groovy Instagram cafe (Lattely) which included an old fashioned photo booth and made an excellent piccolo.
Off to a strong (in both senses of the word) start. The customers were mainly groups of twenty-something girls sipping iced lattes and giggling inside the photo booth using the various fashion accessories provided (hats/scarves etc). Hopefully my grey hair didn’t lower the tone too much!
Revived, it was time to load up on necessities – drinking water, toilet paper and snacks. Thankfully there was a supermarket a few blocks away and again I was surprised by the technology – the prices for everything were on tiny LCD screens.
I then returned to the apartment via a very groovy street full of fashion boutiques, restaurants, organic food stores, gelataria’s etc. As the rain started to fall, I came across a local bar and ducked in for a negroni, followed by a margarita as the rain continued. Any port in a storm – especially when prices are more reasonable than Sydney.
Finally, the rain eased and having properly cased the neighbourhood I returned to the apartment to wait for DDD1 to arrive at midnight – which she did but sans her large suitcase, which was expected to arrive the next day.
After a brief travel journey debrief, both shattered from the long journey, we crashed and burned.
So our first (limited) impressions of Mexico were very good and in fact DDD1 says she feels much safer in Mexico compared to New York (where she was for a work trip earlier this year). Hopefully this will bear out for the rest of the trip.
Song of the day: The Eagles “Take it easy”
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