But we saw a lot of good stuff: the National Museum of Anthropology, the Modern Art Museum, Diego Rivera and Orozco murals in the Palacio Nacional (the men with guns did eventually let us in) and the Palacio de Bellas Artes, and some very beautiful neighborhoods.
We also enjoyed some exciting Mexican food, including tostadas with chapulines (grasshoppers) and some excellent stuffed chilis.One of the more striking experiences was riding the metro during rush hour. On one regular non-rush hour trip we walked toward a far end of the platform. Just after I passed by, some men with guns (there are lots of these around) suggested that Jess should not follow me. We then noticed the signs above that said "women and children only". The first three or so cars are reserved for women and small children, and we understood why when we tried to catch a train that evening around 6:00 at one of the busiest terminals downtown.
The station was packed when we arrived and when a full train pulled up, we decided to just wait for the next one. The next one came probably less than a minute later and by then the station was again completely full. On the scarier trains, people were being violently shoved in by mostly teenaged guys. At the far end of the platform it wasn't much better, except that the shoving was less violent. We watched four trains go by before we even had a chance to get in. Again though, it wasn't that the city wasn't running enough trains. They were arriving full, back to back. And for 2 pesos (20 cents), and otherwise pretty excellent service, it was hard to complain.
Finally, after two days of hard walking, we decided it was time for a break, and caught a ride on the Turibus, which took us around the city and conveyed to us via headphones lots of silly information in a very strangely accented English. This is how much fun we had:
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