A day in Mexico City

South America is big! We flew across it again on Wednesday to Mexico. It was a long long day, with 2 stops in between, at Lima and San Jose. Our departure at Buenos Aires' airport was quite an adventure. We were told at the ticket counter that they can't board us until we have onward ticket out of Mexico. That was unheard of! On top of that, I had to pay an overstay fine (pay at one location and get receipt at another, then run upstairs to the custom!), get tax return, by the time we reach the gate they were just starting to broadcast our names.... Mexico City probably receives its unfair share of bad rep. It's surprisingly clean, rich in history and architecture, and if you don't hail taxi on the street (a big no-no!) and don't wander around in some neighborhoods at night, it's pretty safe. There wasn't a moment when we feel our safety is in question. We did what most tourists do to see the city in a day - open deck bus! It circles the landmark monuments, neighborhoods, and buildlings in a 3 hour tour, with multiliguial audio commentary and over 20 stops to hop on and off anytime (although we didn´t :P)! it was really nice, and it strangly reminds me of downtown LA. Sometimes I feel as if I've just stepped into one of the Mexican neighborhood in California. The reason why we spent a day and half in Mexio City wasn't to prove our survival skills in a city with bad rep for tourists , it was really to get my Belize visa. To my (pleasant) surprise, it took only 15 minutes and no questions asked! :) With that we can finally make some solid plans around central america!We are now in Playa Del Carmen, about 1 hour south of Cancun. Here the sand beach, sea breeze and relaxing pace is very soothing after our long distance travel across the continent. English is much more spoken here, although it (and the Starbucks!) makes the place seem less exotic, the convenience is still very welcoming. The internet connection is fast and cheap, a major plus. :)