Hola Amigo

Fri 21 - Sat 22 Feb 2014

Not wanting to break our new habit of cramming as much as possible into every moment of our trip, we decided to sample the big American burger chain BLT.

We'd missed breakfast and the clock was ticking so we thought a quick burger would suffice but when we sat down we realised the wait was long. The waiter said we had about 1/2 an hour cutting things pretty bloody fine for catching our bus, but we held out. Finding somewhere else with all our bags with me still wheelchair bound wouldn't be fun.Our attentive waiter was topping up our Fanta every couple of sips. We must've guzzled a gallon by the time our delicious burger was delivered.A supermarket sweep style dash around The Mirage to drop off the wheel chair and get a taxi left us about 20minutes to get to downtown Vegas where our Greyhound coach would be waiting.Our driver absolutely belted it down the highway cutting people up left, right and centre, eventually getting us to the old strip unscathed. This dodgy end of town had a certain charm about it, with its old brash hotels that hung onto lost glory days and fallen casinos full of back door games, pro at crippling heavily debted addicts.Traffic lights every 100 meters were against us, flashing red before we could whip through but we got there with a few minutes to spare. Our bottomless Fanta was catching up with us but thankfully our bus had an onboard 'pooper'.We were given priority boarding...

I'd officially been classes as disabled for this trip.

Sleep came easily and it wasn't until the mid way stop that I woke up to sample yet another of America's 'finest' fast food vendors - Popeye's chicken. In this strange barn themed establishment all fried chicken is served with a multitude of dips and a biscuit. This strange round doughy disk crumbles like a biscuit but tastes a lot like undercooked bread. We had no idea of the etiquette for eating this carb dense side dish - did you use it like a bap and make a sandwich or stack chicken on top like some sort of savoury carnivorous pancake? We had no idea so we opted for nibbling the corner and upon realising how rank it was we decided it was best left at the bottom of the box, never to be consumed by a living soul.

It had been 5 days in the USA and I was utterly addicted to fast food. Normally avoiding anything with bread like the plague this was quite out of character. Whatever chemicals these manufacturers are adding they definitely work. I was totally hooked. Thank god we were leaving the US and kissing the mass produced grease giants behind...

it would be the only way to prevent my inevitable decline into obesity.

As the sun set the view out over the desert was spectacular. The light was perfection as the sun disappeared behind the huge mountain ranges and it wasn't long before we were back in LA, getting a cab to FlyAway and back in LAX waiting for our Mexico bound flight.

We woke up with a bump as the plane touched down in Mexico City. A wheelchair greeted me as we got off the plane and we queue jumped our whole way through immigration. In arrivals a man holding a card with my name stood patiently waiting - we managed to sneak to a cashpoint before greeting him and breaking the first rule of Mexico. Never get into a white van with men you don't know.Too late, the car was 'out the back' so we traipsed away from the main pick up point, to our new collection spot. A whole Mexican police escort helped me hop down the steps out of the airport and there, on the corner of some dodgy back alley we waited. A shoddy white minivan rocked up and we were ushered in.The driver and the 'man from the hotel' sat in the front and chatted away in Spanish, discussing our ransom no doubt, whilst we sat in the back, shitting ourselves as we turned down one beaten up old side street after another.Suddenly the scenery changed. The streets were cobbled and huge gothic Barcelona style buildings replaced the crumbling single storey apartments.

"We're here" Jamie said, his voice full of relief. Hotel Amigo Zocalo was in the heart of this stunning old town. The cathedral could be seen just at the end of our road and opposite the Palace building which filled the block.We dropped our bags into our modest yet immaculate room and headed for the roof for a spot of complimentary breakfast. The view as we sipped our orange juice and devoured fresh pancakes was astounding. Old extravagant Spanish influenced colonial buildings speckled the city skyline.

After a well needed nap we headed out to explore and realised just how central we were. As soon as we got to the end of our road we were in the heart of Zocalo. The huge square was currently dominated by the army who were doing some promotional event, to the left there were some ancient Maya ruins and then there right in front of us was the magnificent cathedral. We walked out down the main pedestrian road through the heart of the old town to purchase a Mexican guide book and find somewhere to lunch.All around us there was music and fun. Women paraded up and down the cobbled streets in their tightest clothes and highest heels and everywhere people were having a little snog.

Love was in the air and we knew this really was the beginning of our Latin American adventure.
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We found a roof top and indulged in a couple of tacos. People order them here by the bucket load but sharing 4 was more than enough for us plus we were already stuffed from the Guacamole and tortilla chip starter.It was dinner that gave us our most Mexican experience though.Jamie had memorised our path on the map and we headed out into the ever so intimidating dark streets of Mexico City.Tucked away a few roads off the main drag we eventually found Cafe de Tacuba which has been running since 1912.The place was heaving but someone led us through the main restaurant, up some stairs, into what felt very much like a church and sat us at a table.

This beautifully tilled interior was crammed with life sized religious statues. Huge windows opened out onto the street giving a welcome flow of warm air.If this didn't feel Mexican enough, we certainly had our night topped when half way through our meal a full sized Mariachi band entered and filled all the spaces between the tables to play out a few songs. They were dressed in traditional costumes and played excellently. The mariachi player next to us kept pinching chips of a little girls plate, mid play, when she wasn't looking. Our meal was topped off with a spiced hot chocolate and traditional cafe con leche, served from a height.Mexico was delivering on every level - We even made it home with out getting mugged or kidnapped.