After an early start in Lima and an uneventful 6 hour flight I touched down in Mexico City late afternoon on Thursday. What a contrast to Lima. The airport was clean and efficient and the traffic was what you would regard as orderly. It seems they even obey the road rules here! And my hotel is so unIntrepid like. I had to pinch myself. Wandered out for dinner and found myself in Chinatown. A good feed and a cold beer hit the spot. And as I walked home in drizzling rain I remembered that it is the rainy season. First thing to do on Friday was find a laundry. Too expensive at the hotel. About a 5 minute walk away I got lucky. A bit under $2/kg was a good deal and I managed to work out it would be ready at 5.30. All good so far and now for some exploring. Huge police presence. Around a hundred in riot gear plus riot vans. No obvious happenings so perhaps just a drill or maybe just creating a presence. The locals seem totally oblivious to it all. First impressions of MC are positive. Has quite a modern feel to it, and dare I say it even seems friendly. Made my way to the centre of the historic district, Plaza de la Constitucion. Some kind of World Expo is on and the entire plaza is taken up with a makeshift stadium. Hundreds are queued waiting to get in. Its seems that countries from all round the world have a stand, including Australia. Make my way to the Palacio Nacional (Presidential Palace) and after handing over my drivers licence am given a tourist card to enter. The main feature here is a series of murals by Diego Rivera depicting indigenous life before the Spanish conquest. Very detailed and quite imposing. Also managed to get my way into a "sound and light" show. Completely in Spanish but from what i could determine it was a glitzy piece of tourism marketing. Outside the streets are filled with vendors selling all and sundry from plastic dancing dolls to jewellery, food and everything in between. From here its a short walk to Templo Mayor, an ancient Aztec temple site. The Aztecs believed that the site was literally the centre of the universe. The ground here is very unstable, not unusual to see present day buildings looking more like the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Apparently the Aztec temple kept sinking so they just kept building on top of it. From what I can work out they did this 7 times. And then the Spanish demolished it and built over it themselves. In 1900 some clever engineer decided to build a storm water drain straight through the middle. Not until the late 1970's did they realise the historic significance of the site and decide to protect it and begin proper excavations. They are now hopeful that they might find the first ever tomb of an Aztec emperor. There is also an excellent museum, which I emerged from to find that a thunderstorm was in progress and it was pouring rain. I still hadn't learnt my lesson from last night - no rain jacket in the pack. Like the locals I took shelter for a while and it soon stopped. In usual Latin American style the plaza is also the site for the main cathedral. Started in 1573 it wasn't finished until 1813. And also as usual, spectacular inside. Time to start making my way home, and to grab a late lunch. The street was virtually a non stop mall. Again all very orderly. Called back to my laundry and discovered a very nice yellow and white striped t shirt in with my clothes. Unfortunately not mine and my very good merino t shirt nowhere to be seen. Just a simple mix up and things were soon sorted out! Dinner tonight was a genuine Mexican taco. Was struggling a little with the menu when a local who could speak English came up to me. Recommended his favourite, ordered it for me, explained all the sauces and gave me another recommendation and when I had finished came back to check that I had liked it. It was seriously good! Local hospitality at its best. Really enjoying Mexico City. It is so vibrant at night. Cafes, coffee shops, bars, street entertainment. It is so pleasant to take a casual stroll. Itinerary for tomorrow is sorted. Should be another good day