Well the weekend is here. Not the best start being woken up by the neighbours dog at 6.00am. Happens just about every morning. But as they say"toughen up princess". The plan is to wander the streets in the north eastern section of the city centre. Passed by the Parque de Beisbol Edwardo Vas Canales stadium. A fairly imposing baseball stadium on the north eastern tip of the centre. Down random streets and ended up at the Parque Juarez El Llano where there was some type of celebration going on. Colourfully dressed women , a smallish band and some dancing. No real indication what it was about. The eastern side of the city is nothing significant. Run of the mill buildings and businesses. Sometimes difficult to tell whether they are commercial or residential places. Quite possibly both. Avenue Reforma is quite a pretty tree lined street, with some well maintained colonial buildings most of which appear to be commercial. It never ceases to amaze me the numerous open doors which when you look inside are actually small shops. Generally about the size of a small bedroom they are basically milkbars. Icecreams, biscuits, confectionary, drinks, maybe some take away food. And they are plentiful. Makes you wonder what sort of a living they generate. In the main street I came across a wedding. Proceedings were still happening in the church but outside were very colorfully dressed women balancing decorated baskets on their head, a group of children/teenagers in costume and the band. When the happy couple appeared(Isadora and Hector - and how did i know their names. They were printed on huge spinning paper balls being carried by the leaders of the procession) the entertainment started. The women with the baskets broke into a swirling dance routine and the kids played a supporting role. This went on for about 5 minutes and then the whole show, bridal party, dancers, band and the guests started parading down the main street. Quite a sight to see. I started heading up the street only to come across another wedding just emerging from the Santo Domingo cathedral . Same deal with dancers, band and what seems like the customary parade down the street. I couldn't work out the significance of the paper mache chickens which were held above the heads of the bride and groom. And not sure what they do when they get to the end of the street either. Certainly provides entertainment for anyone who happens to be in the vicinity. Whilst the temperature was only in the high 20s the afternoon sun has a real burn to it. Probably why the Mexicans have a siesta! I did my best to stay in the shade wherever I could. A visit to Centro Fotografico was quite interesting. The current exhibition is the work of 12 photo journalist's who have captured various scenes of civil unrest. It appeared they were all related to Mexico and were mainly street riots, some of which appeared to be quite ugly and violent. It was interesting that they were prepared to show this side of their country's history. A very un Mexcian lunch of very tasty bruschetta in an Italian restaurant and it was time to head for home.

The plan for Sunday was to visit the historic Zapotec site of Monte Alban with one of my new American friends. Raining when I woke but fortunately it cleared early. We met at the bus company headquarters (a very liberal use of the word headquarters) and 20 minutes later arrived at the top of the hill where Monte Alban is situated. The city dates back to 500-800AD. Like other historic races such as the Aztecs and Incas the planning, building and ingenuity of these people has to be admired. The site is built with purpose to capture the sun on the solstices and in accordance with their religious beliefs. It was even built to have harmony with the hill on which it was built, so that the buildings "blended in" with the contours of the land. Initially the site didn't appear that big but as you round a building or climbed a staircase more and more was revealed. Altogether quite an interesting experience. Back into town for lunch and then home to get ready for our night at Lucha Libre. This is wrestling Mexican style. Pretty much they same as what we know except that all the wrestlers wear colourful masks and uniforms. In effect it more a show than real wrestling. Stage managed choreography is probably the best description. But the Mexicans love it. The wrestlers are sporting heroes and despite its "falseness" the locals have their favourites and hurl all sorts of abuse at the opponents. We spent the night in stitches. If we weren't laughing at what was going on in the ring, and sometimes the fighting moved outside the ring, then we were laughing at the crowd reaction. To give you the picture there was a women behind us who spent the entire fight yelling at "her" wrestlers opponent that his mother was a w****. And this is family entertainment. From babes in arms to grandparents, everyone goes to Lucha Libre!