Day 1. Jet lag! Sunshine! Thunderstorms!
After a reeeeeally long journey (and a small bribe whilst transferring at Mexico City Airport to get our luggage on board swiftly...) we arrived at our totally beautiful hotel in Oaxaca City last night. It's a converted 16th century convent, and easily the most gorgeous hotel we've ever stayed in. I woke up mega mega early due to jet lag, and watched the sun rise over our colonial-style courtyard. Completely idyllic. After some brekkie, we had a saunter round the city. We burnt ourselves, naturally... It's really super cool - lots of colour everywhere, in the buildings, the flowers, the endless textiles...Bright, sunny and lovely! We seem to be the only tourists for miles. I'm about a foot taller than the entire Oaxacan population, so Andrew is like the BFG. Add to that our newly burnt skin and a complete lack of Spanish, and we are fitting in really well...After a slightly ropey lunch (Andrew gamely tried a local dish of chicken "arm" (wing) in a local mole sauce of tomato and chocolate. He thought it was alright - I thought it was s***) came the most colossal tropical thunderstorm. We tried to accept the huge downpour with dignity and nonchalance like the locals were, but quickly our Britishness overcame us and we ran yelping into the nearest cafe. Andrew was bizarrely interviewed by a girl studying English about the differences between water in Mexico and the UK (??), and due to the language barrier I ended up with the wrong drinks. Still, everyone is indecipherably charming, and the city is magical. It's still thunderstorming now ("raindrops on roses, and whiskers on kittens...") as we go to sleep in our convent (really, the Sound of Music parallels are endless!). Ciao for now!xx