I had already planned what I was going to do whilst in Johannesburg and that was to write, either my love story with a working title of 'Three I Love You's' or the play/musical with a working title at the moment of 'Family Ways'. The reception/bar area of the hotel is very comfortable, in that you get watered and fed as you like and the staff are very friendly. Here's a thing - why is when you are sat, quite obviously working and minding your own business that someone would always come over and pass some comment such as:- "You should not be working so hard" or "Hello how are you would you like some company?" I mean what a question. Needless to say, they did not receive the reactions they were hoping for! I had a very very productive three days there. The sun was very hot, but I am not one for sitting out in it as I get very irritated and also, (showing my age now), I need to get a pair of reading sunglasses. I have to say that Johannesburg is not one of my favourite places to visit as there is nothing to do - except golf if you can play - and I have tried golf, but I seriously don't have the hand/eye co-ordination thing to even hit that tiny ball, but I am sure that someone will tell me of all the beautiful and interesting sights of Johannesburg.
I started to work on the love story and I really got into it, so much so, I wished I was reading it rather than writing it, my mind was racing, faster than my fingers could type, I really enjoyed it and the words just seemed to flow and the dynamics of the characters got stronger and more exciting. Of course I know the ending and its a good one, but you will have to wait to find out all about it.
So I arrive back at Heathrow on Friday (22 Oct the day before my sons 23rd birthday) very early in the cold morning (I know it was not really that cold, but you have to realise that I had been in a minimum temperature of 29 degrees centigrade for four days and now its 7 degrees - so yes cold), I had been sneezing and this annoying cough had started a couple of days before, so all I wanted was a hot cup of proper tea and brown toast with Lurpak and marmalade (shredless of course), shower and bed and as boring and predictable as I am, I did after having had a one way conversation with the dog (a 15 month old male boxer and he is gorgeous).
So here I am, giving myself a break from the love story to bring you this next snippet of my life. Hope you enjoy this one as much as I did.
I have been very lucky to have visited Mexico City three times (once during the height of the Swine Flu which incidentally I had contracted and very embarrassingly passed out on a flight back from LA, but that's another story), so having had it, I was not overly worried as some of my colleagues were. Of course at that time, nearly everyone in the streets, working at the airport, travelling on the aircraft etc were wearing masks and everywhere you went there were hand sanitizers. Anyway I digress, Mexico to me, like a lot of places around the world, has its good and bad, very bad points, but there is so much to see and its steeped in history.
The first time I was there, I went on a tour from the hotel in a minibus with our own guide and it was fascinating. They have some very opulent buildings such as the Palace of Fine Arts.
As you can imagine, Mexico City and all its attractions and of course the traffic, takes time and this makes for a long and very hot day. There are numerous stops for refreshments (good job) and after one such stop, we ended up at the Catedral Metropolitana. This Catedral is built on soft soil and is slowly sinking. Once inside you can see the scars because of the subsidence and there is scaffolding everywhere supporting it.
On another visit I went on a tour of the Sun and Moon Pyramids of Teotihuacan. I had seen the pyramids in Cairo, but these are very different and you can climbs these ones and I did.
Of course once you are up, you look down and it is steep and on one side there is a rope handle which is not stable to aid your descent - this is slow and scary. Having got safely down the first one, you walk along the Avenue of the Dead towards the Sun Pyramid. This one is a lot taller and the steps seem slightly steeper, but maybe it was just me. I managed to get to the top, but once up there I began to feel really sick and my skin felt like there were bugs underneath trying to get out and I could not breath. I was trying to drink some water from the bottle that I had, but I just could not. Of course it had not occurred to me that with the altitude being so high, of course the air is a lot thinner and it was affecting me. In no time at all I was sat down and there was a crowd around me and there were people fanning me (not a good time to be wearing a white skirt either) I was helped down the steps (which seem to take an age) by one of the men who was on the same tour as myself and back to the minibus. By the time I reached the minibus, I was feeling a whole lot better and breathing normally - seriously though, I thought I was going to die.
Another beautiful and relaxing tour to do is the canals of Xochimilco. You get a real sense of family Sunday afternoon out on the canals. The Trajineras (canal boats) are very colourful and are propelled along like gondalas. You wind your way through the many waterways, looking at the magnificent manicured gardens along the banks. You wave and say hello to people in the other boats. There are Mariachi Bands playing and there are other boats with food and drink and they punt along side you and serve you your choice of food and drink, you pay and they punt off to another boat. It is so civilised and a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon in the heat and gentle breeze
Of course you can't go to Mexico and not get to see a show by some of the indigenous Aztec Indians. There costumes are very colourful and the ploomage on their headgear is amazing.
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