freakin' hot...

out there. staying put in the basement is a good alternative to absolutely frying outside. i know Water World will be jam packed today. no thanks. unless necessary, i don't go outside when it's above 95 degrees - digging in eastern Nevada with 115 degree temps cured me of that.

speaking of weather, we've been trying to get updates from our friend in Cancun. seems Hurricane Emily wreaked more havoc south of there, in places like PDC, Tulum, and Cozumel. that's good because we still want to visit her in September, if not sooner. Worryfreevacations.com is offering a $192 fare to Cancun provided you leave 8/10 and come back on the 20th. a fare like that is really something to consider because usual fares to Cancun are in the $425-$600 range.

we so want to go to Mexico right now. i've been thinking of my favorite taco place in Villahermosa...sigh. i could easily go for a dozen tacos al pastor and a bowl of goat soup. chase that down with a couple horchatas and i'm blissful. seriously, it's enough to make you forget about the 90+ degrees/percent humidity.

unfortunately, going to Villahermosa involves an 8-10 hour (sometimes 12) bus ride from either Mexico City or Cancun - kinda equidistant from both. a couple weeks ago, we went to dinner with our friend, Regina, who is pondering a trip with us. that would be cool. if we could just buy an open jaw ticket (i.e., Denver to Mexico City and returning from Cancun) for eight days, that might be enough. we'd probably zip her around the main sights (Metropolitan Cathedral, Bellas Artes (kinda like the Mexico City Center for Performing Arts), and maybe the Nat'l Institute of Anthropology and History. we'd eat at our favorite place, Cafe El Reloj, and do some shopping at the San Juan Market for some jewelry or at Ciudadela for everything else.

and that's just the first day ;)

the second day would probably be spent up at Teotihuacan, about an hour north of the city. it was once a huge city that had 200 thousand people about 1800 years ago. the world's third largest pyramid, The Temple of the Sun, lies smack dab in the ruins. it's about 200' high and 750' along the sides...imagine a pyramid that covers roughly the area of fifteen football fields.

maybe a half day up there and the other half in the southern part of Mexico City, namely the Coyoacan and San Angel neighborhoods. these are more affluent environs where it's quieter and really laid back. we could go to the Frida Kahlo Museum and maybe the Trotsky Museum, where you can see the room in which he was murdered with an icepick to the neck.

ooo...gruesome. of course, still not as scary as Frida Kahlo's trolley/bus accident that she was in when she was 18...and she lived. we're talking about a post that slammed into her, leaving her with a broken spine, a broken collarbone, broken ribs, a broken pelvis, and 11 fractures in her right leg. In addition, her right foot was dislocated and crushed. and the post? it entered through her side and came out of her vagi..

yeah. tell me that don't hurt. wouldn't you wish for death?

luckily, accident aside, we'd check out the beautiful house that she shared with her ever cheating husband, Diego Rivera. it's definitely a great place to escape the noise and pollution of downtown Mexico City.

the third day? hmmm. good question. i'll get back to you.

soon. i promise.