We left Melbourne excited about Mexico, but not looking forward to the gruelling plane ride. 14 hours to Los Angeles, a 4 hour stopover and then another 4 hour flight to Mexico City.

We were also excited about flying on the new 787-9 dreamliner. We haven't flown in one before and I was particularly looking forward to it. Turns out the seats were no more comfy than an A330, and unfortunately, the entire cooling system in the galley broke during the flight and Qantas were unable to use any of the meals. So instead of a meal, we were given a selection of dry crackers, lollies and fresh fruit. We were OK with this, I mean, who doesn't love an apple and a packet of strange, dry, crunchy things for dinner? The real issue occurred when we landed in Los Angeles. We went to the carousel to collect our luggage, only to be told that Lidia's suitcase would not be arriving. We were told to fly on to Mexico and that the suitcase would have to catch up with us later. So we flew to Mexico, lined up in the queue for missing baggage and completed a missing luggage claim form, then proceeded on to the hotel sans Lidia's case.

Our hotel in Mexico City was the St Regis and it was magnificent. A relatively new hotel in a fantastic location. It was a Sunday when we arrived and it turned out to be good timing, because every Sunday they close the street in front of the hotel to traffic and the Mexicans use the streets as a giant bike track. Literally thousands of cyclists trundle along slowly, with walkers and skaters amongst them. After a quick nap (we had been travelling for almost 30 hours at this point), we got out amongst it all. Lidia wasn't feeling too good and I didn't feel 100% either. In fact, we felt similar to how we felt when we landed in Cuzco, Peru, which is 3,700m above sea level, and I said to Lidia that it felt to me like we had slight altitude sickness. When I checked later, turns out Mexico City is 2,400m above sea level, so we were feeling the effects of the altitude, although nowhere near as severe as Cuzco.

Anyway, that didn't stop us from enjoying the party atmosphere in Mexico City. There was dancing in the streets, markets, buskers and all sorts of activity going on. Mexico City has a population of 22 million people and I think they were all out that Sunday. One very popular treat at the market was called "chicharron", which was basically giant pieces of fried pork rind smothered in different sauces. We weren't feeling well enough to try it at the time. It looked a little gross. There were also plenty of stalls selling Mexican wrestling masks, which was pretty cool. Naturally I wanted one, and naturally Lidia told me I was an idiot, so I didn't buy one.

That night we sourced a local restaurant called Salon Rios and had a fantastic meal of tacos. We also tried the chicharron, which was different from the market stuff, served with guacamole. It was really good. All Mexican meals are served with home made corn chips and 3 salsas, which we also enjoyed. We were surprised that none of the meals looked anything like the Mexican we have at home. Ie: None of it was smothered in a thick layer of cheese. It was actually quite healthy.

The next morning we woke to find that Lidia's suitcase had still not arrived and not one word from Qantas as to where it was. We were picked up by a private tour guide, Sonya, at 9:00 and went out to see the city of Teotihuacan. This city is ancient, dating back to 100BC, and contains many small pyramids and 3 large ones. The pyramid of the sun, being the largest, has 300 steps. We climbed all of them, even though Lidia only had the shoes she wore on the plane. She did well, even though the heels fell off both of her shoes.

We had lunch with Sonya at a restaurant located in a network of caves, La Gruta (The Grotto). Aside from the standard Mexican food, they served chilli caterpillars and fried grasshoppers. We opted for tacos instead. Again, the tacos were nothing like the Mexican we have at home. A soft tortilla topped with meat, vegies, beans and salsa is a standard taco. No cheese or sour cream to be seen at all.

We quizzed Sonya on this, and apparently the Mexican food we have at home originated in the United States, not Mexico. The Mexicans call it "Tex Mex" and you can't buy it anywhere in Mexico. We were flabbergasted to hear that nachos and burritos are not Mexican at all and the Mexicans don't eat cheese much, only in tomales, which are basically meat and cheese cooked inside a corn husk parcel.

After lunch, Sonya rang American Airlines and was told that Lidias suitcase was in Los Angeles and would arrive in Mexico City at 11pm. We were supposed to go for a meal in one of the nicest restaurants in the city, but I asked Sonya to postpone that until the following night, because Lidia had only the outfit she wore on the plane, and even though she likes to wear her after 5 on the plane, she felt it wasn't up to scratch. On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at a mall so that Lidia could buy a pair of Skechers to replace her broken shoes.

So instead of the nice restaurant, on Sonya's recommendation we went to a more casual place, Quebracho, which served Argentinian food. I tried the mezcal, which knocked my socks off and Lidia drank Malbec. We ordered far too much food, thinking we would order just a few entrees. The entrees turned out to be huge, so we couldn't finish it all.

The next morning we woke up and went down to breakfast. On the way past the lobby, the concierge called our names. Lidia's suitcase had turned up overnight! We were overjoyed.

After breakfast we were picked up by Sonya again for a tour of the city. There are many huge, impressive buildings and cathedrals in Mexico City, however most of them are sinking. This is because Mexico City was built on a giant lake. All of the buildings lean this way and that. It's kind of disconcerting walking around inside them, constantly thinking they could collapse at any time. Particularly since Mexico is constantly devastated by huge earthquakes. The highlight of the day was seeing the huge murals in the National Palace, which were painted by Diego Rivera and depict the history of the Mexican people.

There are skeletons and skulls everywhere in Mexico City. Before coming here, I thought it quite morbid, however the meaning behind it is quite the contrary. They believe skulls represent eternal life. You live on in the after world. The skeletons represent that we are all the same inside no matter what race.

Our final day in Mexico City was awesome. Sonya firstly took is to a museum created by a Mexican property magnate, Dolores Olmedo. This lady was hugely influential in Mexico and was a close friend of Diego Rivera. She was responsible for preserving his work and created her museum in his honor. The museum is located in what was previously her home, and is a beautiful building situated in manicured gardens teeming with peacocks and Mexican hairless dogs.

On the way to the museum Sonya outlined this history of Dolores, along with Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo. The relationship between Diego and Frida was rocky, to say the least, and downright bizarre. They married twice and each had various affairs during their 2 marriages, Frida with both men and women. A quote by Frida on one of the walls of her house, which we also visited on that day, sums up he relationship with Diego: "Perhaps they expect me to wail and moan about 'how much I suffer', living with a man like Diego. But I don't think that the banks of a river suffer for letting it flow."

Speaking of suffering, Diego was the least of Fridas worries in that regard. Born with polio, she was virtually crippled with pain for her entire life, worsened by a horrific bus accident, in which her spine was further damaged. In her home there is an incredible photograph of her in traction, trussed up in a frame, her head stretched by a sling under her chin. Suspended above here is a canvas, which she is painting on. Talk about not letting adversity stop you. Her art depicts her pain. You can almost see the agony in her work.

We thoroughly enjoyed looking through the "blue house", which was Frida's family home and is now a museum. It included much of her artwork and a collection of braces she wore during her life to keep her back straight. It was interesting to see her color palette, which she used for most of her paintings, assigned an emotion to each color.