Day 37, 38 and 39 - Dia de los muertos and departure to Cuba

Day 37 - Friday, October 28, 2022:
Free Walking Tour and Festival Animales

Today started a bit earlier as we had booked a Free Walking Tour. The meeting point was only a 20-minute walk from our accommodation, but we had to return our blue car beforehand. Right after that, we went to Parque de Santa Lucia, where we met our tour guide. He greeted us in very fluent English and asked us to wait a little longer for the other participants. Meanwhile, two very amusing things happened. First, Anna was once again blessed by a bird with its excrement, and second, an old, somewhat confused Mexican man told us his entire life story in Spanish, which we could hardly understand. Even multiple attempts of saying 'Pardon, pero no comprende espanol' couldn't stop him. It wasn't until we started our tour that the old man stopped telling us his story.
The Free Walking Tour was very informative and especially interesting, although there were occasional inconsistencies in Jorge's statements and stories. Still, we can recommend this tour to everyone, as it allows you to learn more about the culture, the city, and its history than you can find on the internet or in a travel guide. After the tour, we strolled through the city and stumbled upon a market that was not necessarily intended for tourists. Extremely narrow aisles led us through a huge building where you could get everything from a fever thermometer to all kinds of tacos and even a canary bird. It was definitely a very interesting experience.
After about three hours of walking around and absorbing information, we quickly grabbed a cup of coffee and then headed back to our accommodation to prepare for the evening.
We are almost at the end of October, and in Mexico, that means celebrating the Day of the Dead (Dia de los muertos) everywhere, which we planned to do today as well. The city holds the Festival Animales for this occasion, and today there was a big parade. We, as usual, left a bit late and unfortunately couldn't be there from the beginning, but it was still a thoroughly enjoyable evening. In addition to many masked Mexicans, endless snack stalls, and musical accompaniment, there were small altars set up in front of almost every house to honor deceased family members. For us, the happiness with which the locals celebrated this day was very foreign and unusual (as we Europeans tend to mourn more than celebrate on such days), but still somehow very positive. After trying a few classic Mexican snacks, we went to bed shortly after midnight.

Day 38 - Saturday, October 29, 2022:
Pok a Tok - A Game of Life and Death

Today's motto was: get cash for Cuba or exchange it into dollars or euros. So, right after breakfast, we set out to exchange the pesos we had withdrawn. However, this endeavor was not so easy since the exchange rate changes a few times every day and there are significant differences between the exchange offices. Of course, we tried to find the best rate and spent hours going from one booth to another, only to realize that the first booth we visited had the best rate. After this 'amusing' but successful event, we returned to the apartment and turned the remaining food we had into an excellent spaghetti with everything sauce.

In the evening, we attended a presentation of the cultural game Pok a Tok. We met an English couple at the main square to witness the game. Of course, we arrived extremely late and had the worst seats imaginable. Fortunately, Nathan and Nadia had brought beer, so even the back seats were quite enjoyable. Throughout the evening, we had to go shopping twice because we ran out of beer, until at two o'clock in the morning, we finally concluded that we had had enough. The two English people were very nice and positive, so we don't regret anything, even though the next day was quite difficult.

Day 39 - October 30, 2022
Packing and Departure to Cuba

As mentioned before, we had a long night yesterday, so we had to catch up on some sleep. With empty stomachs and tired faces, we reluctantly packed our things and cleaned up the apartment since we had to check out at noon. Then, we really wanted to have a classic Mayan meal, so we chose a famous Mexican restaurant called 'La Chaya Maya.' This turned out to be an excellent choice. With fresh tortillas and delicious Chaya juice, the locals convinced us of their cuisine.
With full stomachs and somewhat sobered up, we picked up our luggage, and our journey to Cuba began. We were processed relatively quickly at the airport, but at the latest on the runway, we experienced a little shock. We were flying in a small propeller plane. It was a bit louder and bumpier, but still very pleasant as we traveled for 3 hours to the Pacific island of Cuba. Upon arrival, we were picked up by Tomas, a very, very nice older Cuban, in his Rosie (an old but iconic Chevrolet), and taken to our accommodation. We were brought directly to the Museo de la Revolucion, where two older ladies welcomed us very kindly and escorted us to our small but nice room. Finally, we could unpack our luggage and rest our tired eyes.