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<\/a>The new Las Vegas strip.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>AJ at the Las Vegas airport.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>At Nacho Daddy the presentation is very flamboyant.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Surprisingly there are a lot of things on Freemont street that have nothing to do with gambling or even Las Vegas.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Freemont Street casinos.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Went on a walking tour of some of the old downtown Las Vegas sites. This is the Las Vegas High School. Looks like it could be in Grease.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>The fried lobster taco was awesome.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>At lunch in Las Vegas with some friends at Nacho Daddy<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>While in Las Vegas we visited the Pinball Museum, which had several retro pinball machines.<\/p><\/div>\n
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Mexico City:<\/p>\n
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<\/a>Denise enjoying hot chocolate on a bench.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Chocolate and Raspberry filled churros.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Churrreria in Coyoacan.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Cafe El Jarocho has been serving hot chocolate and coffee since 1953.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Tizconsito claims to have invented tacos al pastor.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Why do our supermarkets not have bakeries inside them?<\/p><\/div>\n
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Then it turned out that Denise’s parents were not going to be able to move their stuff because one of Denise’s siblings had a wedding to attend, so then she decided to come with us on our adventure. But then, Denise’s dad told us that he served his mission in Oaxaca and asked if he could come with us. No worries, I spoke to my dad and he said “the more the merrier.” So we had three incoming flights to coordinate<\/p>\n
Then it turned out that Denise’s dad had dental surgery so he couldn’t travel and Denise’s siblings did go to help them move, but didn’t tell Denise, but then my dad had to work until Monday. And then we had two different flights on two different days, it was kind of a crazy way to start a trip but by Tuesday morning we were on a ADO first class bus heading south from Mexico City to Oaxaca.<\/p>\n
Traveling to Oaxaca:<\/p>\n
<\/a>Mexico buses are a lot better than US buses.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Pocatepetl (left) and Iztaccihuatl (right), two volcanoes.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Traveling high along the trans volcanic rim.<\/p><\/div>\n
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The bus ride from Mexico City to Oaxaca is 6-7 hrs. (depends on traffic). The cost of the bus ride was about $20 for First Class and $25 for Executive class (the way we came back). Kids and Seniors (over 60) are half off.\u00a0 The only difference I could tell between First Class and Executive class was that on Executive class (known as GL) they gave us a drink and earphones. Both classes are WAY ahead of Greyhound in quality. There are restrooms, the chairs recline far back, and have power outlets.<\/p>\n
The trip takes you through what is known as the\u00a0Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt (Eje Volc\u00e1nico Transversal). A very high route at one point in the trip we passed in the middle of six volcanoes:\u00a0 Ixtacc\u00edhuatl,\u00a0Popocat\u00e9petl,\u00a0Matlalcueitl\u00a0(Malinche),\u00a0Cofre de Perote,\u00a0Pico de Orizaba, and Sierra Negra. Popocat\u00e9petl, the most iconic of all the volcanoes has recently woken up and smoke could be seen.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Hotel Nacional is a cheap and clean place to stay.<\/p><\/div>\n
We had made reservations at the Hotel Nacional, but we soon found out that in the center area there are lots of hotels. Most run in the $30-40 per night range. Don’t expect elevators, usually tile floor, and the beds in Mexico are always a bit on the firm side. You can get better if you want, but to us a hotel room is just a sleeping place. As long as it has some kind of wifi and the bathroom is clean we are pretty much OK.<\/p>\n
When we got into town my dad was hungry and so we went to the plaza. He was very disappointed to hear that a restaurant called “La Casa De La Abuela” was closed. We ended going to a place called “Los Tres Bistros.” We are kind of a market food group, but it was fun to splurge a little bit in a fancy restaurant. My dad went with the traditional Oaxacan Chocolate Mole and I got a Tlayuda. My best description of a Tlayuda would be a Mexican pizza made with skinny meat and the largest corn tortilla I have ever seen.\u00a0 AJ got sunny looking chicken strips and Denise got salmon with risotto. The most flamboyant part of the meal was our appetizer, which was a guacamole (avocado sauce) with chapulines (grasshoppers). United States citizens see this as exotic, but the truth is grasshoppers have been eaten in the Americas for 1000s of years, they don’t taste that strange, more like the inner soft shell of a peanut, more salty than anything else. Other food items Oaxaca is know for is cheese, chocolate, and cecina (really flat steak).<\/p>\n
Oaxacan food:<\/p>\n
<\/a>Guacamole with Chapulines<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Tlayudas are like Mexican pizzas and served on giant corn tortillas.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Oaxacan cheese is a lot like mozzarella.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Pan de Yema (egg yolk bread) and conchas are typical breakfast bread.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Real Mexican hot chocolate is served frothy.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Mixing chocolate with a molinillo<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Grinding chocolate into powder.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Guacamole with Chapulines (Guacamole)<\/p><\/div>\n
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<\/a>Oaxacan History mural in the palace.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Oaxaca Plaza<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Denise and John in front of the governor’s palace.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>A picture of Quetzalcoatl (on the bottom) and Xipe Totec (top)<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Oaxacan dresses in the Benito Juarez market.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>A mural depicting Oaxacan customs<\/p><\/div>\n