It's really hot here in CDMX

Today the temperature hit 30 degrees again and still no sign of cooling rain. We were talking to a fellow in a sidewalk cafe this afternoon and he told us that May is a very hot month. It's even hotter than June or July because there are no rains to cool the air down. Well now we know. Today there was some thunder and lightning and even some sprinkles of raindrops but nothing is cooling off this air. Not really complaining though because we've endured months of cold and dreary weather in Victoria. And it's lovely to be able to sit outside in the evening.  Now that we have a fan I think I'll be able to sleep better tonight.

Our adventure today was a hop-on, hop-off tour with a company called Turibus, which took us down the Reforma to the historic centre of the city, where we saw the Zocalo, some very very old buildings and the Palacio des Bellas Artes. Here are a few photos of our day.

This is the old guy posing in front of a very old building and one of the city's iconic pink and wite taxis.  Some buildings here are 300 years old.

This photo is taken on the inside of the Palace of Fine Arts, which has a mainly art deco interior and some amazing murals. (More about those in another post.)

These guys were playing chess in Alameda Park and one old man challenged Harry to a game. He quickly declined, knowing that he'd be badly beaten.

We hopped off at the Del Angel monument where we stayed 33 years ago the first time we came to this city and found that the hotel we stayed in was still in operation, and looking pretty much the same from the outside. The inside was somewhat modernized but still recognizable.

This is the Monument to Independence featuring the angel, hence the name del angel, taken from the top of the open air double decker bus. And below the angel, the hotel.

Speaking of hotels, we're staying at a pleasant B&B called Anys Hostal where we have an apartment with a kitchen, two beds, and large bathroom area plus desk, plus even more space. It's a great oasis from the hurly burly of the city. We met the owner Alfonso last summer when he was in Victoria and we're so pleased that it worked out for us to stay at his place.

This afternoon we spent an hour or so down by Del Angel having a late lunch and then hopped back on the bus to find ourselves mired in a Mexico City traffic jam. It took us 45 minutes to drive what would normally be a 15 minute ride. Note to self: stay off of transit after 4:30 pm in Mexico City. The traffic of course adds to the smog, which builds up with heat and humidity too.

Tonight we're trying to keep cool as we listen to some thunder and hope for rain.