Bricole Take On Guanajuato

 After months of tired and outlandish excuses like, "I have to work...," Nicole finally gave in and joined me on a red-eye flight to Léon, Mexico.  Nicole, incidentally has been to some pretty interesting places around the globe ranging from Sri Lanka to Albania and Bosnia. Until last week, she had not been to Canada. And until this weekend, she had not been to Mexico. How about those apples? . . . or should I say manzanas.

After catching a few winks, we went into town and walked through the historical center of Guanajuato. Nicole snapped this wide-angle shot of the iconic church, which I believe goes by the official name of "Big yellow church" which is far easier than the unofficial name of "the basilica Colegiata de Nuestra Señora de Guanajuato." We continued our stroll through the streets and went to the Mercado Hidalgo to do a bit of shopping for some kind of memorabilia.

Nicole ended up buying a hand-made spoon rest and drip catcher thingy. Do they have an actual name? You know what I'm talking about, yes? We made our way out of the market and had some drinks in a nearby plaza where musicians kept coming to us like magnets.

A stray dog was also drawn to us, but soon clashed with the musician, whom the dog did not find to be terribly appealing to his ears. We slowly made our way to catch a taxi to the hotel. We then walked down to the tried and true BrasiTacos, which Nicole is standing in front of here. I shall quote her when she said, "You made it seem like much more of a hole in the wall." Unbeknownst to her, Nicole has changed a lot these last few years. Brasitacos, I believe, is the definition of a hole in the wall, seeing as though it is in fact missing a wall and its roof is corrugated metal. Nevertheless it has reliably good and safe food (*cough* Applebee's *cough*) and Nicole had a pair of chorizo tacos for dinner. After this, we relaxed at the hotel by watching American films poorly dubbed into spanish. We tried to go to bed around 9pm local time despite members of a school group running through the halls, yelling, and knocking on doors.




At approximately 1am, the fire alarm went off. Immediately assuming it was a fake, Nicole and I ignored it, though were now very much awake and our hearts were beating quite rapidly. Then it went off a second time. And a few minutes later, a third time. Begrudgingly we got dressed and walked into the hallway where somehow I became the leader of about 40 Mexican schoolchildren who appeared confused. After going down the fire escape and through the parking garage, we ascertained that this was in fact a disorganized mess and while everyone crowded in the lobby looking confused, Nicole and I went back upstairs to bed.

From its famous overlook at Pipila to shopping at the mercado to tacos and a fire alarm, I do believe Nicole had the full Guanajuato experience and I hope she had fun.

Brian's Day Out in Marfil

Where is Marfil you ask? Is that some new overnight? Well, I've been at this location probably 20 times in the last two months alone. Marfil is the technical location of the crew hotel for the Guanajuato overnight. The whole setup can be confusing because the airport is labeled as "Leon" on the departure boards, while the airport is actually in a city called Silao, and the hotel is in Marfil despite its own description as being in Guanajuato. Muy complicado. Anyway, I feel like I have done pretty much every museum in the city of Guanajuato, so I couldn't motivate myself to get in a cab again.

I elected to stay in Marfil, which unlike Guanajuato is not a UNESCO heritage site, but is home to various car dealerships, convenience stores, and an Applebee's (which I have been repeatedly warned to never eat at). Quite often my lunch consists of some packaged carbs purchased at the Oxxo mini mart.

After my "lunch," I decided to walk around the neighborhood a little bit, just to get my legs moving and hopefully encourage my body to be tired enough to fall asleep early enough to prepare myself for another early morning flight tomorrow. While the buildings in Marfil do not possess the same kind of colorful architecture as its neighbor, it is not completely without its charms. I eventually stopped at a small park outside a church to sit for a spell before heading back to the Holiday Inn Express.

It was a mostly safe walk except for a tunnel I had to walk through. The sidewalk did continue inside the tunnel with ample room, but I was more concerned about the ventilation as I did not see any fans to move the air around. Luckily it was a short tunnel and I was soon paralleling the Carrera/highway by the hotel once again.

For dinner I stuck with the flight crew staple of tacos just down the street. It is a very unassuming place. The kind of place your mother would frown upon, but it is quite safe.

The kitchen is within full view and despite having just three walls and a tin roof, it is kept quite clean. I do not know anyone on a flight crew who has gotten sick from eating food in Mexico, unless it was Applebee's.

The captain and I were offered meals during the red-eye last night and immediately declined. Airline food can be a gamble sometimes, and I speak from firsthand experience. I was taken out by a beef wrap a few months back. As the captain later stated, "I feel a lot safer eating street food in Mexico than the salmon in the first-class meals."

Words to live by.

BJX From New Eyes

Well here I am again in good old Guanajuato. For the first time since I've been coming down here, a few crewmembers expressed interest in going into town. If I must be honest, I kind of prefer to fly solo around here because I have a bit of a routine when I go into town, but I was open to see how other folks did things.

We hopped in a cab and took it to the Pipila, the monument overlooking the city center. This saved everyone the trek up the steps, but it seemed like cheating.

From the Pipila, we walked down into town and into the University of Guanajuato. It would not have been a normal stop in my itinerary, but I suppose it's good to see new things.

The captain showed us a few places he liked to eat. For the most part, I made a note to not return to these establishments. They were overly touristy and/or only served pizza. In the captain's defense, he eats vegan, so his dietary restrictions don't do him any favors in a place like Mexico.

After walking into a few churches and mulling about, we ate at a restaurant in one of the secluded squares away from the chaos of the main pedestrian zone.

The flight attendant and captain were both somewhat concerned with what to order. Both were vegan and both were nervous about the water, as they discussed how one shouldn't order a salad. Mexico dining 101 really. About 5 minutes after this conversation took place, they each ordered a plate of fruit and a smoothie.  I sat there befuddled. The human mind is a curious thing.

I'm sure they'll be fine, but I just found the progression from, "I brush my teeth with bottled water!" to "I'll have the mango smoothie!" to be a bit nonsensical, but maybe I'm missing something. The streets were very crowded in the main pedestrian zone, and it really wasn't fun. With the easter holidays looming and a flower festival going on, the timing wasn't ideal. I don't like being sandwiched between a lot of people. I've also decided I prefer exploring Guanajuato by myself. This is nothing against my fellow crew mates, who were very friendly and pleasant, but I've clearly become accustomed to doing things my way.

If I had come across the crowds above and I was by myself, I would have hailed a taxi and left. It was torturous being in the crowds and knowing I didn't have that option without seeming antisocial. I persisted.

After what seemed like hours...because it was, we took a taxi home. I noticed that for both directions, the cab fare was 10 pesos more than what I have paid in the past. Were my cab-sharing gringos the cause for this price hike? We will find out next time I go into town.

Something else we will all find out tomorrow . . . how did that mango smoothie go down?

Las Momias!

Well here I am, back in Guanajuato, a UNESCO world heritage site, and home of the Museo de las Momias (the mummy museum). I had tried to go a few months back, but it was a Saturday and the lines were out of control just to buy tickets. As today is a Tuesday, I had better luck and was able to see this unique place. I went in not knowing much about the mummies of Guanajuato, so it was a bit of a surprise to discover that this is all a relatively recent process. Evidently, you cannot be interred forever unless family members continue to pay a tax.

 So to make space for new bodies, those that went unclaimed or hadn't paid the tax ended up in a storage building next to a cemetery, which is now the museum. As most bodies in this town were kept in dry, air-tight crypts, the decay was slow and thus mummified these corpses. How this all ended up being a museum is the more intriguing part of the story. And it really just seems to tie in more to the fact that Mexican culture is far more embracing of death as a normal cycle of life than its northern neighbors. The macabre displays are treated with more fascination and reverence than horror.

I have been to many museums showcasing mummies from ancient egyptian times or viewed displays of people who were preserved in the bogs of england, or in lava cavities in Pompeii. For some reason, those exhibits interested me and I did not have a feeling of unease like I did here in Guanajuato. For the historical exhibits I mentioned, there was a feeling that the displays contributed to greater scientific or historical understanding. In Guanajuato, I was viewing bodies whose families simply didn't pay a tax. These are bodies from the 19th and 20th centuries, not ancient periods of time.

The clothes were still visible on many of the bodies. Some were just babies, dressed up as saints because it was believed it would make for easier passage into heaven.

It was absolutely bizarre to see these kinds of things. Based upon the timeline, the child's parents could hypothetically still be alive. Should we go pay a visit to the cemetery to see little Pedro? Oh that's right, he's not there anymore. Do you have 60 pesos, so we can pay him a visit in the museum?

Another section showed the body of a woman lying down with her hands up over her face. It was believed she had been unintentionally buried alive due to a rare medical condition that made her heart appear to stop. Based on the movement of the arms, it was deduced that she was not actually dead, but unfortunately now finds herself in a museum . . . very much dead.

It was all . . .  interesting to say the least. The museum ended with a photo op with empty coffins and one with a mummy in it (labeled a replica, but it would not have shocked me if it wasn't). After the photo op was a gift shop featuring skeleton t-shirts, mummy dolls to hang on your rear-view mirror, and other curiosities.

It was different than most museums I have been to in recent memory. I learned more about Mexican culture than I did about the mummies themselves. The other visitors gazed closely at the mummies with a respect and fascination whereas I was more bewildered by the whole thing. I have much to learn about the rest of the world.

Photo Essay on Guanajuato

 The bloggery has really increased now that I'm actually working. I am once again in Guanajuato, Mexico. On the CRJ, we would always arrive around 7pm, and leave very early the following morning. This was not adequate time to explore since a taxi is required to actually get to the historical zone. I had a long overnight here when I was based in Houston, but it has not been repeated until now. I did my first red eye getting here. We arrived at 6am and I slept until about 1130 and went into town around 2.


Since this is a simple out-and-back trip, I only needed one change of clothes, so my bag had a lot of space. I decided to pack my fancy mirrorless camera and document the town properly. I did actually go inside the basilica this time. I tried to explore new areas as well as revisit some of the highlights from my last visit. But I feel I get too wordy on here, so I shall let the photos do the talking for once.

First Flights out of LAX

My very first flight out of LAX as a pilot based there was delayed. Weather? Excessive flow you might ask? Nope. A dog on the loose on the tarmac. For 30 minutes airport police tried to corral the four-legged antagonist to no avail. The ground controller was very busy directing planes to stop and go on taxiways based on the dog's present position. Eventually we were able to get a word in to push from the gate. I didn't hear anything else further about the dog, so I guess they were able to capture it. Either that, or it met an untimely demise being sucked into the engine of a 777.

After a flight over to Phoenix and back, we headed back to Guanajuato in Mexico. We wouldn't arrive until evening, so we simply had dinner at a taco place and called it a night. My only flight the following day was the return leg to LAX, which took over three hours. The next day, however, I would be doing five flights, all short hops within the state of California.

The last leg of the day involved a flight from San Francisco to Bakersfield. It was about a 45 minute flight that went smoothly until about the last few miles when the air traffic controller stated that the long runway was closed which conflicted with any other reports we had. We calculated that it was still possible to land on the short runway, and proceeded inbound. Only one of the runways was lit at night. We assumed this was the open runway, but as we got closer, it didn't look right. This was the long runway that was lit up, aka the one that was supposedly closed. For the first time in my airline career, I initiated a go-around.

We talked to the controller, our dispatcher, the local police, and anyone that could confirm that the runway was in fact open. 5 sources said it was and one source said it wasn't. We did another approach and went around again after looking for any obstructions, big X's on the runway etc. Nothing. On our third pass, we landed without incident and immediately filed a report about the ridiculousness of it all. I don't need such stress late at night. After waking up in Bakersfield, I was welcomed by 100 degree weather and sun. I grabbed some breakfast at McDonalds and went for a run by the Kern River.

The only issue with this bike/run path by the river was that there was no river. I should have expected as much given the drought plaguing the state. Nevertheless, I appreciated having a dedicated path for activities as opposed to running down city streets even if the scenery was limited to oil derricks, dust, and overpasses. I didn't have my camera with, but I did find this picture from the news. The brown dirt you see at right is the "river." I am hopeful that today's flying will be easier than yesterday.

Tacos.

I was assigned a simple out-and-back trip down to Leon/Guanajuato in Mexico. This time, I would be arriving in the evening, and departing early morning, so not much time to venture out and explore. However, while introducing myself to the crew, they inquired, "Do you like tacos?" Who doesn't like tacos? Everyone likes tacos. You know who didn't like tacos? . . . Hitler. One of the flight attendants stated that if I didn't like tacos, she would have been forced to call the airline and have the flight restaffed with someone who likes tacos. This can all be very serious business. If you recall from my previous Guanajuato post, the hotel is not within walking distance from the town center, so I thought they had plans to all hop in a taxi and get tacos downtown. I was wrong. We merely took a stroll down the street for a couple blocks and plopped ourselves down at a place called Brasitacos. And if you try and find it online, you will not. You may think you found it, but that is a different Brasitacos in a different town.

It is a very unassuming place. Bottles of coke line the fridge at the far end. A TV rests on top of the fridge playing a local soccer game accented with the excitement one would expect from a Mexican soccer game. Goooooooooooooooooooooal! The kitchen staff, in full view of its patrons, is vigorously making tacos and putting together plates of carne asada, and stuffed potatoes. I ordered a total of four tacos - two chorizo and two pastor. Pastor, in this case, meaning thinly sliced pork off of the spit you see in the picture. It was not a very kosher meal, but it was all delicious. The cost for four tacos and a Fanta? $3. I guarantee you that will beat any Taco Tuesday in the U.S. I didn't think to actually take a picture of my tacos because I was too busy eating them. Yay tacos! And I know my Mom is currently sitting in Houston in a panic thinking to herself, "Why did he go there?! He's going to get sick! They probably don't wash their hands!" Statistically, it's safer than Chipotle. Furthermore, I have heard from multiple crews to stay away from the Applebee's because people have gotten ill.

One cannot judge a place by its exterior. Unless that place is Chipotle . . . then you should definitely judge and also question your other life decisions. These low brow tacos were the best meal I've had in Mexico to date. And part of it was the atmosphere itself. There were certainly no tourists, or anyone speaking english for that matter. The flight crew was mildly shocked when I rattled off my order in spanish. While they speculated that I either had a spanish-speaking girlfriend or studied in school, they seemed a bit confused that I had somehow taught myself using an iPad app. Again...things are not always as they seem.

Wanna Guanajuato?

It was another morning of setting the alarm at 4 am. Also keep in mind that this is also on the east coast, so back in LA, it's 1 am. Somehow, with all these weird time changes and early call times, my body adapts and functions. I have yet to succumb to requiring coffee. They all say it's only a matter of time. I honestly think my body doesn't respond to caffeine anyway. After a three hour flight from Cleveland back to Houston, we went to our new gate and headed off to Guanajuato, Mexico: a new destination. While in Cleveland, I did a little bit of research about the town and thought it was worth investigating. After landing at the small airport, we rode in the shuttle for about 20 minutes to our hotel. This was still a ways from the town center, so I ended up taking a taxi to the zona centro. Somewhere 1500 miles away, I think I heard my mother screech at the thought of me hiring a taxi in Mexico. It was safe. Calm yourself. One interesting aspect of the drive to the zona centro is the tunnels that go beneath the city. They were not technically designed for cars, but for diverting river water back in the day, but it's a maze of underground intersections and junctions now. It's actually pretty interesting in its own right.

After getting dropped off, I explored the town's many squares and plazas. This is a picture of the Parroquia de Basilica Colegiata de Nuestra Señora de Guanajuato. That was a mouthful. I didn't go inside because I felt awkward about it, but it looked very photogenic from the outside in its bright colors. I continued my stroll through the Jardin de la Union, which was surrounded by numerous cafes and a few shops. I stopped here briefly and sat on a bench where I successfully hacked someone's wifi for about 30 mins before I got kicked off.

This is the Jardin as viewed from above at the Monumento al Pipila, which I walked up hundreds of steps to reach. Apparently there was at some time a funicular that would take you to the top of the hill, but it has been broken for months. Tripadvisor suggested getting a taxi to the top, but I discovered that you can walk up the hill by going through numerous alleys with lots and lots of steps. And let's not forget that the city is already around 6,000 feet above sea level, so my heart was pounding pretty hard.

Eventually I reached the top, but it was not without some effort. My 12-year-old self would have had the foresight to count the steps when I started. Then I could rattle off some number that would impress the masses, but all I could *pant* think about was *wheeze*  . . . *coughing fit*. . . actually I can't remember. The view from the top was the best part of my mini day trip into town. It really gave perspective on the layout of the town and you really see how it was built into the hills. And the crazy thing is that I walked up to this overlook twice. It was overcast and hazy when I initially arrived, but after grabbing a late lunch in one of the plazas, the sun came out and broke through and I felt obligated to retake the pictures I already had because the lighting brought out the colors of the buildings a lot better. After spending the week complaining about missing the opportunities to run with any regularity, I have perhaps made up for it by climbing those steps at altitude . . . twice.

Was it worth it? Yes. So as I mentioned, I had a late lunch. I found the cafe by accident. I was on my way to a market, but looked to my right and saw an alley going somewhere that looked interesting, so I forked off. It was a little less touristy than other parts of the town. I just picked a cafe at random without yelping or otherwise. I ordered the carne a la tampiqueña because at least I knew what that was. This version was not only better, but cheaper than the hotel restaurant version I had in Monterrey just days ago.


It was a hearty late lunch and my perpetually hungry stomach decided it didn't really need a dinner. I've been getting good use of my elementary spanish on this trip. I can tell you firsthand that the Duolingo language app does actually help. When I went to Peru and Chile almost eight years ago, I knew "Por Favor,""Gracias," and "Buenos Dias" and that was about the extent of it. Today I was giving directions to a cab driver, discussing money amounts, ordering food, and understanding the responses too. The only snag I ran into was when the waitress asked how I wanted my steak and I really wasn't sure how to convey "medium-well." I did, however, understand when she brought it out that if my steak wasn't how I wanted it, she could take it back and make another one. I was pretty proud of myself for understanding any of that. After a busy day, I noticed a cab was dropping some folks off so I asked if he was "libro" and I successfully got back to the Holiday Inn Express. Hear that Mom? You can relax now.