Virgile's Diary

VIRGILE’S DIARY PART TWO

Departing Dallas for Mexico City with Little Wicked Letters, a great film that finally passes the Bechdel test. Two Coronas on the plane got the better of my bladder, my first experience of Mexico, the toilets! Fortunately, this was the only toilet emergency I had in Mexico.

As soon as you leave the airport, the pollution and the humidity get to you, and then there’s the altitude, which takes a few hours to get used to. Barely out of the airport and the colour is announced, trucks covered with sofas, street food every 2 metres with fried food and chillies. Motorbikes everywhere, potholed pavements and the maze of the bus station to find your way to the hostel.

As I spoke no Spanish and had no pesos on me, a policeman kindly opened the metro gate for me, saying “Es un turista”.

The metro is only used by Mexicans, so don’t make a mistake and end up in the women’s carriage. It’s the first time I’ve been in a country where I’m the only white person. You have to put yourself in the shoes of tourists and immigrants in Europe.

The metro takes me to a labyrinthine market full of everything. I would later learn that this was Tepito, one of the city’s most dangerous districts. Don’t go there at night.

We arrived at Viajero Hostel, located in an old building dating from 1800. A beautiful main courtyard that serves as a communal area. The hostel offers plenty of sightseeing tours, on foot or by bike, visiting the main sites in and around the city. Lucha Libre evenings, karaoke, table tennis tournaments. Every evening a drink is offered to meet the travellers, and there’s a WhatsApp group to ask for advice.

First outing in the city, it’s night-time. We pass through the majestic main square. The massive, mineral cathedral is leaning a little (like many ancient monuments in Mexico City, this is due to earthquakes and the drying up of the water table by the city’s many water supply wells). A group of 30 people perform a ritual dance to the rhythm of three drums. They wear bells on their feet and chant. The whole thing has a transcendental feel.

The city centre has a very strong police presence. 

A Mexican woman at the hotel recommended the best taco place in the city centre. First time for me, a small restaurant full of locals, no idea what I was ordering but absolutely delicious. Served with lime and chilli sauce, having eaten nothing all day I ordered 6. After translating I took the “mix” Knowing that you can order singles with tripe, tongue, eyes….

VIRGILE’S DIARY PART ONE

Departure from Berlin for the round-the-world trip. More than 23 cities in all, and this sudden departure made the last two weeks very intense – preparing for the trip, making the move and moving in 10 days!

Arrival in Athens, the Millennium city. After the airport I arrive at the bus station, which is a universal place of noise, petrol smells and dust. On the way to the city centre on foot, I pass car wrecks and the ruins of Plato’s Academy, promising a city full of contrasts. The hostel is located on the border of the Chinese and Indian quarters. A superb roof terrace gives us yet another contrasting view of the city, with concrete buildings stretching as far as the hills and the Acropolis, the mythical sanctuary dominating the city.

Our first evening was spent wandering around the Exarchia district, known throughout Europe for its far-left militants against mass tourism and the rise in accommodation prices by Air BnB. Lots of bars and small restaurants, over 25 degrees at 11pm, the good life. The terraces are full in the middle of square streets covered with militant posters and feminist stickers. A heavy police presence guarding the construction site of a new metro station, a tense place where activists want to prevent the site from further easing the flow of tourists.

The next day, a stroll through the thousand-year-old remains of Hadrian’s Library, the Parthenon and other Greek temples.

The next day, a stroll through the city centre, divided between the thousand-year-old remains of Hadrian’s Library, the Parthenon and other Greek ruins. Visit the cathedral and the university campus, a 19th-century reconstruction of the Athenian temples. Visit the food market next to the hostel, with fish and fresh meat galore. In the evening, dinner in a tiny restaurant tucked away in an open courtyard. Delicious tzatziki, fried courgette and cooked liver. 

We continued the evening on the terrace of an association bar, where Greek women play George Brassens and Gainsbourg. They advised me to go to the “Beatnik club”, which has a great atmosphere and a psychedelic pop group. Then some Greek girls took me to a vernissage in an old abandoned palace, DJ set and raki by the glass, great atmosphere, very underground.

Athens is the city with the most bookshops I’ve ever seen, in every language and on every possible subject.

The next day, I left for Bucharest on my way to England. Unfortunately I can’t cook my pasta at the hotel, so I have an impromptu picnic and watch Welcome to Zombiland in its original version! The TV shows football matches, traditional songs and pubs for medicines.

A night in London with some Italian friends and a typical meal with a bottle of Bulgarian wine. A last familiar meal before crossing the Atlantic and its discoveries!