off and flying --

And a bit of taxiing.  The kind with fares, not runways.  Even though we did both yesterday.

Lupe, Alex, and I are in Mexico City -- after a full afternoon and evening of travel.

My friends Lou and Wynn were kind enough to drive the three of us, and Darrel, to the airport yesterday afternoon.  Darrel’s flight was leaving over an hour before ours, but it was convenient for all of to make the trek at one time.

That meant the three Mexico City travelers had extra time to enjoy the minimalist joys of the Manzanillo airport.  It turned out to be time well spent.  I learned a lot of interesting things about Lupe and her family.  Now I have some actual experiences to tack on to the names I greet each day.

It turns out that Lupe and Alex have flown only once before -- and that was ten years ago.  That gave me an opportunity to put my pilot lore to work.  An educated passenger is a happy passenger.

It also helped that we were flying Interjet -- one of Mexico’s newer airlines.  The equipment was new and shiny, and about as high tech as a modern airline cabin can be.  I have flown on several of Mexico’s low-cost airlines, and I have been impressed with each experience.  These new airlines make their senior American colleagues look rather long in the tooth.

Our bags almost beat us to the luggage carousel.  Within minutes of landing we were on our way to Lupe and Alex’s hotel.  The clinic had recommended it because of its proximity to the clinic.  Even so, it will be a 3-mile taxi or Metro ride each day from their hotel to the clinic.

Here is a shot of the lobby.

Mexican hotels almost always get this detail correct.  Put your best first impression at the front desk.  I will check the adequacy of their room today when we head off as a group to the clinic.

The desk clerk offered to call for a taxi to take me to my hotel.  He appeared to be someone’s cousin driving the family van.  I would usually be wary of driving off into the dark of Mexico City with a stranger, but I threw caution to the wind.  After all, the ride was arranged by the desk clerk -- who was another stranger to me.  So, there you go.  But my street smarts were not tingling.

Of course, as 99.44% of such tales will, this one turned out well.  I chose my hotel because of its proximity to the museums I intended to visit on this trip.  But I may not see much of them.  Instead, I am going to spend more of my free time with Lupe and Alex.  They have never been to Mexico City before.  And I would like them to enjoy themselves -- as well as dealing with the eye replacement.

My hotel room is nice enough – if a bit shopworn.  But it has something that I have yet to see in any other Mexican hotel.

Yup.  A bath tub.  Where I spent a good deal of last evening before drifting off to sleep.

As I write this, I have no internet access (what is it with high-end hotels and lousy internet?), but I hope you will see this before too much of your day has passed.

And today?  We have some serious eye business.