Xochimilco

Xochimilco (So-she-mil-co) is a lush, pretty place. Its name means, "Place where Flowers Grow" in Nahuatl, a native language of modern-day Mexico. Once upon a time, in this small neighborhood/town on the southern edge of D.F., there was a lake. Hundreds and hundreds of years ago, the inhabitants made a huge series of canals (about 100 miles of them) used for agriculture and transport. Today, agriculture is a small segment of Xochimilco's canals' business. Today, the canals are used mostly for transport and entertainment/sightseeing purposes.

We took a boat, similar to a gondola in Venice, navigated by a local man for a 45-minute tour of some of the canals. There are no motorized water vehicles in the canals, which makes it very peaceful. We enjoyed Xochi on a Monday, the epitome of tranquility for this tourist-heavy place. In fact, we had a whole colorful trajinera (boat) to ourselves. On weekends, big boats with capacities of 60 people fill the canals, making it more of a party atmosphere. I was happy to have missed that. Daily life in D.F. is enough of a crowded party for me. HOWEVER: a boat filled with muchachas did yell, "¡Guapos!" ("hotties!") to Brian and Matt. I'm sure that was a bit of the ol' ego boost for them.

Vendors on small boats sell beer, food, silver jewelry, and even a song performed live by a little band as you float your way through the canals.

Here are some snapshots of this lovely place.

Empty trajineras, ready and waiting:

Relatively little water traffic:

A home on the canal:

A commuter:

Flowers everywhere. The type in the middle is a wild poinsettia variety; I don't know about you, but I had actually never seen poinsettias growing in the ground (they just always seemed to appear magically in abundance in those ugly, mylar wrapped chintzy fake-pots, in the supermarket come Christmastime). I like them more this way: