Jessie was going to a dentist in Tijuana for the first time and asked Tori to come with her. After Tori made an appointment to get a teeth cleaning at the same time, I decided to tag along so we could all explore the area afterwards. We parked at the border to walk across the San Ysidro Border Crossing, but we hit a long line to cross. A tour guide in line behind us said he had never seen it this long before. It took an hour to cross since we discovered that everyone was having to fill out a form when presenting their passport. The dentist office sent a free taxi to pick us up and drive us to their building in the Zona Río area.
While Jessie and Tori had their appointments, I walked over to check out the nearby Tijuana River. The concrete aqueduct reminded me of the river in Downtown Los Angeles as I crossed over the pedestrian bridge. I then walked over to the Abraham Lincoln Monument on Paseo de los Héroes, one of Tijuana’s largest and busiest streets that is known for its sculptures placed along its large roundabouts. The U.S. gifted the statue of Lincoln in 1981 and Mexico gifted a statue of Mexican President Benito Juárez that sits in Pantoja Park in Downtown San Diego. Walking back, I stopped at the Cafe de la Fonda across the street from the dentist office and enjoyed a Mexican Coke and Carrot Cake Cookie on the shaded patio. Tori joined me there for a coffee after her appointment ended first.
After Jessie's appointment ended, we walked up the Paseo de los Héroes, passing the Monument to Emperor Cuauhtémoc, sculpted in 1975. (Cuauhtémoc was the last emperor of the Aztecs when Mexico was under siege by the Spanish Conquistadors. He ruled for a year before being captured by the Spanish and eventually executed by Hernán Cortés.) We then entered the large open-air Plaza Río Shopping Mall where we stopped for candy at Super Dulces and Tori bought some clothes at High Street. The mall includes a Sears department store. Despite the bankruptcy and only six stores remaining in America, Sears Mexico is still running strong under different ownership with 93 stores across Mexico.
Leaving the mall, we passed the roundabout with the Monumento México, two sharp metal spires that form the letter "M" to commemorate Mexico's Independence. The local nickname is Las Tijeras (the Scissors). Across the street, we entered the Tijuana Cultural Center where a street festival filled the esplanade circling the OMNImax CECUT dome. We could see that the iconic exterior of La Bola (the Ball) was under refurbishment as we walked past the vendor stalls and the musical stage. Inside, Jessie stopped for Rosemary Coffee (surprisingly good) at the BRAGO Cafe, before we walked through the Botanical Garden filled with Pre-Spanish Mesoamerican sculptures.
The Tijuana Cultural Center (CECUT) opened in 1982 and has two museums, Museo de las Californias and Museo El Cubo. We bought tickets to the art museum that opened in 2008 and named "The Cube" after the new square building that contrasts with the older La Bola IMAX Dome. In the Cube Lobby, a group of ballroom dancers swirled to the music. Two of the three galleries were open and we started with their current exhibition of modern art on the 1st Floor before moving up to the traditional ceramic art on the 3rd floor. We crossed the street to eat at Plaza Fiesta but everything was still closed. It was full of bars and nightclubs prepping for a busy Saturday night.
We walked back toward the dentist office and stopped at Los Remedios Cantina for Margaritas. Tori and Jessie both ordered the Mushroom Quesadillas while I had the Carne Asada Torta. It was so good! After our meal, we took a taxi from the restaurant to the PedEast Border Crossing. With our last bit of cash, we bought a bag of Churros for dessert while we were waiting in line. It took only 45 minutes total before we exited Customs. This was the first time ever that we had a longer line to enter Mexico then it took to cross back over into the States.
No comments:
Post a Comment