Let's go for a walk.
Paul and I enjoy walking the dogs every day - and of course we walk all over Centro all the time, too. Every day as I step over or around obstacles I think about taking pictures of them for the blog...and maybe it is a way to feel better about our frequently stubbed toes!
The picture at the top is one of our favorite obstacles - bougainvillea. Too thorny to move out of the way so I just step around it. (By the way, if you enlarge the photo you'll see two red pickup trucks with bench seats in the back. They are called aurigas and I think along with the pulmonia, they are distinctly Mazatlecan. If you have a bunch of people they are great to jump into instead of a taxi, and when you have something to haul they are a godsend. They are comparable in price to a taxi or a pulmonia.)
The picture below is a frequent obstacle - the ironwork remaining from an air conditioner that was removed. These are more frequently at forehead height.
Below is a favorite - trees that are trimmed so that it's impossible to get by without ducking. Can you see Paul just beyond?
The next one is a two-fer. Skinny, bad sidewalk and crazy trees. The house here is being renovated so I imagine they'll improve the sidewalk and I have my fingers crossed that they'll leave the trees.
The next one is on our route daily. I get really tired of going around three windows of these crazy vines. The sidewalk is a mess here, too. Every once in a while someone takes a machete to the vines - I wonder if it's the homeowner or someone who walks by frequently? (Not me, I promise!)
I didn't take a picture of the sunshades on Serdan that get rolled down in the afternoon...they have a metal pole to weight the bottom and we know people who have been hit in the forehead as the shades move while you are walking forward. Cuidado!
8 comments:
When my wife and I get together with other couple who have not been to Maz before we always warn them about the obstacles. I'm 6'3" and always are on the lookout for traffic signs also. As the scar on my head can attest too, they are at a perfect skull height.
We have retired last week and have rented a house in Centro for 6 months this year and was thinking as training I would walk around my neighborhood here in Winnipeg blindfolded. Sandie and MIke
I am amazed that, for a country that is so pedestrian-dependent, Mexico has so many walking traps. I have found them in every area I have visited. My Mexican friends say they watch where they are going.
I'm saddened to learn that constant sidewalk impediments are not just a problem here in Quintana Roo. It's ridiculous how hard it is to walk on sidewalks here.
I agree with Steve, Mexico is full of pedestrians and yet sidewalks are often unusable. And here in Cancun forget about crossing a busy street on foot, you will sooner get killed.
Same thing here and don't forget the low hanging signs that the stores put out.
I have a friend who broke her ankle in Centro, put her out of commission for months. Just walking along, looked up at something interesting...
Then there are the neighborhoods in La Cruz and Barra de Navidad where people set out chairs and serve snacks on the sidewalks in front of their houses. You're not likely to stumble over them, but they do force you into the street.
But I love the line of leaning trees.
Well, at least you guys have sidewalks that are paved! Here in San Miguel we have cobbled streets and many sidewalks that way also - becaue the streets are so narrow they often insert the telephone poles in the "sidewalk" or there is the little 2 inch step down that if you're not looking will get you every time. It's just easier to walk in the street which is what the "locals" do here. It is easy to cross the streets here because the traffic stops for you so you have to be sure you're looking down for no missing cobbles and also that the traffic is stopping for you. It is a "ballet" to put it mildly. It just makes me laugh........Oh and add to that the horses and burros on the streets too........I'll try to get some pictures and show ya'll! I think that's why San Miguel is known as the "City of Fallen Women", ha.
Same story in Mexico DF. I'm 6'3" so I'm sure I suffer more than most from trees that are cut by 5' tall Mexicans. Still, I like trees that start ripping up the pavements - go nature! The fightback has begun!
The absolute worst city I have seen in Mexico for sidewalk dangers is La Paz. In the commercial shopping district each business is responsible for maintaining or not the sidewalk in front of their business. While a few were beautifully tiled they were the exception. As you walked by a business to the next business there could be a drop off as much as 1 foot or more. My sister said that she was surprised we didn’t see a bunch of people walking round with broken legs.
Sandi and Mike, I loved your comment about walking around blindfolded as a means of training.
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