On Friday, Mario showed me around the city. I somehow talked him into taking the Metro (underground public transportation system) all the way to IKEA. It probably took close to an hour to get there, but it was worth it. Mario had never been to an IKEA and I think he loved it as much as I did. It made us want to get rid of all our furniture and start over. We know it's not the best quality furniture but who needs great quality when you move so often and the movers will destroy it anyway.
If I remember correctly, Mario had to get back to the city for his Spanish tutoring and I just hung out there on the computer while he studied.
After that, we explored more of the city using the Metro. I absolutely loved the Metro, except I am afraid of germs. I should have packed some hand sanitizer. Everyone says the public transportation is cheap but I didn't find it cheap. I guess if you live there and buy a month pass, it is cheaper than gas and car insurance. But for us, we were paying $2-$3 for each leg of our trip. But it was worth it because I learned the system very well and quickly so Mario trusted me to use it alone while he was in class. One day, I even bought a daily pass for $12 and I tell you what, I got my money's worth. Mario wouldn't let me buy one of those again because we went EVERYWHERE all day long. I kept getting lost once I got off the Metro and I often headed the complete opposite direction. Like, one morning I decided I would go look for the Temple. I got off and walked about a mile before deciding I must be going the wrong direction. I got a lot of exercise that day.
Friday evening, Frank and his wife, picked us up at our hotel and we walked to a pizza place a couple blocks away. Wow, best pizza I have even eaten. We got there about 8 pm (restaurants close in the afternoon and don't reopen until at least 8 pm) and stayed until a little after 11. It was quite different than the US. You have to signal to the server that you want them to come to your table. They don't just drop by every few minutes. They don't bring you the check until you signal for them. The restaurants apparently don't care if you hang out all night long. I kept expecting them to kick us out because they got really busy around 10 pm, but not a word. We had a good time talking to Frank and his wife. Frank did most of the talking which was a little annoying. We found him to be a little flaky but pretty nice. We got the impression that he doesn't work a whole lot. He started already making some excuses for why the office isn't run as efficiently as it should. I guess he doesn't want Mario blaming him when Mario takes over the job. Who knows, but Mario and I were glad to be introduced to that pizza place. It was delicious and another restaurant that we went back to a few times that week.
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