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In 1991 Billy and Akaisha Kaderli retired at the age of 38. Now, into their 4th decade of this financially independent lifestyle, they invite you to take advantage of their wisdom and experience.

Walking Streets, Mexico City

Mexico

Billy and Akaisha Kaderli

The day we went to Plaza Santo Domingo and saw the Inquisition Palace, we also walked to the famous Mexico City Zocalo. Another palace was there, as well as the largest cathedral in the Americas and an ancient holy Aztec site.

Another amazingly beautiful day in the capitol city, we continued our walk through the streets.

Beautiful stately buildings right alongside sky scrapers

Beautiful stately buildings right alongside sky scrapers

It wasn't the weekend, and we were puzzled as to why there were so many people walking around on this day. In fact, the streets were generally packed with a "group think" wave of pedestrians all moving the same speed in the same direction.

It was a bit unnerving to us, but we thought, "This must be life in the big city."

We found out later that this day was the celebration of a religious holiday called Candelaria (pronounced: Kahn-day-LAR-ee-ah) and many people were off work wandering through the walking streets and going shopping.

 

 

 

 

It's not very clear in this photo, but the walking area from the shops on the left side is all one level to the shops on the right side. There are no designated sidewalks, no deep valleys for drains and nothing to trip on from one side of the street to the other.

Beautiful corner building

Beautiful corner building

The architecture was really eye-catching here in the city. I don't know the name of this building, but it looks like it was constructed with the same cantera stone that is common in this area of Mexico.

Shops are everywhere!

Shops are everywhere!

I haven't seen this amount of shops continuously, street after street, row after row, door after door in a very long time. Shoes, bags, clothing, luggage, jewelry, cafes, - I mean everything you could think of that had a name brand or private shop had a presence here on these streets.

I really don't know how - once you started shopping - you could hang onto your money. So many temptations and all of them were Big City Gorgeous.

 

 

 

 

This particular street allowed vehicles to drive one way. There was no parking and the small metal pillars kept the traffic in between the lines. You will notice that once again, from one side of the street to the other, it is all one level. Perfect if you had a wheelchair, were skateboarding, used a cane or had bum knees.

The cafe on the left of the photo declares they are the "Tip of Heaven" Cafe.

Nice!

Sounds like a great place to be!

Street musicians

Street musicians

Oh yes! and street musicians. For obvious reasons, with all the foot traffic of the holiday, the musicians would set up their equipment and passers by would leave them some coins. Their music would bounce off the tall walls of the buildings and gave a soulful sound.

Beautiful, well-kept buildings

Beautiful, well-kept buildings

This is the building of the Nation's Supreme Court. Very impressive.

The face of the walls were well-maintained, and the wrought iron gives an elegant touch.

Outside marble plaque

Outside marble plaque

Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation

Another corner building

Another corner building

More stores are on the ground level. Sometimes there would be fine dining upstairs and tables were placed by the windows. It could be that the upper floors were residences or offices. What a fine place to live or work! Right in the middle of the action.

Looking out the window from the 5th floor restaurant

Looking out the window from the 5th floor restaurant

Just for the heck of it, we went upstairs to the 5th floor of this building to Don Toribio Restaurant, ordered a couple of beverages and some smoked marlin. Everything was delicious and the view from up here was terrific.

If you look in the center of the photo, there seems to be some people standing looking out over the balconies. These are mannequins dressed in period costumes, over looking the street.

The two gray rectangular kiosks in the center of the photo are newsstands selling papers and magazines.

Street corner Organ Grinder

Street corner Organ Grinder

We were surprised to see many old fashioned Organ Grinders in the capitol City, but apparently they are a tradition. For over 130 years, these Organ Grinders have walked throughout the city making a few coins for their music, about $10USD per day. They are licensed street vendors and what they do is considered to be a career.

 

 

 

 

Since they came from Europe in the 1800s, their traditional songs used to be European Waltzes but their repertoire shifted to the tunes of the time during the Mexican Revolution.

Palacio de Belles Artes

Palacio de Belles Artes

The Palace of Fine Arts is a prominent cultural center in Mexico City.

Since it has hosted some of the most notable events in music, dance, theater and has exhibitions of painting, sculpture and photography, the Palacio de Belles Artes has earned the name of the "Cathedral of Art in Mexico.

What a stunning building!

If ever you are in Mexico City, take some time and walk around from the Zocalo to the walking streets all around this area. It's so upscale, beautiful and clean.

For more photos and stories of Mexico, click here

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About the Authors

Billy and Akaisha Kaderli are recognized retirement experts and internationally published authors on topics of finance, medical tourism and world travel. With the wealth of information they share on their award winning website RetireEarlyLifestyle.com, they have been helping people achieve their own retirement dreams since 1991. They wrote the popular books, The Adventurer’s Guide to Early Retirement and Your Retirement Dream IS Possible available on their website bookstore or on Amazon.com.

 

Retire Early Lifestyle appeals to a different kind of person – the person who prizes their independence, values their time, and who doesn’t want to mindlessly follow the crowd.

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