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Thursday, March 2, 2017

Mexico: Juarez: Third Date

Municipal Palace, Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. January 2017.



On the Friday after New Year's Day, Juarez going in and coming out was much speedier than pre-holidays.

Municipal Palace, Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. January 2017.



The sun shined, but a brisk breeze blew. I wore my black hoodie jacket and gloves, but I wished I'd brought my wide black-and-gray winter scarf. 


Municipal Palace, Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. January 2017.


On this visit, I covered some of the territory I've walked before. The photos above are of the Municipal Palace, the front exterior and the interior courtyard. On my first two visits to the city, the horses in front used to be on Calle 16 de Septiembre, near the Abrazo Monument. 


Statue of Vicente Guerrero on Calle Francisco Villa, Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. January 2017.

Each time I go into Juarez, I try to explore new territory. So far, I've only entered the city by walking over the bridge on El Paso Street, but there are three other ways to Juarez from the El Paso metro area.

House-and-tree at 175 Amado Nervo Street, Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. January 2017.

At 175 Amado Nervo Street is this unlikely marriage between an elderly house and tree. One wonders which is supporting the other? I think it must be a mutual partnership.

House-and-tree at 175 Amado Nervo Street, Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. January 2017.


From Amado Nervo, I turned left onto Calle Miguel Ahumada. There's something about the lucha libre that charms me.

Lucha libre poster, Calle Miguel Ahumada, Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. January 2017.


On Calle Miguel Ahumado, a number of motels intrigued me. Their upstairs flats with wrought-ironed balconies seemed a distant cousin of a New Orleans esthetic. Which is, of course, a derivative of its ancestral settlers' own designs from back home in Spain, the Canary Islands, the Caribbean, coastal Africa ... .

Calle Miguel Ahumada, Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. January 2017.

Calle Miguel Ahumada, Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. January 2017.


I captured a Juarense sidewalk tourist trap for my collection:

Tourist trap, Calle Miguel Ahumada, Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. January 2017.



When I came across a pocket park, I took a sharp right onto Nicolas Bravo.

An apartment perched on the top of a corner building waved at me with her tattered black veil.




The music, sidewalk menu, and a red parking meter added flavor to the moment.

Juarez has a fascinating highway system that seems to live under the city. On my second visit to Juarez, in the Plaza de Armas, I heard a rapid whistling-rumbling noise. I looked all around me to catch where the sound came from. I asked a nearby man what it was, maybe a train? He said, no, and pointed to a raised cement platform with a grille over it. It was a highway.

The highway beneath Plaza de Armas, Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. January 2017.


I stepped on top of the platform and peered through the grille. Well, hot damn, cars charging through on a two-lane highway tunnel below. Here's the video:




I'm trying to visualize how this all hangs together in Juarez.

As I ambled up Calle Santos Degollado (I think), a sorbet-and-white wall, shedding its skin, a-peeling:

Calle Santos Degollado, Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. January 2017.


Unfortunately, an inebriated fellow chose that moment to try and shake me down for some change, and I pushed on without striving for a better shot. Maybe another day.

From this approach to the park that I think is called La Gran Plaza, I enjoyed a happy view of the lucha libre mural I'd seen on my first visit.

Murals on Calle Ignacio Mariscal, Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. January 2017.

Two minutely different takes on the same scene. Just can't decide which I like better. 

Murals on Calle Ignacio Mariscal, Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. January 2017.


It looked so grand against the backdrop of that dramatic sky.



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