Tijuana, Mexico- Part Two

When we first boarded the bus to Tijuana, Juan asked where we were all from. When John and I mentioned St.Louis he said that he knew all about our famous arch and that Tijuana has one also. He added that the one here, however, is for decorative purposes only and  is used to mark the business district. It can be seen in the background of the picture above. The business district has 40 small shops in a 10 block area. Our guide prepared us before  we got off the bus. He pointed out shops where to find the best silver, leather, and liquor. He also warned us about eating at certain dining establishments. Most importantly, he gave us tips on how to handle the persistent sales people and bargain with them. John and I felt a lot more comfortable this week shopping in Mexico. We also spent some time looking at the historic Jai Alai stadium. This sport is not being practiced anymore in Tijuana, it stopped in 1995. The sport involves tossing a ball with a large mitt.  A player holding his mitt can be seen in the picture below. This statue stands in front of the stadium.

We also stepped into the oldest Catholic cathedral in Tijuana, Guadalupe De Este Iglesia. Pictured below is the statue of St. Peter. He has a tongue of fire on his head. I thought it quite an unusual statue.

We also walked past the historic Caesar's restaurant (1927), home of the legendary Caesar's salad. It turned out to be a full day. We were told it would take a total of 6 hours, but we found out later that it would take 8 or nine hours depending on how long our border crossing would take. Tijuana is the world's largest border crossing. To get back into America we had to get off the bus and stand in line to show our passports and declare our possessions to customs guards. Juan had learned that at the crossing where we had entered Mexico earlier in the day the pedestrian wait was three hours so he drove us to another crossing where we only had to stand in line one hour. For that one reason alone I probably would not return. I had seen everything Tijuana had to offer and that was enough for me. Thanks to Juan we did have a very entertaining and informative day.