Yes, you are correct. Mexico often gets to play home games on Sunday rather than Saturday. However, there is no date to which this match can be moved. It will be that Wednesday.
http://lainerciadelcinismo.blogspot.com/2008/12/la-importancia-de-las-ganitas.html Translation. Disrespecting any national symbol either by word or action, can be punished between 6 months and 4 years and/or a fine between 150-3,000 pesos . So umm...if you try to sing along to the Mexican anthem, please learn all the words...or else!
I'm organizing a group of about 4 or 5 gringos from the Pacific Northwest to make the journey down to MeHEEco and support the boys. We've been to WC in '06 and did the euros this year in Austria/Switz, but we ruled out South Africa so qualifiers are our world cup this time around. We're going down for a week and are going to get in some quality beach time in Acapulco for a few days before the game. Then, bus into Mexico City for the game and hang out for a day or 2 after. Sounds great to me. Now I just gotta play the waiting game for game tickets. From what I've read the buses in Mexico are pretty decent (some VIP ones even). We're used to European trains so we're all spoiled, but can anyone vouch for busing between cities (i.e. Acapulco to Mexico City)???
some buddies and i took the Mazatlan to Mexico trip overnight. We paid less than 100 usd for a 12 hour trip. yeah, 1st class all the way. seating conf is two seats on one side, single on the other. I'll get back to you later in the future about what company we used. movies on board, english with spanish subtitles. acapulco should be a short trip. you also get to see mexico.
I bussed from Guadalajara to Puerto Vallarta on two occasions, Guadalajara to Guanajuato there and back.... they are nice. Certainly no problems.
This is in reference to Volaris and the Toluca Airport: I'd just like to add that Volaris, while being a low-cost airline, is rather nice, comfortable and safe. The average age of their plane is about 2.7 years old and they have ordered 18 additional planes from Airbus. The Volaris shuttle from Toluca to Mexico City is free; all you have to do is show your boarding pass. However, the shuttle takes you to their Santa Fe bus terminal, so to get into downtown, you'll have to take an authorized taxi (convenient in that the prices are set by zone, so they won't be ripping you off). A taxi from the Santa Fe bus terminal to say for example, Zona Rosa, will cost you about 180 pesos (if memory serves me correct), about $14.00 USD at the current exchange rate. On the other hand, you can take a Caminantes shuttle (think Super Shuttle in the US) from the Toluca airport to your destination in Mexico City for about 110 pesos (about $8.50 USD). I stress that you'd have to ride the Sprinter van in order to get that rate, if you use their Toyota Corolla the fare jumps to 360 pesos. You might need a larger group in order to use the shuttle vs. the economy car. I have personally never used this particular service, so I can't speak to it, but I have ridden Caminantes on other routes before and I thought they were great. http://www.caminante-aeropuerto.com.mx/ To get back to the Toluca airport you can take the Caminantes shuttle from the Observatorio metro stop. It's very convenient and will take you directly to the airport. The cost is 80 pesos. (And it'll only cost you 2 pesos to get to the Observatorio stop using the metro system). If anyone has any questions about Mexico City, transportation in Mexico, or general questions, feel free to contact me. Best of luck in planning your trips! Oh, and Viva Mexico!
Great info, Danny. Thanks! Viva Mexico, viva Mexican people, viva Mexican culture and history, viva Mexican food, viva Mexican beer, viva Mexican tequila, viva mexican music, viva Mexican dancing, viva Mexican beaches, viva Mexican invention of progestin found in the birth control pill, viva Mexican pottery and crafts, viva Mexican telenovelas, viva 'Hecho en Mexico', viva Mexican vaqueros, viva Mexican saints, Viva Mexican pyramids and Aztec spirits, viva Mexican-Americans... BUT SCREW MEXICAN FOOTBALL
Actually I agree with the above post (charros not vaqueros) but as an Mexican-American I am fond of saying that my futbol comes from Mexico but it doesn't live there anymore. I grew up turning on channel 12 from Mexico DF and watching the Sunday game of the week from Azteca alone, usually something like Atlas vs. Cruz Azul and getting into the tone, rhythm and explosions of the Spanish announcers. My father, as Americanized as you want to be down to no Spanish spoken at home, still supported El Tri in spirit and we argued about my support for the USA (ever since I heard about the urine bombs in the early '90s). I think 'we' had just beaten 'them' in Houston 1-0 when I got a call from the U.S. here in Asia to learn from my brother that he had passed away so I never got to tease him about our domination one last time. So when I go to Mexico City with you lot (of gringo invaders) I'll have a lot of emotional luggage, and after the result (1-0 to USA) if you see me "talking to myself" you'll know to whom I am speaking to. !ESTADOS UNIDOS, JAMAS SERA VENCIDOS!
I've had trouble getting through the Volaris airlines site http://www.volaris.com.mx to reserve space for Aug 11-13 (Tijuana-Toluca with shuttle bus to Mexico DF) so to get their attention I sent in a request for a charter for those dates. The minimum number of seats (LA Riot Squad please note) is 138. If it was advertised throughout Southern California among the Soccer Community and if we would be willing to accept our friends who want to support Mexico and call it a "Friendship Flight" maybe it could happen. It would be historic. When it's time to commit the Airline's conditions are 30% up front for the flight, all paid 30 days in advance and no reservation changes or refunds. At any rate, they know about us now.
Wow dude. If you managed something like that, thatd be amazing. Unfortunately I plan to stay for a week or I'd drive to SD/TJ just to be on it
On second thought, scratch the 'Friendship Flight' idea and make it 100% USA supporters. And have a convoy of armored humvees waiting to take us in and out.
Just read a rather pessimistic economic report on the Mex economy...basically, they are worse off than the US and will continue to be. Why do you care? The MXN/USD rate is now 14 pesos/dollar and may be as high as 16-17 by the time the US bus pulls into Azteca. For 2003-8 it hovered between 10.5-11.5/1, so this is a major shift. For airfare you stuck with USD, but if you can get a hotel room priced in pesos, then you could save 20% since you lock in the rate now and do not pay til there...food and cervazas will be cheaper as well. On the flip side of this, the mood in the DF will likely be more sour, with much of the anger directed at us Nortes. ps. Similar deal with South Africa as well...ZAR/USD was between 6-7.5/1 since 2004 and is now above 10.2/1. So watching the boys at the Conf Cup is much cheaper now(save the nasty airfare). Too early to tell if this will continue thru the World Cup in June 2010, but since South African Rand is a commodity currency like Aussie, Kiwi, and the Canadian dollar...most likely we will not need to be eating the South African equivalent of Bim_In_Bap or Doner for 2 meals each day.
I tend to agree 2009 is gonna be a bad year for the economy everywere, Mexico is not the exception, even though is mostly a phenomenon that has more to do with collateral effects of the american crisis, per se, the mexican economy is in decent shape but the withdraw of foreign investors due to problems in their home countries had a negative impact over the exchange rate peso-dollar. Personally I believe that eventually prices are gonna adjust to the new rate (many already did) and your purchasing power in dollars is gonna be pretty much the same than what it was before, on the bright side things that have always been cheaper in Mexico than in the States are gonna stay that way. Now as for the mood in DF, well, it tends to be sour no matter what. I won't lie to you, Americans are not popular in Mexico City but you won't be harassed by regular folks prior or after the match, still security is a concern for everyone, and more for foreigners since they tend to be easy targets of the delinquents, so try to travel in groups no smaller than 4 and be careful picking up cabs (taxis).
This is complete bullshit. Mexicans have no problem with anyone* unless you bring your BS gringo attitude. Get drunk and act like a jerk anywhere and you'll be disliked anywhere... Be cool .. have a good time. All bets are off if the USA wins*
I booked my flight last night, Los Angeles to Mexico City Aeromexico, $285 Round Trip, non-stop I get there Tuesday, come back Sunday. To FLIGHT: AM 18 DEPART: 7:20AM, Tue Aug 11, 2009 from Los Angeles, United States ARRIVE: 1:05PM, Tue Aug 11, 2009 to Mexico City, Mexico Fro FLIGHT: AM 468 DEPART: 9:15PM, Sun Aug 16, 2009 from Mexico City, Mexico ARRIVE: 11:30PM, Sun Aug 16, 2009 to Los Angeles, United States
I have to agree that this is complete bullshit. I went to Mexico City in June and had a great time. Never felt threatened because I was an American. There are a lot of American expats and tourists. They seem to do just fine there. As for taxis, just use a "sitio" (a cab stand) or call a radio taxi.
continental is pretty cheap right now from houston. I am sure this has been discussed before but can you get a packaged hotel deal with tickets to the game with US Soccer. I imagine this would include transportation to and from the game. I want to go down Tuesday night and Fly back Thursday morning. Any info about this would be appreciated.