the arrangement; shaking my head in disbelief I hand over the cash, carefully removing it from my purse so not to flaunt the 4000 peso I have on me.
We leave the boutique arm in arm, me and my new best friend, you just can’t help but love Blair.
“I’m starving” she announces, “I know this wonderful little Italian restaurant just five minutes away” She leads me back in to the more mainstream streets towards Parque Lincoln, near one of the main shopping districts of Mexico City.
Just off the main road we reach Prego Ristorante, it doesn’t look like anything special, but after the unexpected long haul on the coach and then prancing around as a lingerie model, I am in desperate need of some carbs and there’s no better place for that than an Italian restaurant.
Inside it’s nice enough, numerous small, slightly rickety tables, laden with white tablecloths and vases of plastic flowers to spruce them up. They are framed with simple wooden chairs, which do the job, but fail to add any flare; there are exposed varnished beams across the ceiling and the walls are roughly plastered then painted a sandy yellow, with various Mexican looking wall hangings and paintings, no doubt to appeal to the tourists.
We are seated in a quiet corner, there are a few people milling about, but it’s not packed out by any means.
Blair suggests we share an antipasti platter of cured meats, olives, mozzarella and assorted breads; every piece is a burst of flavour, somehow so much more than the same things in England. We polish it off with ease, taking it in turns to talk about my plan of attack when Carlos returns.
For my main I go for a simple pasta dish with an abundance of cream, cheese, onion and white truffle or more romantically‘Tagliatelle Alfredo e Tartufo Nero’ as it states on the menu, it’s going to take one hell of a gym session to work that bad boy off but it was worth every minute. The pasta is homemade and cooked al dente, while the creamy sauce melts in your mouth, creating a dining experience that is nothing short of orgasmic.
Blair opts for lasagne and a huge side salad, I have no idea how she maintains her tiny figure, chowing down like that, she all but licks the plate once she’s finished.
We pass on desert both now slumped back in our chairs bloated and happy, Blair orders two espresso’s explaining we still have a lot of shops to see before we board the bus again at 18.00. It’s going to be one long day!
We wander through the park after lunch admiring the art, the sculptures are striking but yet complimenting to the landscape. Next we head to Polanco, there are various market stalls selling handcrafted fares, painted bowls and decorative blown glass. Blair explains that it is all made by local poorer families, the prices are quite high by Mexico standards, but they are all open to a little soft bargaining; she suggests starting at about 20% under the asking price and avoiding the more hard sell approach she demonstrated earlier.
I’m glad Blair is with me as the locals really put the pressure on you, but she takes none of it, powering on through and only stopping for potential purchases. We pick up a few token gifts for friends and family back home; I mostly wait until Blair is caught up in debate with one of the stall holders, before sneakily paying full price for my pieces, I’m just not cut out for haggling with people that really need all they can get.
We spend the last hour popping into as many of the main street jewellery and clothes shops as we can, I’m starting to flag, but each purchase just spurs Blair on to the next, her ability to spend money is second to none.
We arrive back at the coach at ten to six licking the ice-creams we picked up on route back. Laden with bags, Blair more so than me, we are relieved to finally take a load off, even if it is for a four hour coach journey back.
We spend the time re-examining everything we bought, complimenting each others tastes, it was a great day but I’m so glad it’s over now, Blair however can’t wait to drag John out here on the same trip in a few days; he will be bitterly disappointed that he has not in fact got away with avoiding this, I think to myself.