La Torre Latinoamerica

El Torre
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Visiting the Zocalo one night with my friend Mili, we wandered around for an hour  stopping in and out of cafes, wondering what we would do with the rest of our time old downtown.  I had read in my Let´s Go guide book (which I highly recommend, by the way) that the view from a certain nearby building was incredible, particularly at night.  And so, after finishing our Mexican hot chocolates and pan dulces in El Cafe Popular, we spent the 8 o'clock hour making our way towards a tower that cast its enormous shadow over the Centro Historico, El Torre Latinoamericana

Mexico City from above
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This was once the tallest building in Mexico city, and I had heard somewhere, in all of Latin America.  Although it  might now be shunned in size by other edificios, the view from the 44th floor is still breathtaking.  At night, the entire city is lit-up below, laid out with millions of twinkling miniature orange globes that spread out in all directions, giving shapes to avenues and the sides of the surrounding mountains.  The lights conquer almost every corner of the Distrito Federal, spilling over the pavement below to eliminate any type of darkness, save for the blurry shadows that outline their brilliance.

The lights conquer almost every corner of the city, spilling over the pavement below to illiminate any type of darkness, save for the shadows that outline their brilliance.

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On the 44th floor in Mexico City, where the air is already thin, the gusts of wind were cold and chilly.  But I when I saw the lights for the first time, I really didn't care--there were too many other things to think about, too many other important aspects that I had overlooked and now clearly saw.  Up there, it seemed strange how the problems of everyday appeared so huge inside a person so small.  Sitting up so high amid the brilliance of a shimmering city below, where I could literally see for miles in every direction until the light invaded the night time sky, everything in my life seemed to put itself into perspective, and I was far away from the drama of being human below, if only for a little while.