What's That Smell?

At the time, it seemed like a great and fun idea. But when we were rudely awoken early Saturday morning - even before the roosters had gotten up, it seemed like such a horrible idea! But once we were up, on the road, and on our way to our destination... the sting of waking up so early seemed to dissipate as we got closer and closer. 

Our destination you ask? "La Nueva Viga Market" in the heart of Mexico City. The 'Viga' as it's commonly referred to as, just so happens to be Mexico's largest seafood market... and is the second largest in the world, next to the Tsukiji fish market in Japan.

Believe me... it looked and felt like the second largest fish market in the world! The place was enormous, and the only thing that outnumbered the amount of people there was the massive amount of seafood on display!

William was the only twin brave enough to handle the early morning, the cold, and of course... the oh-so-pleasant aroma of fish in the air!

Everywhere we went there was always some type of fish getting gutted and filleted! It really was cool to watch... not only because of all the different types and sizes of fish that were being thrown around, but especially because the men with the knifes knew exactly what they were doing and did it lightning fast! How there wasn't a missing finger or two on the ground along with all the fish guts, I'll never know!

Fish there was aplenty... but that wasn't the only thing you could buy. If it lived in the sea, it was on display ready to be sold. Clams, shrimp, octopus, eel... you name it, it was there! 

All the food was for the restaurant... and this certainly wasn't his first time, so Jorge knew exactly what and how much he wanted.

I suppose with one to two visits per week you start to know your way around and know which vendors give the good prices. Needless to say, Jorge knew exactly where to go and was greeted with smiles. As for Jei & I, we had no idea how exactly one would shop for food here... with so many vendors selling the same thing. I guess that's why we're not the ones in the restaurant business!

Did I mention they had shark for sale?

No Great White... and the Hammerhead was the biggest we saw, but there was definitely no shortage of shark meat!

We had to wake up before anyone should ever have to for any reason, we had to brave the cold weather, we both hate seafood, and we absolutely reeked of dead fish carcass once we got home... but it truly was an amazing experience and we're so glad to have agreed to go! Thank you Jorge for taking us and for showing us the tiny man who picks people's bums! (Inside joke... you kind of had to be there!)