Last night we walked the 4 kilometers or so to el Centro (downtown). Walking in Cuernavaca is better described as hiking. The sidewalks are very narrow and in some places, dangerously uneven. Homes that have driveways construct sharply inclined cement ramps that spill over the sidewalk. That means you may find yourself leaning to one side as you navigate over that part of the sidewalk.
In other areas, you could be walking up or down a few stairs (if you are lucky), otherwise the sidewalks can be a jumble of heaved and shifted cement slabs, cobble stones and drainage grates so big, if you were not careful, you could lose a toddler.
Since arriving I’ve been seeing these chatty black birds. At first I thought they might be magpies but, well, you know me, I looked it up. They are grackles! Great Tailed Grackles to be precise. Here’s what they look like:
They chatter a lot and are as common as the ones we have back home.
Last night when we got to the zocolo, they were starting to roost in the trees. They were so loud you could hear them over the sound of the traffic! I took a short video just so you could hear them.