The writer began his trip from NY City to Vera Cruz in 1881, before the first railroads had been completed. In describing his departure, he wrote, "It might have simply been a case of going to Europe, or anything else quite usual and of little import. It was, instead, a case of going to a land remote far beyond its distance in miles; shrouded in an atmosphere of mystery and danger; little traveled or sought for; the very antipodes of our own, though adjoining it; venerable with age, though a part of a new world; and said to have been suddenly awakened from slumber by the first touches of a phenomenal new development." With such a beginning, I looked forward to reading and joining in his adventure. His account is always very positive and fun to recognize buildings in Mexico City he talks about in which we have entered and return to visit each trip to the city as well as other places in other towns.