You Illuminated Garibaldi

"He told me you illuminated Garibaldi as you rolled down your window", says that song by Ismael Serrano. It was only the first time I traveled abroad, and we were in a three-day layover in Mexico City before our journey to the States and i was so excited about it i absolutely forgot about every remark people has told to us that the city was terribly dangerous at night. After Teotihuacan in the morning and the Museo de Antropologia in the afternoon, we decided to have dinner in Maderos. A friend came to me and said, firmly, "we should get to meet the real Mexico". I smiled and agreed. It was past eleven already, and we went on a walk from Maderos to the Palacio de Bellas Artes and the streets started to become lonelier and darker. A few minutes later i started doubting myself. "Are we there yet?" I asked as if I were a little kid. "We will find it when we find it", my friend said, who wasn't Mexican neither. We knew we were in the right direction as we saw the mariachis in the street, waiting for customers. I started to hear that beautiful, distinctive music from afar. "Finally!" I said as we saw Plaza Garibaldi. Oddly, as we set foot in the Plaza it struck to me that it wasn't quite as i imagined. It looked as it was far past its prime. We walked around, and there wasn't much to see. It was almost midnight, and i felt we had come for nothing. A very old lady then came to us selling flowers, and after correctly reading our faces, she told us that "one must not see Garibaldi. One must feel Garibaldi". I imagined Pedro Infante walking around the Plaza and finding inspiration for his songs. Romantic Charro music surrounded us. A band came to us, and i decided to pay for a couple of songs. We embraced, almost crying, as we listened to a Serenata. Plaza Garibaldi started looking fairer. I asked for forgiveness in my mind, for my wrong first impression. I saw another couple not far from us sitting and holding hands with their eyes closed, and it was the most beautiful thing I saw in the whole trip. We left Plaza Garibaldi dancing, as if we were walking on clouds. The streets were more illuminated, as Mexico for me was, and before returning to our hotel we sat in a bench in the Central Alameda, as we stargazed and felt nostalgic about home.