We entered the overhanging porch area of whatever La Cabana Chueca del Sereno was and sat on an empty patch of bench. This caused people around us to start saying something or other excitedly and pointing. We worked out that although it just looked like everybody sitting where was most comfortable, there was actually a line, and by sitting in the spot that a group of people had just vacated we were cutting. By ``we worked out'' I mean ``![[profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bunny_hugger worked out while I looked helpless''. So when the next group went in we stayed where we were, and resumed our roughly proper spot in line. Which was not in the next group; we had to sit through another round of ... whatever ... was going on in there, so close to the door we could debate whether sticking around was just the sunk cost fallacy.
Finally inside we took seats on a row of log benches near the back of a small classroom-size room that was open on two sides. There the ride operator gave a quick talk about: I don't know. It was in Spanish. Contextually, it has to have been explaining the lore of the attraction and just why it was something we should ``¡No dejes que la malédiction caiga sobre ti!'' And probably also the safety spiel, which would probably amount to not going off the paths or touching stuff.
They led us on a twisty sidewalk path through a nice desert-style garden and then down a breathtakingly steep incline into a building. A crooked building: the attraction was a mystery-spot type house, with the floors and walls built at severe angles relative to the ground. They gave us several demonstrations of the mysteries of the place, water flowing up a trough, people on a seat that seems to lean precariously forward. A pool table that, once the cue ball is hit, sends all sixteen balls into the corner pocket behind the cue. Some of these were done with volunteers. This was in a string of rooms, carefully paused so that there was a room's gap between us and the previous group and, I assume, the next group. I took a couple of pictures of the inside and got withering looks from people. bunny_hugger pointed out, later, that there were signs warning ``no photographs'' on the door and, probably, in the introductory spiel. Well, i can find videos of the whole walkthrough online so it's not like I'm the first oblivious patron.
But, still: that's what everybody was waiting for. And it's a lot of attraction for the wait, a good 15 to 20 minutes. And not an upcharge either; it's just part of the park admission, at least on the pass level we'd gotten.
While we were in La Cabana night fell. It had been a warm day --- one of the nice parts was stopping for an ice cream that we managed eventually to order --- and now it was one of those warm but not muggy nights. We could enjoy the park in resplendent night glory. The only sad part of that is it meant we were down to the last 90 minuts of the park's being open.
So some time we spent appreciating its glories. Some we spent on rides we had missed before. Such as the Musik Express, which like often happens at quirkier or smaller parks was run crazy fast. Enough to be a little exhausting and a little dizzying. We really didn't have enough food over the day. We also went into the mirror maze, having learned that those are more disappointing by day. We were getting ready to joke about these mazes not really being that difficult or challenging when we started to get lost, and the maze went on just long enough after that point that we had to admit we'd have gotten our money's worth, and maybe stepped over into the Roller Coaster Tycoon guest thought of ``Guest1 wants to get off Mirror Maze 1''.
Something we dare not miss was a night ride on Montaña Rusa. This turned out to start from the left side of the station, the one we'd first ridden on, the one with the more neck-shocking hill. But I was ready for it this time, at least, and avoided feeling bashed by the ride. And, yes, it was glorious in the blanket of night.
The little model of the ride was also illuminated, by a chain of tiny lights on the model itself. I tried to zoom my camera in as far as it could to get pictures. The ride operators noticed me doing this, and asked if I'd wanted to go closer for pictures. They opened the gate to that part of the platform, and I was basically falling over myself thanking them for this. It gave me the chance to walk around the model and photograph that, and also to get a good set of close photographs of the dragon/phoenix/coatl figure that looks over it. Really, really kind of them.
We weren't sure we wanted another ride on Montaña Rusa, or even if they were going to send out another train, as it was that close to the end of the night. bunny_hugger lead the way, to the Condor ride. This is a tower ride, yes, but the ride motion is basically that of a Troika: cars spinning around the end of an arm that itself is spinning around the center axis. The novelty is that the arms rise along the central axis to get up a hundred feet or so. I'm trusting the complicated movement, and speed, kept it from worrying bunny_hugger's fear of heights. And I thank her for the chance to see the park from the top of a tall ride, and at length.
We were pretty hungry by now, and got what seemed like the best option from the many closing stands, some nachos with cheese. And we passed that unspoken moment of 8 pm, when the park's day came to an end and the lights began to huddle up for the night. We had finished the day at La Feria Chapultepec.
Trivia: The last act Mississippi's Confederate governor did before surrendering to a loyal commander was to arrange for rations sent to the eleven pupils in the state institute for the blind. General Peter Osterhaus gave $150 from his pocket for their help. Source: Look Away! A History of the Confederate States of America, William C Davis.
Currently Reading: Learning From The Wounded: The Civil War and the Rise of American Medical Science, Shauna Devine.
PS: Someone Else's Homework: Some More Thoughts, on a cute little mathematics problem.
PPS: Hanging around the zoo some more.
Sea Dragon with its 60th-anniversary livery.
Circular-tube style bumper car ride that can spin in place, which I never remember seeing before this, but then they were everywhere. They are quite fun; that spinning in place adds a lot.
The log flume, and the person up top making sure people aren't screwing around before going down the big drop.
