Dateline: Puebla, Puebla
“Do you want to see the Wheel of Fortune?” Edgar asked me.
“Wheel of Fortune?” I ask, puzzled, thinking of Pat Sajak, Vanna White and the opportunity to win valuable prizes.
“Yes, we have the country’s largest wheel of fortune here,” he says, “and it was just built. It’s at ‘Angelopolis.'”
“Angelopolis? Wheel of Fortune?” I think to myself. “What the heck is all of this?”
But I agree to go along as he seems enthusiastic, though I’m puzzled about what exactly it is that we are going to see. Though I consider myself to be pretty fluent in Spanish, there are those times when I understand every single word that has been said, yet still remain completely clueless about the meaning. I figure this is one of those times, and that I’ll just play along. “Just keep in mind I don’t gamble,” I say to him before we set off. Only later do I realize how completely ridiculous this comment turns out to be.
It’s approaching sunset, and we hail a taxi. It turns out “Angelopolis” is a good ways from the city center and it takes us about a half-hour. When we get there, it starts to become clearer. “Angelopolis” is a new-ish, upscale mall. “Oh no,” I’m thinking. “I’m sure he’s proud of this shiny, new mall, but I seriously have zero interest.” I try to feign enthusiasm, exclaiming how lovely it all is with its posh shops and well-dressed people. But this mall could be anywhere, and the US is full of such places. We wander around a bit. We stop in a pet shop. We talk about how he’d like to open his incense-crystal-eastern spirtuality bookshop-etc there. Finally he says, “Well, do you want to see the wheel of fortune?”
“Yes! I’d love to,” I reply, full of curiosity. We walk out of the mall, and suddenly it all becomes clear. The “wheel of fortune” turns out to be an enormous Ferris wheel, 80 meters high, completed only 9 months ago, and christened Estrella de Puebla. It is festooned with LEDs which flash, creating patterns of light. At the base sits a fountain not unlike that at The Bellagio in Las Vegas, with varying patterns of flow and lights, all coordinated to music playing from speakers around the plaza. I don’t know how I missed this thing as we drove into the mall, but it is a very pleasant surprise, and I’m delighted that it has nothing to do with any kind of TV show or gambling of any kind.
The wheel is quite impressive, measuring 80 meters high, with a design not unlike that of the London Eye, though the 54 gondolas are of a more traditional design, but fully enclosed and air-conditioned. And unlike the London Eye which will set you back a good £20 GBP ($30 USD), the admission to the Estrella de Puebla is a highly-reasonable 30 pesos, about $2.20 USD. We board, and are treated to a marvelous view of the Puebla skyline, Cholula, and the volcanoes Iztaccíhuatl and Popocatépetl. An entire circuit takes about a half-hour, and we enjoy the romance of the ride, holding hands and whispering sweet nothings into each other’s ears.
“Have you been on this before?” I ask.
“No. I was saving it for a special occasion,” he replies.
Photo Courtesy of Wikipedia
And I reflect on the fact that this “wheel of fortune” turns out to be my wheel of amazingly-good fortune. I thank the gods for another wonderful day of Mexican adventures and for the charming, handsome man at my side.
El Gringo Suelto 
I sincerely hope that you get your fill of DF rapidly and head back to something that is so hard to find – someone that you are sympatico with and who is kind! I should be so lucky……..
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Barbara, How right you are. I have been thinking of Edgar constantly from the moment I left Puebla. Today I met Bill of “Travels of a Retired Teacher,” and talked his ear off about Edgar, LOL. Fortunately, he was sympathetic. I’m in my DF hotel room right now, trying to figure out my next move. Saludos!
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I love Edgar!
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Hey Gus, Me too! I’m totally missing him now that I’m here in DF. Thanks for commenting. Saludos!
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I think your time with Edgar sounds lovely. Whatever comes of it, it is a gift. A woman – particularly a woman of certain age – would not/could not be offered such indulgence. Men of such age save their smiles for younger women, and women of such age tend to feel invisible. Pity. Those men don’t know what they’re missing! LOL
P.S. I say could not because of the risk factor.
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Barbara, indeed I was thinking of that whole “risk factor” when considering Jennifer Rose’s comments a few posts back. It’s much tougher for women in these kinds of situations. Not fair, but the way it is, unfortunately. I feel EXTREMELY fortunate to have met Edgar. We’ve spent some wonderful time together, and seriously, I have thought more than once of just stopping my trip here and spending the rest of the time with him. Tomorrow I’m off to DF for a couple of days, and then we’ll see. Thanks for commenting. Saludos!
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Hi, Kim… when you were here and visited Parque Fundidora, perhaps you were able to see that another Ferris Wheel was being assembled very close to Horno 3. This particular 60-meter FW was first temporarily installed in Guadalajara, then in Mexico City (I believe), and now in Monterrey. The privately-owned monster opened to the public a little more than a week ago, and the folks here just couldn’t wait to ride it, even though the tickets are ridiculously higher: 89MXP for adults and 69MXP for children. It’s been on the news all these days. I’ve read that Puebla’s FW is bigger (80 meter), was purchased by the Government, and, as you say, the tickets are only 30MXP…this fair is not fair!
As a linguist and a passionate about languages, I loved when you said that sometimes you understand every single word that’s being said, yet cant figure out their meaning as a whole… been there, done that! Also, the fact that native English-speakers who speak Spanish well cannot deduct the meaning of rueda de la fortuna really, really puzzles me, leaves me perplexed. Perhaps I cannot understand it because my native language is Spanish and I’ve heard and used that expression since I was a kid. Rueda Ferris, on the other hand, would leave me completely clueless too. Saludos y un fuerte abrazo.
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Hola Tino! It’s funny how something literally translated can leave one with a cara de qué?!? Of course the inventor of the Ferris wheel was named Ferris, an American who created the first one for the Chicago World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893, so that’s why in English it’s called a Ferris Wheel.
As for my Spanish, it waxes and wanes. There are better days and there are worse days. Edgar can be a bit difficult to understand as he has a very soft voice. But I’m doing my best. Thanks for the wonderful comment. Abrazos y Saludos!
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I was forced to leave my previous comment short, but I also wanted to say how happy I am that the wheel of fortune took you straight into the arms of that young fellow, who, fortunately enough, seems to be an honest, kind, transparent, and romantic guy. I’m sure he’s making you re-think your plans! Whatever comes out of it, I’m happy for the two of you. Life can be difficult sometimes but love sure makes it brighter.
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Hi Tino, Thanks for the kind words. Though I do indeed want to see my friends in DF, I am leaving Puebla with a heavy heart. Edgar is also very sad to see me go. I’m not sure what will happen next, but I very much want to come back and spend more time with him. Let’s hope the gods support that plan. Saludos y Abrazos.
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Ha ha! I knew where this was going from the very beginning. When Alejandro visited Ohio, I took him to Cedar Point Amusement Park. It was then that I learned that a Ferris Wheel is a “Rueda de la Fortuna”. But, prior to that, I would also have been clueless!
Sounds like a very cool and (for the two of you) a very romantic outing!
Saludos from D.F. just on the other side of the mountains.
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Hey Bill! I meant to ask a couple of the Spanish-speaking commenters if they got it right off the bat. Now you’ve answered my question. Thanks for the comment and I look forward to meeting you soon! Saludos!
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I was one of the clueless, but I don’t remember hearing it. Even though, I did ride the one in Coney Island many times as a teenager. I am now left wondering what it was called in my Spanish speaking home…
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Once I finally figured out what the “wheel of fortune” was, I practically laughed out loud, especially in light of my “gambling” comment. Qué tonto soy, a veces. Saludos.
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¿Como que? Siempre muy inteligente. 🙂
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Gracias!
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Drink it all in Kim, good times are coming your way!
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Thanks, Peter. It’s hard not to believe that. Saludos.
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Some more heavy engineering to delight you… could you ask for any more?! 😉
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German engineering to boot! And no, I can’t ask for more, LOL. Thanks for commenting.
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Loved the build-up, with all the confusion, I can so relate 😉
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You really had me curious, too. Wheel of Fortune could have been anything.
How DID you miss seeing this on the way in? What an imposing structure. I think every mall should have one!
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Lee: It’s funny how the simplest of things can be lost in translation, no? We drove into the other side of the mall, and I wasn’t looking for enormous Ferris wheels, LOL. Thanks for commenting. Saludos.
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I had no idea that was there. That last photo makes it look quite the wheel of fortune. 🙂 I enjoy your posts. I like your writing style.
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Thanks, Mani! It didn’t occur to me to write a post about it until later, so I wish I had taken more photos. Edgar and I took a ton of photos of each other, though. But they remain “not for publication,” LOL. Thanks for commenting.
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Dang, I wish I had known about this when I was there.
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It’s more than worth the 30 pesos. Tip: Face the inside of the wheel if you can. The view that way is better, though it seems counter-intuitive. Saludos.
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