Yes, Mexico was my first country in America outside of Europe to visit. The reason? Well, when I was in the military service, a Mexican, Orlando Aguilar, stayed at home. He had come for a long stay to do an ophthalmology internship at the Barraquer Clinic. It was around 1981. I met him on the permits they gave me to come home.

He lived in Mérida on the Yucatan peninsula and it was the perfect excuse to tour the country a bit, but being so big I limited myself to: colonial Mexico, Guadalajara, Taxco and Guanajuato in the north. In the west Acapulco, Oaxaca and the Pacific beaches. And to the south the Riviera Maya and the pyramids of Chichén-Itzá and Tulúm. 

It was like opening my eyes to unknown worlds and cultures.