Tijuana Wax Museum, Museo de Cero

So now after you've successfully crossed the international border, excited from the red brick road, crossed Ave. Del la Amistad and successfully dodged the taxi drivers and the street vendors near the huge McDonalds, not to mentioned negotiating the pedestrian walk over the Tijuana River, well, you've arrived in Tijuana. By the time you've walked to the corner of Calle Primera and Av. Francisco Madero, you're probably hot, tired and in need of a break. Not to mention that you'd probably like a cool place to relax in, free of fellow tourists and street vendors. May I suggest the Tijuana Wax Museum, located at the aforementioned corner?

Photo: The Tijuana Wax Museum, a the corner of Calle Primera and Av. Madero.

The Tijuana Wax Museum, a.k.a., Museo de Cera, is the premiere wax museum in Mexico, which is ironic, as Tijuana is the farthest city from Mexico's capital city of Mexico City, in the vast country of Mexico. Anyway, on Wednesday, August 24, 2005, my visit to the wax museum set me back a measly $25.00 pesos, a little of $2.00 in U.S. dollars, for around an hour of entertainment, not to mention air conditioned comfort. No, you will not see any inside photos, as in any other wax museum, they are frowned upon.

Elvis Presely lives! So does John Kennedy. Not to mention the sort-of gruesome display of the warrior getting the heart cut out. But the highlight of the museum is the display of Tia Juana, the fabled, mystical lady who gave name to the interesting city of Tijuana. Ledged had it that "Aunt Jane" lived at a ranch near the present site of the Tijuana arch and was a legendary cook. All of the locals would come to her ranch to experience her cuisine and since her food was so good, the area became known as "tia juana", or "Aunt Jane," later hyphened into the current name of Tijuana. Anyway, legend aside, Aunt Jane is there, cooking in all of her glory. The story can't be substantiated, as it's a local legend.

The only wax museum that I've ever visited that can rival that of Tijuana is in San Francisco, but this is only in the editor's limited experience. With that aside, if you're walking down the tourist corridor from the border to downtown Tijuana on Ave. Revolucion and you have an hour or so of spare time, pay a visit to the Tijuana Wax Museum. Oh yes, tell Elvis that the next time I see him in Las Vegas, that I'd like him to play a spirited version of "Jailhouse Rock" just for my wife and I!

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