DAY ONE--Arrival and City Walking Tour
We had an early morning flight from DC to Mexico City, and landed there about 12:30pm. All went smoothly as we got an Uber car to take us downtown where our Air BNB apartment was located.
These were the murals on the walls as we walked towards the customs area of the Mexico City Airport.
I'd signed us up for a walking tour of the city that started at 2pm, and we got there just in time. The tour met in front of the cathedral in the photo below, which is facing the main square of the city.
The main square is called the Zocalo, and it was getting all decked out to celebrate Mexican Independence day on September 16th. We were there September 5th through the 9th.
A close up of the golden eagle seen in the right edge of the photo above.
In the Zocalo there were native people doing dances as street performers.
There was also a model of what the original Aztec city looked like before the Spanish arrived.
DAY TWO Bus tour to Pyramids and Virgin of Guadalope Shrine
Kent and I were up bright and early because I'd signed us up for a bus tour to take us out of the city to see the Mexican pyramids. The picture below was taken in front of the entrance to our apartment.
We found it intriguing that each morning a load of block ice was dropped off in front of the businesses across the street from our apartment. I guess that was the method of refrigeration for some of them.
The first stop on our bus tour was to the Tlatelolco, or the Plaza of Three Cultures. This area represents the three cultures that have been in the area of Mexico city: first the Aztecs, then the colonial Spanish, and now modern day.
The stone ruins of the Aztec buildings, the Spanish Colonial church in the back, and the red brick modern building on the right.
Our next stop was the main reason I signed up for the tour--we went to the pyramids that are about 30 miles northwest of Mexico City.
This photo was our first view of Teotihuacan, with the Pyramid of the Sun on the right and the Pyramid of the Moon in the back.
Before we went to the pyramids we had a shopping and demonstration shop (the bane of bus tours)
Kent tried on some traditional clothing, and posed in front of some very large cacti!
We went through some of the ruins of buildings in the area of Teotihuacan. We saw many of these painted murals on the walls of the buildings.
I thought they were very interesting and showed scenes from when they were painted.
Red was always the dominant background color, but with some very beautifully detailed figures.
The following photos are of the pyramid of the sun, which is one of the largest structures in the
There are 250 steps up to the top of the Pyramid of the Sun.
In this photo we're standing on a platform in front of the Pyramid of the Sun.
Here's a view from farther back where the platform is visible.
Here's a view of that same platform from the top of the Pyramid of the Sun. The Avenue of the Dead is the road behind the platform.
On the top of the pyramid.
A view of the Avenue of the Dead leading to the Pyramid of the Moon behind us. We're still on the top of the pyramid.
We went to a buffet lunch near Teotihuacan, set up for tourists, after we had some free time to look around at the area. After we came down from the Pyramid of the Sun we walked along the Avenue of the Dead all the way to the Pyramid of the Moon, but we didn't climb it.
These were what the structures
looked like along the sides of the avenue. Archaeologists don't know who the
people were who constructed these buildings, but they date from the first century
AD.
Our last stop of the day was at
the Shrine to Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Inside the frame above the Mexican flag is the famous shroud with
the image of the Virgin Mary.
This is a beloved shrine for
the Catholic Mexicans because it represents an appearance of the Virgin Mary to a native of Mexico in
1531.
It is a popular site for
Mexicans to visit.
DAY THREE: Tour to Xochimilco
I had signed us up for a tour that would take us to the Great Pyramid of Cholula, which is said to be larger than the pyramids of Egypt, on
our third day, but I'd had a bad night. Something I ate at the buffet must not
have agreed with me, and I knew I couldn't be on a bus tour without a bathroom
for two hours.
Instead we went to a place closer to
the city center, a series of canals called Xochimilco, where you can take a
ride on a very brightly colored boat for an hour or so.
We had a boat to ourselves with our tour guide and pilot, who guided us along the canals.
Along the way we saw
vendors selling food and souvenirs.
The woman in the boat behind me is selling Mexican corn on the cob. It's corn that has been boiled, then slathered in lime mayonaise and sprinkled with chili powder and grated cheese. We didn't try it.
There were also mariachi bands who would serenade your boat for a
fee. For some reason I don't have any photos of the mariachi bands.
Most of the native Mexicans we
saw seemed to be large families having a boisterous celebration on the boats-for a
birthday, for example. We had a much quieter time, but at least the day wasn't a total loss.
DAY FOUR Anthropology Museum, Diego Rivera Mural and Ballet Folklorico
I was still feeling pretty crummy on September 8th, which was my
60th birthday, and the reason I wanted to go to Mexico City for an adventure.
We took an Uber first thing in the morning to be at the world-famous
Anthropology Museum right as it opened.
It was a bit confusing trying to figure out where to buy tickets
and then where to go in the museum after we did get our tickets, but even
though I wasn't feeling well we saw the highlights of the museum.
There were some truly amazing massive stone ruins that had been
relocated to the museum, both inside the buildings and in courtyards outside.
Below is a reconstruction of the Temple of the Feathered God, which was
originally found at Teotihuacan. (Note the scale with the person in front)
The Olmec Heads are another historical mystery, since little is
known of the culture who carved them. Their culture is thought to have thrived
from 1000 to 400 BC. There have only been 16 of these large stone heads
discovered in Mexico.
Last but not least, the Aztec Sunstone, which dates to the
early 1500's and is considered the most famous work of Aztec sculpture.
After we went to
the museum, we went downtown to the National Palace to see the famous mural of
Mexican history painted by Diego Rivera on a stairway in the building. We took
pictures, but for some reason they weren't saved onto our computer and I can't
find them.
The last thing we did that evening was to
attend a fabulous show in the Palace of Fine Arts, pictured below. We had quite an adventure picking up the tickets for the show, since we had to get them from a Ticketmaster office beforehand. What wasn't made clear as we were trying to find the office was that it was in the top floor of a department store.
Below is the
Tiffany glass curtain that was created for the theater about a 100 years ago,
picturing the countryside around Mexico City.
The show was amazing, with a wide variety of beautiful and
colorful costumes, representing dances from many of the eras of Mexican history.
Before we left town in the late morning of September 9th, we went for one last view of the city center
decked out in the Independence day decorations. We had planned to take an Uber to see the Mexico City Temple and the MTC, but we didn't get it done because they were out of the way, and because I wasn't feeling well.
Mexico City was an
extremely interesting cultural city, and we learned so much history while we
were there. I only wish I hadn't been sick for half of our visit!
