Last days in mexico city
post by allana
Well we almost made a week without getting sick... but then Montezumas Revenge struck! Not sure what did it but we probably could have been a bit more careful with the water. So we have been taking it pretty easy these last few days, Scott especially so! We were expecting this at some point so it's not the end of the world, plus we've still managed to do everything we planned except for watching Luche Libre (Mexican wrestling).
The main highlight over the last few days was definately catching up with Alfredo and his family. We met Alfredo in a bar in San Fran and caught up with him again here on Saturday night at a fantastic little jazz bar called 'Zinco'. It was lovely to see him again and to meet his family, hopefully they will visit us in Australia next!
Another highlight was going to Vive Latino- one of the biggest Music Festivals in Latin America. To be honest we were a bit worried about catching the metro at peakhour (the Mexico City metro transports 6 million people per day), finding our way to the event and enjoying it safely along with 200,000 other people. We did! There were some great Latin American bands playing which were the crowd favourites, with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs headlining. The photo above (from their website- we didn't take our camera) shows the awesome crowd. We were tucked up in the grandstands, but if I had been feeling 100% I definately would have tried the crowd trampoline:
The main highlight over the last few days was definately catching up with Alfredo and his family. We met Alfredo in a bar in San Fran and caught up with him again here on Saturday night at a fantastic little jazz bar called 'Zinco'. It was lovely to see him again and to meet his family, hopefully they will visit us in Australia next!
Another highlight was going to Vive Latino- one of the biggest Music Festivals in Latin America. To be honest we were a bit worried about catching the metro at peakhour (the Mexico City metro transports 6 million people per day), finding our way to the event and enjoying it safely along with 200,000 other people. We did! There were some great Latin American bands playing which were the crowd favourites, with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs headlining. The photo above (from their website- we didn't take our camera) shows the awesome crowd. We were tucked up in the grandstands, but if I had been feeling 100% I definately would have tried the crowd trampoline:
palacio nacional
The National Palace is a huge building stretching the whole way alongside the zocalo (city square), still in use by the President and Treasury. It is perhaps best known for the incredible murals by Diego Riveria, Frida Kahlos partner. The main mural in the staircase depicts Mexicos history from 1521 to 1930. It is a fascinating piece of work that Riveria completed over 6 years. It covers 450 sq metres so we were really glad that we had a great guide to talk us through it.
The mural was painted using only natural materials, crushed rocks, clays, milk and smashed up little beetles!
The mural was painted using only natural materials, crushed rocks, clays, milk and smashed up little beetles!
raising the flag
Every morning at 8am in the zocalo the traffic is stopped and pedestrians pause as trumpets and drums announce it is time for the raising of the National Flag! This is a ceremony taken very seriously every morning, and again at 6pm every night when it is carefully lowered, folded and marched back into the Palacio Nacional. It really is a powerful sight to see this enormous flag marched by the army across the impressive zocalo, carefully raised for a full salute. The zocalo itself is the third largest city square in the world, measuring 240m by 240m, and the flag is so huge that when the wind manages to get it flying, you can't help but feel some nationalistic pride for Mexico. Although as Scott pointed out, it is a bit scary seeing such young looking soldiers with major assault rifles! By the way, the white tents in the background are from a big technology exhibition they are setting up in the zocalo.
goodbye mexico city!
It's been a wonderful introduction to our Mexican travels, even with the last few days of sickness, and we really feel like we know the central historic district well. Now however we are both very keen for a change of scenery and some natural beauty... bring on the jungles and quaint colonial villages! So we are heading to Oaxaca tomorrow- on the plane- Scotts tummy not quite up to a 6 hr bus ride! We're feeling much better, so I'm sure the blog updates will become more regular again :)
I'll leave you with this great photo taken on Sunday. This is the main street that goes through the city (Ave. Reforma), usually chocablock with cars, buses, trucks. But on the weekend, it was closed to traffic and open to bikes, skateboarders, joggers, dog walkers... a wonderful sight in the middle of a city of 23 million! x Al
I'll leave you with this great photo taken on Sunday. This is the main street that goes through the city (Ave. Reforma), usually chocablock with cars, buses, trucks. But on the weekend, it was closed to traffic and open to bikes, skateboarders, joggers, dog walkers... a wonderful sight in the middle of a city of 23 million! x Al