mexico city !!!March 9th - 15th
post by scott Viva Mexico!! Finally we are here!!
I gotta admit, my expectations coming in to Mexico City were pretty grim - what with the equivalent population of Australia (~20 million) packed into its city limits and a reputation for pickpocketing, taxi crime and Montezumas revenge. Hence my nerves were a little frayed as we walked through the airport out into big bad Mexico City. But... I was totally wrong! The place is clean, safe, friendly and above all super interesting for both gringos like us and domestic tourists (who are everywhere). The government has obviously put a lot of work into making certain areas tourist friendly. The zocalo (town centre) area where we are staying doesn't feel at all like a developing country. You can walk down clean cobblestone streets filled with happy mexican families and impressive colonial architecture bearing down from above - you could easily be in europe (or more specifically, Spain). |
There are policia absolutely everywhere with the apparent intention of just making the place feel safe, which is successful because with the crazy high density of cops with assault rifles any criminal would be mad to venture near 'el centro'. Having said all that the outskirts of town are a neverending procession of shanty towns built right through the valley and up into the surrounding mountains - jampacked with poor Mexicans who have migrated here from all over the country looking for work. A gringo would be game to set foot out there.
After making the taxi trip from the airport we checked into the famous Hotel Catedral (made famous by the Brown family staying there in 1997) with the smooth spanish introduction of: "Hola, tenemos una... uh.. umm.." Reception lady: "reservacion?" Me: "Yeah.. I mean si". The digs are amazing here - we have a view right out over the beautiful Cathedral it's named after. Our first Mexican meal was in a pretty stock standard little cafe but with a three piece indigenous pan pipe band playing right outside the window! We tucked into a few dos equis (xx) beers, sopa, tortillas and incredible mole sauce - Holy mole it was good!! (pun intended) I was also pretty pumped not to be immediately vomiting - Perhaps I can handle this Mexican food with its reputed high rate of E.Coli contamination!!
After making the taxi trip from the airport we checked into the famous Hotel Catedral (made famous by the Brown family staying there in 1997) with the smooth spanish introduction of: "Hola, tenemos una... uh.. umm.." Reception lady: "reservacion?" Me: "Yeah.. I mean si". The digs are amazing here - we have a view right out over the beautiful Cathedral it's named after. Our first Mexican meal was in a pretty stock standard little cafe but with a three piece indigenous pan pipe band playing right outside the window! We tucked into a few dos equis (xx) beers, sopa, tortillas and incredible mole sauce - Holy mole it was good!! (pun intended) I was also pretty pumped not to be immediately vomiting - Perhaps I can handle this Mexican food with its reputed high rate of E.Coli contamination!!
We woke late on our first proper day in Mexico and wandered down to 'El Centro' square to soak up the atmosphere. Being a Sunday it was jam packed with tourists, mexican families, street vendors & musicians. Right on our doorstep is the Templo Mayor. Back in the day the Aztecs had been cruising around the area looking for some real estate to settle down on, when one day they saw an eagle standing on a cactus eating a snake. To the Aztecs this was a pretty good indication that they should build a city there, so that's what they did - and called it Tenochtitlan. At the time they didn't really worry that it was in the middle of a swamp because hey, the eagle did eat a snake so.. you can't argue with that.
Unfortunately this means that today Mexico City is sinking by about 3cm per year. Some of the heavy old colonial buildings are really starting to sink down and its obvious because the footpath next to them is so much higher than the doorway! On the upside, the boggy ground has been a blessing for the city during earthquakes, which otherwise would have been completely destroyed in the major quake of '85. That afternoon I managed to convince Allana that taking an afternoon siesta is not being lazy, it is 'important to experience the Mexican lifestyle'. |
11/03 Today we lived the archaeologists dream.. A full day tour of important historical sites in and around the city, including more Aztec Templo ruins, the Church of Guadelupe and the mind blowing Pyramids of the Sun and Moon.
We learned some fun facts about human sacrifice rituals. The front of the pyramids all face the sunset because the Aztecs believed everytime the sun goes down it is entering into a fight with the dark underworld. When the sun rises the next day it means the sun won. The Aztecs felt that they needed to rip out still beating human hearts to give the sun strength for its nightly battle, to ensure the next sunrise. So fair enough really. |
pre-hispanic, colonial, modern
This particular site was quite interesting because it showed the three broad stages of Mexican history together: pre-hispanic (the Aztecs, ruins in the foreground), Colonial (Spanish invasion, Catholic Church-- built from the stones of the Aztec pyramids just to add insult to injury) and finally, modern (the ugly apartment building in the background).
A lot of miracles have occurred in this Country. One big one was when a man climbed up a hill and met the Mother of Gods (Guadelupe). She gave him a bunch of roses to take back as proof, and when he gave them to the local priest an image of the Holy Mother appeared on his robes. This original image on the old robes is now framed in the Church, where millions of pilgrims from around the Country come to see, often crawling the last few hundred metres on their knees.
A lot of miracles have occurred in this Country. One big one was when a man climbed up a hill and met the Mother of Gods (Guadelupe). She gave him a bunch of roses to take back as proof, and when he gave them to the local priest an image of the Holy Mother appeared on his robes. This original image on the old robes is now framed in the Church, where millions of pilgrims from around the Country come to see, often crawling the last few hundred metres on their knees.
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We then hit up the ancient city of Teotihuacan where you can climb the >2000 yrs old pyramids of the sun and the moon and wonder what ever happened to these people who at the time had one of the worlds biggest civilisations and then collapsed for unknown reasons, leaving nothing but the relics of their city. This civilisation was here even before the Aztecs, and had already dissapeared without a trace by the time they arrived. The Aztecs, who were a very proud people, were a bit peeved on finding these amazing pyramids and temples (which were a lot bigger than the ones they had). So decided that man couldnt have made this place, it must have been the Gods. That's why they are the pyramids of the sun and moon. We picked up some relics of our own (ie got ripped off by hawkers), laughed at the other aussie who accidently bought the ugliest ornament of all time and went home.
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To finish the day we thought we would have a "real" Mexican meal, so found a hole in the wall "taqueria" and had a big, surly (but lovely) senora serve us the most delicious, tacos and fresh cut salsa washed down with a few coronas for less than ten bucks apiece. Bargain! My weak-as-piss estomago (guttiwuts for those who don't speak espanol) is holding up so far..
Hasta luego... Scott
Hasta luego... Scott
Museum of anthropology
12th of March: A very loooong day today spent only in two places: On a big red open top bus and in the Museum of Anthropology.
The city tour on the bus went on and on and on... we had no idea it would take so many hours. We have certaintly seen our fair share of national monuments, modern buildings and colonial architecture. The highlight of the day was definately the Museum; highly recommend for this to be on everyones must do list when in Mexico City! This is the most visited museum in Mexico and with good reason.
Aztecs, Mayas, Zapotecas, Mixtecas, Purépechas, Olmecs and many other peoples
make up the rich cultural landscape of the Country and this museum is a tribute to all of them. What we also found incredibly interesting was all the information about the splendor of the pre-hispanic civilisations-- this was great for us to learn more about the ancient Aztecs and the pyramids and cities we've just seen.
Hopefully we can remember everything as we travel South and come across more of these incredible people and places! x Al
The city tour on the bus went on and on and on... we had no idea it would take so many hours. We have certaintly seen our fair share of national monuments, modern buildings and colonial architecture. The highlight of the day was definately the Museum; highly recommend for this to be on everyones must do list when in Mexico City! This is the most visited museum in Mexico and with good reason.
Aztecs, Mayas, Zapotecas, Mixtecas, Purépechas, Olmecs and many other peoples
make up the rich cultural landscape of the Country and this museum is a tribute to all of them. What we also found incredibly interesting was all the information about the splendor of the pre-hispanic civilisations-- this was great for us to learn more about the ancient Aztecs and the pyramids and cities we've just seen.
Hopefully we can remember everything as we travel South and come across more of these incredible people and places! x Al