Day 4
This would be our most touristy day. We got on a Hotel tour of the Pyramids.
On our way out we saw some naked protesters (these still have their undies, I missed the fully naked wankers which hurt my blogging spirit, but alas).
We were off.
We made a quick pitstop at the Church of Three Generations: Aztec, Colonial, and Modern (unpictured).
An hour later, we got a this guy as a quick pre-pyramid tourist shop.
He showed us the fermenting maguey.
The artisans at work.
And then gave us a couple of shots.
Of the real deal pulque and tequila.
Just the better to try and sell us all the million little trinkets and serapes.
But we held strong, because the outdoors had the real treasures:
Every type of cactus imaginable.
Okay fine, Jenna did succumb to the trinket pushers, with a very dope sunburst.
And then, ta DA! We get our first glimpse of the pyramid of the sun.
But the tour first took us to the old houses, where we saw the very well and symbolically painted walls.
Wouldn’t you love to live here?
I mean, look at your neighbor, the incredible Pyramid of the Moon, built almost 800 years ago.
We knew what we had to do.
We had to tame it with our climbing feet. Which we did.
But lo, what light through yonder archeological site breaks? Could that be our next nemesis?
The even taller Pyramid of the Sun?
Why yes it is.
And we took it all with even fewer breaks. Look at me at the top, celebrating my upstepping skillz.
Afterwards, we hit a pitstop at a restaurant, and I quaffed my thrist.
I thought we had seen enough for one day, but the tour had one more surprise for us, a visit to the Catedral de la Virgen Maria.
That’s the old version, which broke, so they built a new modern one.
They even got the pope to bless it.
Check out the cool outdoor bells.
And the façade of the oldschool churchy.
And the inside, which was being worked on.
All these Mexican churches have nooks with different saints, so you can make personal offerings and prayers.
We then moved on to the new school church.
Which had these cool doors.
With cool stained glass.
The inside was also pretty impressive.
With a cool huge organ.
Did I mention it was gigantic?
As the legend has it, a young Indian peasant, while walking on the hill which the church stands on, heard a strange voice. It was the Virgin Mary, who told him that he had to go tell the archbishop that she wanted a shrine built right there.
So the young peasant went, and was denied, the archbishop said he needed a sign. So he met with the virgin again, and said, shouldn’t you get someone with more clout, but she said the whole point was it had to come from someone lowly.
So she sent him to pick some roses to show the archbishop, which would be the sign. So he picked them, and wrapped them on his white linen serape, and when he presented them to the archbishop, the image of the Holy Blessed Virgin appeared on the cloth. Which now hangs on the place of honor.
The gift shop had every sort of effigy you need.
Including the jewish virgin.
Thus concluded a great day of touring. Many thanks to our guide, whose name I now forget.
To finish off the afternoon in style, we went for a swim.
Which also helped ease the massive burns we both had.
That afternoon, my older brother Luis Jose finally arrived, making the Stephens’ family almost complete.
And I enjoyed a Stephens' home delicacy, toasted brownie with haagen daazs ice cream. The key is in the toasting.
Day 5.
This would be another big tourist day. We started nearby, at the Museum-Home of one Diego Rivera.
The house has a good design.
With brightly colored walls.
But unfortunately, they were remodeling so we only got to see one side of the house. But it was still plenty.
Isn’t the resemblance uncanny.
I know it was here.
And if you didn’t know, that there is a practice bull head, for bull fighting.
Told you the architecture was cool, I mean, check out these stairs.
Next stop, the truly marvelous Frida Kahlo museum.
They didn’t allow us to take pictures inside, so all you get is pictures of postcards. Nice dining room, huh?
And what about the bedroom?
Thanks postcards (fuck you, museum guards).
The outdoor garden/plaza was awesome.
I had to step up my coolness factor a notch.
Inside the gift shop, they had some good examples of the old Mexican tradition of “papel picado.”
Which means picked paper, for obvious reasons.
This wall always impresses me.
Damn, the couple really liked those huge devils.
You know Jenna and I did.
We finished the classic museum trifecta with the Trosky Museum.
Which had a graffiti exhibition.
Some pretty cool stuff.
Even the meta kind, the graffitied graffiti bottle.
And why have a museum for an old Soviet? Because he was shot, under stalinistic orders, right here in his house in Mexico City.
Buried there too.
Right next to the chicken coop.
For most people, that would be a good day, but we kept on, going to the old plaza at Coyoacan.
The church was cool and deep.
With magnificently ornate frames.
And a cool little apse.
Outside we met a vendor with an interesting array.
And some beautiful lamps.
We finished the toursity day with classic sorbets from the famous Helados Siberia.
We came back to find a wonderful outdoor picnic.
Replete with the ultimate Mexican delicacy, a perfectly ripe mango.
Unfortunately, we got rained out, so my dad and brother’s Saint’s Day celebration got moved indoors.
Caitlin was psyched. Oh, wait, did I mention she got her wisdom teeth pulled?
Thus the end of another day.
Day 6.
Only one major TT (tourist trap) remained, the city center. Where Mexico City’s tallest building, La Torre LatinoAmericana lies.
Balking at the earthquakes.
Right next door, El Palacio De Bellas Artes, a museum and concert hall, that sinks about an inch every ten years because the city was built on swamp land.
Inside, there was a temporary exhibition on Vladi, a painter I had never heard of, but who had some cool surprises.
The permanent collection houses some huge murals from many of the Mexican greats, including Orozco.
Siqueiros.
Who I thoroughly enjoyed.
And never forget the old frog himself, Diego Rivera.
With my favorite mural of all, Man at the Center of Philosophy and Technology.
All our art viewing was very rudely interrupted by a fire drill.
So we went to one of my favorite old buildings, The Azulejos.
Which is totally covered in these gorgeous blue tiles.
Nice, huh?
Then we wandered to a church across the street.
With a baroque façade.
And continuing the trend, a very ornate interior.
Complete with thumbs up Jesus.
And Dustin oracle.
Outside, Jose Luis Cuevas had some huge sculptures.
We then traveled a few blocks to the biggest church in South America.
Doesn’t look that big from afar, does it?
But it’s big.
And it has it’s own black Jesus.
Large organ.
And reconstruction.
Next door, El Palacio Nacional.
A big beaurocratic complex that houses the largest Diego River Murals.
They go on for several walls.
Covering Mexican history.
Once again, our return was blessed with a delicious garden lunch.
Where Phoebe and Sam finally arrived, making the whole set of kids present.
Then my dad surprised Karen.
Cause it was their 21st Anniversary. She got the diamond earings she always wanted.
For night entertainment, we had another round of Dictionary, which Caitlin took down easily.
Don't worry the rest will come later.
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