Day 22 Mexico City 7 April 2015 Mexico Day 2

After a rough night for both of us, Deb with her cold and me with a very soft bed playing havoc with my back, we both started our days on our medication(s) of choice. 🙂

We were picked up at 9:30am and got into our very comfortable Chevy Suburban for a days exploration in Mexico City. Drove into the CBD and got out for a guided tour through the city.

We drove in via the Paseo de la Reforma, the cities grandest boulevard, it looks wider and maybe longer than the L’Avenue des Champs Elysées in Paris. This city has amazing looking buildings everywhere. But first let me go back a bit, let’s say 5 to 6 hundred years. Mexico City was built directly on top of the Aztec City of Tenochtitlan, that itself was built on a swamp/marsh. Mexico City was at one stage called the Venice of Central America, because of all its canals and waterways.  Many of the most impressive buildings in Mexico City are built of Marble and /or other stone. Consequently, similarly to Venice, many of the great buildings in the city are sinking. Great effort is being made to save them, but it’s hard fighting nature!  Some long buildings have a distinct wave to them, others lean like the “Leaning Tower of Pisa”, while others are just straight out sinking! Some have sunk as much as 3 or 4m over a 150m distance. They are peering them up with piles and concrete, using steel straps to hold others together, and some maybe just too far gone. Our walk took us to the Zocalo, Mexico City’s very large and impressive city square. The old parliament building is there, and we took a tour through it. It is now a museum, and has some very interesting murals and displays telling the story of Mexico from the early “aboriginal” days through   the Spanish settlement, various uprisings, independence and several “murky” governments. The building was initially a Palace then the Parliament. As a Palace it had its own Chapel, that later became a Prison and now is a Library, a stunning building inside for its simplicity and beauty. We walked up to the main Cathedral in town, again a huge building, and had a look around inside. This is a very religious country, and this church reflects that in every way. While we were there we lit another candle, and took a moment. From there we walked around the shopping district of the CBD, admiring the various buildings and styles. We had lunch at a restaurant that was inside one of the old Stately homes. The restaurant occupied the ground floor courtyard area and we were served by waitresses in traditional clothes. Tacos for Deb and Tortillas for me. I was surprised at the tameness of the spice in them. Our guide told us that the locals are choosing to eat less spicy food these days!   What the!!!!   🙂

After lunch we went to the National Museum of Anthropology. I can hear you all now, what was this guide thinking taking these two to a Museum!! Well, about 2+ hours later we emerged with a great  appreciation for the civilisations of Mexico’s past and more enthusiasm for the days ahead when we get to explore some of the archaeological sites we had just seen a taste of. The cultures and civilisations are very diverse and all very interesting. It surprised us both.

From there it was time to head back to the hotel, and some relaxation time. As we drove back we had a bit of a spin around our neighbourhood, a classy little area, lined by nice shops, homes and restaurants, and a safe area.

We hadn’t thought of it, but we are at about 2250m above sea level here, so the altitude maybe making things a little strange for us.   Our guide said it could take a few days to adjust.

While Deb read, I went out and had a look for a couple Geocaches, but to no avail, but then no one  had been able to find either of them for a while. I also tried a new thing similar to Geocaching, but more Geeky, Ingress. I think I managed to link to an ally portal but couldn’t quite hack into the enemy portal as it was just out of range of my wifi network here.

We had a nice contemporary Mexican dinner at a restaurant just around the corner from our hotel, not the one we were recommended (we’ll try that tomorrow night) but very tasty. You should have seen the waiters eyes light up when I asked him to recommend a local beer. Worth the price of the meal by itself.

Tomorrow is all about ruins and by gone civilisations, bring it on,