Mexico City

When I attended ASU I took a class on Mexican art history and since then I've wanted to visit the second biggest city in the world Mexico City and this summer I was blessed enough to be able to finally take this trip! Mexico is full of history, art and culture! I just want to learn everything about my culture and ancestors.  This trip just open a can of warms.  The six days I spent in Mexico City where not enough to see everything on my list, I know I will definitely go back and explore this great city and maybe run the Mexico City Marathon next year.

The trip to Mexico City almost didn't happen, a couple of days before my grandma got sick and was in the hospital, I felt bad leaving on the trip and leaving her in the hospital but I talked to her and she was like go ahead and take your trip you been planning this for many months and I will see you when you get back but make sure you visit La Basilica de Guadalupe.  I felt much better taking the trip with her blessing.  

My little Frida (my niece Leslie), cousin Ma Luisa and my aunt Ofelia took this trip with me. The bus ride took around 12 hours. As soon as I walked out from the bus station I felt a wired feeling like I been there before.  We took a taxi to our hotel that was down town close to El Palacio de Bellas Artes. You hear all this crazy stories about cab drivers ripping you off and getting mug so getting on that taxi was a little scary.

We checked in our hotel and decided to rest for a couple of hours before taking off to explore the city.  Our first stop was El Zocalo which was about 3 blocks from our hotel. El Zocalo is the main plaza in the heart of the historic center of Mexico City formal name is Plaza de la Constitucion.  El zocalo is the gathering place for Mexicans since Aztec times, site of Mexican ceremonies, independence ceremonies, religious events and national celebration and national protest.

Our next stop was El Templo Mayor which is one block away from El Zocalo and next to Catedral Metropolitana de Ciudad de Mexico. Based on the legend the Aztecs lived in the north region of what is Mexico now.  Their God Mexitli, God of war order them to build a city  in the place where they find a eagle standing on a cactus and eating a snake.  July 26, 1325 the Aztecs found the eagle in what is in present day El Zocalo.  In that time the area did not have firm ground it in fact was a lagoon.  They had to build an artificial island.  They named that place Mexico- Tenochtitlan and they built temples dedicated to Huitzilopochtli and Tlaloc.  After the conquer of the Aztecs by the Spaniards in 1521.  Templo Mayor, like most of the rest of the city, was taken apart and then covered over by the new Spanish colonial city.  The Aztec city of Tenochtitlan lays under the present day Zocalo and Catedral Metropolitana.

Leslie and Me at Templo Mayor

In Templo Mayor, in the background you can see the cathedral

I'm just fascinated with all the history this great city has, I've always enjoyed reading about the Aztecs and their history.  It was a whole different thing to experience it in real life and no just reading about it and looking at pictures.  We wanted to visit El Palacio Nacional theirs a Diego Rivera mural in it but it was close due to a group of teachers protesting in El Zocalo maybe next time I visit Mexico City I will be able to visit El Palacio. 

Day number two I feel was our busiest day our first stop was El Museo Nacional de Arte which was about 3 blocks away from our hotel.  This museum had pieces of art of all the well know Mexican artist and also the not so well know.  I got to see pieces by Rufino Tamayo, Jose Clemente Orozco, Diego Rivera, Ramon Cano Manilla, Guadalupe Posada, Ramulo Pozo, Guillermo Kahlo, Amado de la Cueva and many more Mexican artist.