Friday, January 31, 2025

Archaeology

An orientation meeting with our tour leader began the morning. All said and done, there are 33 in our group. Most have traveled with OAT before, and are on this trip for the same reason we are -- OAT doesn't run a tour in this area. There are a number in the group who walk very tentatively, especially on stairs. We OAT fans are all getting older.


The motor coach is very nice, new, and clean. Our first stop today was the National Museum of Archaeology. Our tour leader, Balam Ruiz, demonstrated that he is extremely knowledgeable about the history of Mexico, both ancient and modern.


This very modern museum is far too large to see in one morning. We spent most of our time in the Aztec room, which is dominated by the disc of the sun god.


We also saw a replica of one of the few remaining "codices" of the Aztecs (even though it isn't actually a codex) that was preserved as a stucco-coated leather scroll written in ideogrammatic text.


Balam also explained the symbolism of the statue depicting "the mother of the sun god," and noted that many of the religious practices tied to her were transferred to the Virgin after the Spaniards forced conversion to Catholicism.


The group was released for free time in the museum, but we stayed with Balam who guided us through the Mayan exhibit. Though much older, the Mayan culture pre-figured a good deal of what later emerged among the Aztecs.


A central part of the Mayan exhibition is a full-sized replica of the sarcophagus of a Mayan ruler, and the display of his death mask that was fashioned from solid jade.

From the museum we went to an included lunch at a taco restaurant. The meal was similar to what we had found on our own on our first night in the city, but not as good.

It was a very long bus ride to the next destination, not because of the distance, but because a major political demonstration was blocking streets and causing traffic to be re-routed.


We finally arrived at "the postal palace," still the main post office for Mexico City, but an architectural wonder when competed around 1910.

After a quick walk-through of the post office, we crossed the street to Bellas Artes Theater. Part of a project to return the sophistication of European art to Mexico in the late 19th century, the exterior is neoclassical. But because the Mexican Revolution delayed completion until into the 1930s, the interior is very much art deco in style.


Premiere Mexican artists from the period were commissioned to create murals for the interior, including (most famously) Diego Rivera, spouse of Frida Kahlo, who created the controversial "Man, Controller of the Universe."

We got to see the full protest march up close and personally as we walked back to our hotel. There were hundreds of marchers, many carrying red flags with the sickle and hammer. 

While sympathetic to the plight of the workers, we did the bourgeoisie thing and lounged at the pool in our luxury hotel.



Thursday, January 30, 2025

Frida Kahlo

After a light breakfast we checked out of hotel number one and walked a block down the street to hotel number two. Number one was very nice, clean, adequate, and very reasonably priced. Number two is the hotel used by the tour company. We're sure they get a deal, because the room rate for us, individually, would have been rather high.


It was too early to check in, but we parked our bags and got a taxi across town to the Museo Frida Kahlo, also known as "Casa Azul" or "The Blue House." This is the home in which Frida Kahlo lived and worked for most of her life. It is now a museum to her life and work.


Our tickets were not until 12:15 p.m., and because of the large crowds, the museum is very strict about entry times. So we took a stroll around the neighborhood, which is the barrio Coyoacan. This is a fairly up-scale residential area that extends for a number of blocks out from a central plaza and the Cathedral of John the Baptist.


We walked first to what we thought was a park, but turned out to be sort of a shopping mall dedicated to garden shops, nurseries, and florists. Interesting, but not what we had in mind.

Doubling back to the plaza, we visited the real park there, as well as the church. Many interesting restaurants and shops surrounded the plaza. At 10:30 a.m., the restaurants were all still serving breakfast.

As we walked back toward the museum we spotted a bakery that was not much more than a literal hole in the wall. Only one small display case and a guy standing at a window. Yet, there were lots of people around, sitting on plastic chairs on the sidewalk. And there was a brisk carry-away business going on, with cars pulling up to the curb, someone jumping out and running to the window, and then returning to the car with their brown paper bag of goodies.

We enjoyed donuts on the plastic chair and enjoyed the commotion. There was a much fancier bakery almost right next door, but it was hardly doing any business at all.


The museum was quite well done, with a great many photos, home movies, memorabilia, and original works by Kahlo and her husband, Diego Rivera. Her studio is well preserved, and her ashes rest in the "daytime bedroom" next to the studio, where she spent much time.


There was also a very interesting exhibit on her wardrobe and the dresses she designed to hide her infirmities. Some of the braces she had to wear under these dresses were also displayed, and looked quite uncomfortable.


A taxi got us back to hotel number two, where we met our tour leader. After a bit of a break, we met most of our group in the lobby and took a walking tour around the neighborhood. Our evening ended with a dinner at a restaurant featuring food from northeastern Mexico.

Wednesday, January 29, 2025

South of the Border

A journey of a thousand miles begins with an early morning walk to the bus stop, then light rail to the airport, and a direct flight to Mexico City.


We got here on our own a day early, but tomorrow will join a Grand Circle Tour. It's the same company we generally travel with, but not the usual "adventure" tours. This one is a larger group, more sedate, and a bit less costly. We'll be with a whole busload, not our usual small group.


The weather was gorgeous. We walked more than seven miles! The most exercise we've gotten in weeks. We enjoyed a good deal of people-watching while sipping cerveza beside a pedestrian street, and even got to watch a "save the whales" protest march go by!


In the evening we ate tacos al pastor in a meal that turned out to be much larger than we had expected.