My trip to Mexico City wouldn’t be complete without a set of photos which may seem to be random. Maybe they are — things that just caught my attention in the moment and decided to take a picture.
That’s what we do these days, right? Anyway, will try to explain the images in the captions.
Street scene from an early morning walk in Colonia CuauhtemocOne of the old houses along a street in Colonia CuauhtemocMore contemporary residence in Colonia CuauhtemocAltar a la Patria in Chapultepec Park – monument to boy heroes who fought against the invading force from the U.S.Another view of Altar a la Patria. I liked everything about this little cafe in CDMX.La Reforma near where I stayed.
A lot of these photos below were taken from the tour bus I took to Las Piramides de Teotihuacan. (so at street level but raised a bit)
I was amazed at how orderly the Chilangos were for bus boarding.Street scene somewhere in Centro CDMX.Street in Centro Historico.Corner. I liked the lettering in the signs. CDMXTook this photo because of the lantern. Monumental!Old business alley in the Centro Historico.
Condesa, Polanco, Roma Norte
Some of the nicer neighborhoods in central CDMX that I walked around in – also my friend who’d moved there (at the time), Jim, lived in Condesa.
My friend Jim McKie and I stopped for lunch in Polanco.Martin Luther King statue in Parque Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln statue in Parque Lincoln.Rojo Bistrot in Condesa Fountain in Parque MexicoAnother on Calle Durango, Roma Norte. Fuente de Cibeles in Roma Norte.On Calle Durango, Roma Norte. Mythos in Roma Norte
Trip to Mexico, Mexico City Part 3: Mexico City has a signature park in the center of town, iconic in the way Central is for New York or Golden Gate is for San Francisco. It’s Chapultepec, and was within easy walking distance of my AirBnB.
Chapultepec Castle
One of the sights in the park is Chapultepec Castle, originally built in the 18th century for Mexican heads of state (read about it here) and now a museum. Also on a hill, so it provides some vantage points for Mexico City.
Exterior, turret. Centerpiece of a very pleasant scupture garden.View from a terrace. Me taking pix of people taking pix of Mexico City.Better view of La Reforma from Chapultepec Castle. Chapultepec Park and its lake, some of Polanco area in the b.g.Me taking a picture of tourists reading a plaque with myself reflected in the mirror!I thought this would be a good addition to my small San Fernando Valley apartment. I fantasized that the guy in the portrait dressed up in this gown on long-ago Saturday nights. Part of a mural at the castle by David Alfaro Siqueiros Another part of that mural.
The Frida Kahlo Museo and Coyoacan
The Frida Kahlo Museum in CDMX is literally the house she lived in with artist Diego Rivera, repurposed. It’s in a barrio called Coyoacan, which was a small town at one time but has been long since swallowed up by Mexico City.
It was about 20 minutes away by Uber. One of the great things about Mexico which I haven’t yet mentioned is that if you’re a senior (a persona mayor) you can take advantage of lots of discounts. I got one for the entrance to this museum which (if I remember correctly) was the peso equivalent of $1.50, so like 30 pesos or something.
To be honest, I did not know much about Frida Kahlo before going to the museum, which is odd I know because she’s so popular. You can read about her life and art here.
Here are some shots I took of the house and its contents:
The midcentury house from interior patio. A fountain on the patio. I loved the color of this pool. Self-portrait by Frida Kahlo. Portrait by Frida Kahlo. Still life by Frida Kahlo.ARt by Frida Kahlo.More by Frida Kahlo.By Frida Kahlo.Home furnishings at Frida’s. Pottery on a table at Frida’s. One of Frida’s gowns.One of Frida’s boots, made to help her with disabilities as a result of polio.
Coyoacan
The neighborhood surrounding the Frida Kahlo Museum was also quite lovely – quiet, leafy, narrow streets, old buildings. A church and a square, a fountain (with coyotes, which is what Coyoacan means – place of the coyotes) and markets, etc.
I was there on a Saturday and some quinceanera photos were being taken while I was in the square. Here are some photos of Coyoacan:
San Juan Bautista Church in Coyoacan.Church interior. More interior. Interior details. Oh, the drama! A dead Christ in a glass coffin.There was a book fair in the plaza!Quinceanera. Aren’t they the cutest bunch?Photographer and model, the coyote fountain in the b.g.The coyote fountain. (Fuente de los Coyotes)
I have some random photos of CDMX I’ll share in a subsequent post, so that’s it for Trip to Mexico, Mexico City Part 3.
Continuing on with the Mexico Trip: Mexico City. On the first full day in #CDMX my friend Jim took me to the Centro Historico, where the Catholic Cathedral is as well as the Zocalo (giant public square) and many other historical and Mexican government buildings.
I found it interesting, if not surprising, that the Cathedral was built in the same location as the Aztec temple (Templo Mayor, which is also being excavated, and you can go see those ruins). The conquistadores wanted to establish their dominance, and this was one way of many.
(Of course that is understatement. I don’t have the expertise or the space to really discuss the actual history, but hope to provide you some insight into my trip and, through the photos, how I look at things.)
A view of the organ at the Cathedral. Yes, it’s all crooked, your eyes do not deceive. Mexico City is sinking into the ancient lakebed – some places worse than others.
Another view of the organ there. Why so obsessed? I used to play the organ in church when I was a kid. Being at the controls of such volume is a little bit majestic.
Here’s a side view of the huge cathedral. I do love the agave garden.
A more traditional view of the cathedral and Zocalo in front of it. Taken from a restaurant where we went for lunch. The tan building and tents on the Zocalo are for an exhibition they were doing, making a replica of the Sistine Chapel that’s been touring the world. (Did not get a chance to see that, unfortunately.)
Museo Nacional de Antropologia
Not to be missed! One of the most regarded museums of its kind in the world, and hugely instructive for me.
I only took a few shots there, as I figured if I wanted to go back I could go online where there’d be better photos than I could ever do, but I did take several.
The Sun Stone is probably the most famous piece the museum has. It is from the end of the Aztec era and was buried during the Spanish conquest and then unearthed in 1790. For about 100 years it was displayed along the side of the Cathedral before being moved to a museum. You can read more about this astounding piece here.
The giant Aztec Sun Stone is the centerpiece of the museum’s collection.
I took a few other snaps of items I found intriguing there:
How I felt after walking around CDMX. Ditto here. This reminded me of something in a movie. This is actually a reproduction outside, but I loved it.
Las Piramides de Teotihuacan
I could not visit CDMX and not go to the pyramids, though they are a short way out of the main part of Mexico City (did I say it was enormous?). Anyway, I took a tour.
It’s all quite amazing — from the barrios you have to drive through to get there, which do show you some of the ways much poorer Mexicans live, to the pyramids themselves, gigantic as well as so numerous there are still lots of edifices half-buried under dirt and plants.
In fact, when this site was “discovered” in the 19th century, the pyramids looked like oddly shaped hills with dirt and vegetation covering all. It wasn’t until they started dynamiting it that they learned it was really a group of ancient pyramids.
Quite a fascinating story and you should read about it if interested. To get you in the mood, here’s a gallery from my visit there:
Blogger in front of the Pyramid of the SunCloser view of thatSerpent Quetzalcoatl watching over someone snacking. Frontal view of same Quetzalcoatl sculpture.Closer to the base. We were told that smaller platform in front of the pyramid was used for human sacrifices!Another viewOne of the numerous smaller structures along the Avenue of the Dead.Another view. The blogger looking toward the Pyramid of the Moon. Looking down the Avenue of the Dead toward the Pyramid of the Moon.
There’s an additional blog covering the rest of the Mexico Trip: Mexico City to follow.
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