Mexico ... and a few other places

[amaroo]

Teotihuacan.... what a beauty!

About 40ks from MC is the ancient Mesoamercian city we know as Teotihuacan. No one knows who built it, why or exactly when. The best guess - it was settled around 100BC, ended up covering 21 square kms, was the leargest city in the Western Hemisphere up to the 1,400s (>100,000 people). They believe the Toltec built it more than 1,000 years before the Aztecs stumbled upon it and called it Teotihuacan.

It is a stunning site!

Pyramid of the Sun...



The climb...



View from the half way mark...



To the left is the Pyramid of the Moon... Avenue of the Dead connects it all



View from the top...



The top! It was New Years Day, so there was lots of mystic stuff happening up here.



Get here early... we climbed prior to the airport style queuing opening up.




Back on the ground...

 

[amaroo]

Walking towards the Pyramid of the Moon.



The dots indicate restoration work...



Imagine the city completely stucco, painted in bright colours...



Pyramid of the Moon...



Good example of the thickness of the stucco...



The view from the top .... well, the top level you can climb, unlike the Pyramid of of the Sun - you can’t climb to the very top.



View down the Avenue of the Dead...





Another look at the Moon...



Close by the Pyramid of the Moon there is an archaeological site where you can take a peek into the past.

 

[amaroo]

Like the Myan, they built cities upon cities... a previous level covered by the new above.




They had running water and a sophisticated drainage system..



The Avenue of the Dead has a series of block stairs - basically, traffic control.

 

[amaroo]

Ruins everywhere..



Walking towards the Temple of the Feathered Serpent...



They have a sense of humour .... sign as you leave Teotihuacan.

 

[amaroo]

The trip back to the hotel we passed some colourful housing estates .... apparently the local government decided it would be a good idea to brighten up the place for the Pope’s fly over during his 2016 visit. The normal grey concrete was just too much to bear....





Feeling a little peckish, we decided to grab a late lunch at Las Alcobas...

 

[amaroo]

Dinner - Rosa Negra, 5 min walk from the hotel. This place was bursting at the seams. The food was good, and the service was friendly.... would happily eat here again.




Las Alcobas breakfast, doesn’t look that appealing.... tasted only marginally better.

 

[amaroo]

City tour .... good mix of the modern and 16th C architecture.



The Historical Center is built on the ruins of Aztec Capital of Tenochtitlan .... which they built on a lake.

The whole place is basically sinking - a bit like Venice. The money has started to flow and rectification work is well advance.

 

[amaroo]

More of this impressive Catherdral - built between the 1573 - 1813



The Catherdral like most of Mexico City is sinking. They’ve done some major works to slow the rate and correct the lean however, given the situation of the foundations / lake .... they have much to do.

You can see - they are slowing bringing her back!



Right next to the Catherdral is Templo Mayor, the main temple of the Aztecs, constructed around 1325



Hit the link to get an excellent 60 second video explaining the history of the Catherdral.

History of Mexico City’s Metropolitan Cathedral in 60 Seconds

This is one amazing city!

 

[amaroo]

Some sights from the streets of Mexico City...



Valet parking - Mexican style. It was like watching 10 people driving rubik cube maneuvers getting our car out...

 

[amaroo]

Next stop, Palacio Nacional de Mexico .... famous for the murals by Diego Rivera (husband of Freda Kahlo). It’s located right in the historical center, near the Catherdral.



Stunning building



The Murals! He started the staircase in 1929 and completed it 1935. He came back and started on the corridors 1940 and had the last one done in 1951.

The stairway triptych is the history of Mexico from pre-Hispanic to the 1930s.

 

[amaroo]

The corridors...



If you come here remember to bring some ID or your passport .... we had a guide, so his ID was sufficient.



Pretty flash Post Office...

 

[amaroo]

One of the reasons we selected Las Alcobas as our hotel was its location. The restaurants that are within walking distance are amazing, and this night was no different - La Unica

Another cracking meal .... definitely come and eat here.

 

[craven morehead]

Some sights from the streets of Mexico City...

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Valet parking - Mexican style. It was like watching 10 people driving rubik cube maneuvers getting our car out...

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Can't imagine insurance companies allowing a SS park bench like that in Australia ........artistic or not

 

[craven morehead]

Next stop, Palacio Nacional de Mexico .... famous for the murals by Diego Rivera (husband of Freda Kahlo). It’s located right in the historical center, near the Catherdral.

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Stunning building

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The Murals! He started the staircase in 1929 and completed it 1935. He came back and started on the corridors 1940 and had the last one done in 1951.

The stairway triptych is the history of Mexico from pre-Hispanic to the 1930s.

View attachment 121403 View attachment 121404 View attachment 121405 View attachment 121406 View attachment 121407

Fantastic murals !!

 

[amaroo]

Fantastic murals !!

He got around! Painted one in the Rockefeller Center, NYC in 1933. It caused a bit of a ruckus with the locals and was allegedly destroyed ... can you spot the image that caused offence?

 

[amaroo]

National Museum of Anthropology - I’ve been to many of the World’s best Museums, this one is right up there!

The exhibits are spectacular, but the building is an architectural masterpiece. Designed in 1964, this beauty is all class.



For those that can remember - Hoops for that Mayan ball game...



The ball...




What México city once looked like.

 

[amaroo]

Aztec Sunstone



Mayan Cities / Ruins. We visited 9 of them and the ATM cave - not a bad effort.




Superb Museum!

 

[craven morehead]

He got around! Painted one in the Rockefeller Center, NYC in 1933. It caused a bit of a ruckus with the locals and was allegedly destroyed ... can you spot the image that caused offence?


View attachment 121452

I'm not up on art by any means so I'll hazard a guess at maybe Lenin on the right or people look like they're smoking joints over John D Jnrs shoulder ?

 

[amaroo]

Another nice Church...



Across the road - Palace of the Inquisition. From near enough the beginning of the colonial period until the War of Independence, this has been the location of the HQ of the Inquisition of New Spain ..... by all accounts they were just as barbarous as the original outfit in Spain. This building was constructed in 1732 and since 1821 has had a few other tenants ..... now it’s the Museum of Mexican Medicine...



One for the Mining Engineers...



They had grand plans to replicate the US Capital .... Mexican Revolution ended that...



The city is awash with grand old buildings...



Someone tell AJ, this is a living wall...



You don’t see many houses with tiled facades these days, c1735...





Carlos Slim’s addition to the city - The Soumaya Museum. It houses his > 65,000 private collection of stuff...



I reckon this photo sums up in one image the scale of living in Mexico City...

 

[drron]

I'm not up on art by any means so I'll hazard a guess at maybe Lenin on the right or people look like they're smoking joints over John D Jnrs shoulder ?

I think it's Lenin as well.