Day 2 Mexico
After 12 hours of sleep, I was feeling a little better until I had breakfast at the hotel and realized it cost me $230!!! Thank God P&G is paying for this trip or I would have been washing dishes at the kitchen tonight.It was just me and Rodolfo today since Akshay wanted to sleep in - we took a walking tour of the Centro Historico, starting with the Palacio del Bellas Artes (Palace of Fine Arts) for the famous murals of Diego Rivera, Siqueiros, Lozano and Tamayo.
The House of Tiles was interesting - the whole exterior and even parts of the interior were covered in blue mosaic tiles. It's now a huge restaurant and was absolutely full of people. We also passed by an exhibition of Juan Gorman's paintings and the best thing was, the tickets were free. :) Sigh... I'm such a cheapo.
We ended in the Zocalo, the 2nd biggest square in the world (next to the Red Square in Moscow), surrounded by the Metropolitan Church (the 1st cathedral built in the Americas) and the National Palace, for even more of Diego Rivera's fantastic murals of communism and the early Indians.
I am writing this now in the cafeteria of the Museum of Anthropology where I just took a nice trip back in time to visit the Teotihuacan, Aztec and Mayan civilizations. I'm generally not as interested in anthropological stuff (pottery, jewelry, bones, etc. bore me) and I didn't spend as much time in there as everyone said I would (3 hours vs. 1 whole day), but I still think this is definitely worth going to.
I'm headed back to the hotel after this to rest up, so I'm at my best when I attempt my tequila shots tonight. :)
Day 1 Mexico
I must be getting old... I never used to get jetlag but after being in transit for 25 hours en route from Singapore to Mexico for my global conference, I completely crashed and slept for 12 hours straight. I was so zonked, I had meant to wake up for dinner but I just slept thru the alarm.
Might have also been due to the fact that after arriving, I practically went straight from the airport to the Pyramids of Teotihuacan with Akshay - the BM for Ariel India. It was a nice leisurely 1 hour drive from the city and our guide, Rodolfo, kept up a steady chatter about the city's history the whole time.
We passed thru the Avenue de Reforma, the "Champs Elysee of Mexico" - no kidding, it was supposedly designed by the French. I had expected Mexico City to be more like Manila but it was surprisingly super clean - the roads were wide and there was so much green!
Anyway, I digress - the Pyramids were incredible especially if you consider how the Indians built these without tools in the 1st c. AD! Much of it has been reconstructed but if you imagine how hundreds of these pyramids dotted the Mexican landscape pre-Spanish colonialization - it's pretty awe-inspiring.
The 3 main structures are:
1) the Citadel, known for the intricate reliefs and sculptures of Quetzalcoatl (the Feathered Serpent),
2) the Pyramid of the Moon at the end of the Avenue of the Dead and,
3) the towering Pyramid of the Sun with about 300+ steep steps which I climbed to the top of (groan - that's the view from the top).
We also passed by the Monastery of Acolman - a quiet Augustinian monastery built in the 16th century. Nothing much to see inside but it's a nice side trip on the way back to town.
Last stop is a must-see even for non-Catholics - the Virgin of Guadalupe - in my knowledge, the only depiction of the Virgin with dark skin. Legend has it that after the Spaniards came, they had a hard time converting the Indians, until the Virgin appeared on San Juan Diego's (the Indian saint) shirt as proof. The Virgin's image has been tested for authenticity and apparently, has been found not to be made of any kind of paint (proof of its divine nature).
And Mexico's been Catholic ever since.
