Chihuahua, Mexico, el once de Deciembre, 2019

What a big day!  I visited four museums and enjoyed them all.  It was a bit warmer - I think it got up to 15 but there was no wind and the sky was clear so it was a lovely day.

Along the way I saw a great monument to Francisco (Pancho) Villa, a revolutionary hero-

The monument in Plaza Angel-

And Columna de la Libertad (Column for Liberty)-

Nice street art-

There’s a monument to assassinated lawyers near the Palacio Gobierno-

And to murdered and missing women-

I like this poster.  It says “My clothing does not define my culture!”-

My first stop was the Museo del Mamut, the Mammoth Museum.  It’s old and dusty but I loved what I saw. The femur of the Hadrosaurio is huge.  They say this bone is 80,000,000 years old-

It looked like this-

They have a skeleton of the Mamuthus Columbi which is only 18,000 years old and from the Pleistocene Age.  It’s the largest mamuth that lived on Earth.  They ate trees, shrubs, grasses, ferns, cactus and aquatic plants.  They weighed about 8 tonnes and ate 350 kg/day and 150,000 calories - me too some days! Unfortunately their digestive tract wasn’t efficient and they only absorbed 44% of what they ate.  Today’s cattle digest 50-75% of what they eat-

There were a lot of Amonite shells from the Cretaceous Period which was 91.000,000 years ago-

Then there were beautiful fossilized rocks-

Plant matter fossilized-

Fossilized rocks used to make jewellery and ornaments-

The Desert Rose rock is sedimentary and can’t be polished or cut so it’s only good to look at-

The Giant Armadillo - Glyptodonte, was common in the Pleistocene Era (2.58 - .012 million years ago).  They had at least 1800 plates-

There’s a fossilized one-

Molars of a mamut-

and a skeleton of a Grey Whale from 1000 BC-

I was very impressed with the displays in this dusty, old building.

My next stop was the Casa Chihuahua which is a museum highlighting the different areas in the state of Chihuahua.  It’s a very modern and clean place in a beautiful building but I didn’t think it had much substance-

There was a travelling exhibition of paintings of, not by, Frida Kahlo-

There were other works of art such as Destroyed but not Defeated by Anthony Quinn - 1990-

This head reminded me of Nico. When he had his left eye stitched closed because the radiation prevented him from blinking, some of the stitches came out and he looked like this fellow-

I also liked this idea.  One could put any pictures on a display tree-

I walked down a pretty street-

It still amazes me any time I see a street seller.  It’s so impossible in Saskatchewan, especially at this time of year, but almost at any time of year with the wind and cold-

Of course there’s a sign like this-

Another beautiful building-

And hooray, the church was open-

A side door-

I walked to Quinta Gameros which is the former home of Manuel Gameros.  Construction took three years from 1907 - 1910.  It’s in neo-classical style-

The living room reminds me of rooms in Versailles-

The music room is next door-

The dining room has beautiful wood panelling-

The peacock is a symbol of European wealth, so one of the children had a room all decked out with them-

The master bedroom-

The back entrance has beautiful stained glass windows leading to the backyard-

The Sala Alberta Carlos-

where there is an art display including La Madre by Salvatore Marrero- 

a bronze sculpture called Angeles en Carretilla by Luis Y. Aragon-

and Lux Perpetua Luceat Eis, Memento Mora, Requiem and Esoteros, all by Gustavo Marquez in a showing called Artificialia.  These were about eight inches high and made of a variety of different materials-

The centre of the home-

The front door-

and looking at the home from the backyard-

I walked a little further and came to the former home-

of Pancho Villa (1878-1923) who was a famed Mexican revolutionary and guerilla leader.  He joined Francisco Madero’s uprising against Mexican President Porfirio Diaz in 1909 and later became leader of the Division del Norte cavalry and governor of Chihuahua-

It’s quite a big place with many courtyards-

 

Pictures were only allowed outside but I snuck one of a reception hall but stopped after I saw the cameras. I doubt anyone was watching or that they even worked but I didn’t take anymore inside pictures-

Murals outside depict battles he led with his Dorados (Golden Ones) against the Bourgeoisie and the Federal Army, fighting for better conditions for the poor-

Pancho and some of the Dorados-

There were many pistols, rifles and machine guns inside.  The soldiers wore two bullet holding belts across their torsos-

He asked for help-

was wanted-

and eventually surrendered and given a hacienda in the north where he lived for a few years until he was assassinated driving a 1922 Dodge Brother’s car, July 20, 1923 at 8:30 am in Hidalgo Del Parral, Chihuahua-

He wasn’t all that faithful.  Apparently he had 25 wives and more than 25 children. He was married to more than one at a time-

Walking back to my apartment, I passed a few dress shops.  There’s a right of passage for girls when they turn fifteen.  They buy an expensive dress - these cost anywhere from $500-$800 and are designed and made in-house-

That was a full day!  I’ve really enjoyed Chihuahua but am looking forward to Delicias tomorrow!