Ciudad de Mexico, el doce de Marzo, 2020

I went for a walk before the 11:00 tour started and found the letters at Zócalo, with the Cathedral in the background-

The Zócalo is really Plaza de la Constitution but a zócalo is a central plaza, set up with the church on the east and the town hall on the west.  There are portales -roofed patios with pillars for merchants. Mexico City’s Zócalo is huge-

The tour started at 11 but I left after an hour.  The guide was good but he talked really fast in an accented English.  I had to concentrate very hard to understand him and I just got tired of doing that.  He did say some interesting things though.  Benito Juarez was the only Indigenous president of Mexico, 800 Spanish defeated 100,000 Aztecs, Mexico City was built on a lake because that’s where the Mayan’s found the eagle sitting on a snake sitting on a cactus, originally they built reed islands that floated in the lake and that’s where they lived and the beginning of this huge city of 22 million people.  The city is 17 square miles and has sunk 19 meters in the past 400 years.

A model of the original city-

What the Templo looked like-

The base of said Templo-

and then, that was enough.  I took the metro and an Uber to Museo Soumaya-

which is a very modern-

and private museum with over 68,000 works from 30 centuries including sculptures from Pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica, 10th and 20th century Mexican art and lots of paintings by European old masters such as Renoir’s 1911 Portrait of a Woman-

Claude Monet’s 1887 Landscape at Giverny-

and Van Gogh’s 1885 Cabin with a Peasant Coming Back Home-

There’s also a mosaic by Diego Rivera called Rio Juchitan-

Ignacio Serrano’s Mexican City Cathedral-

and Botticelli’s 1480 Madonna Adoring the Christ Child with the young Saint John the Baptist-

There are 380 sculptures by Rodin on the sixth floor-

including The Thinker from 1904-

The Gates of Hell from 1880 - 1917-

The Hand of God from 1884-

and The Martyr from 1885-

There’s a floor for Mexican art with Eduardo Catano Wilhelmy’s Bajio’s Flower which was used in a calendar-

There’s a whole floor dedicated to religious art with a panel from 1350 called Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints-

and Fray Miguel de Herrera’s 1747 Allegory of the Sacred Heart of Jesus-

There were walls and walls of old paintings-

There were unedited copies of Gibran Khalil Gibran’s The Prophet-

And even some of his paintings-

I have used some of his poems in Nico’s memorials.  There was another floor dedicated to Asian ivory carvings-

The Empress Mother Dispensing Fortune from 2004-

The Eighth Daoist Immortals-

Allegory of the Fortune from 1901-1930-

That was enough!  I caught a combi, then took the metro back to Plaza Belles Artes where there was a monument to missing and murdered women.  The person collecting donations was dressed like a woman and looked like a women but when she spoke, she had the voice of a man.  I hope I didn’t look too surprised!  He/She said there are 7 women murdered every day in Mexico-

By this time I was hot and tired so my last stop was at Churreria el Moro.  Wow is all I can say!  They were delicious but I wouldn’t want this job-

They’re hot and ready and you have the choice of white sugar or cinnamon brown sugar-

So good!

Tomorrow I’m hoping to go to the Anthropology Museum and then possibly to Palacio Gobierno where there is more art but it seems my body is aware that my trip is ending because I’m tired and feel like I’ve seen and done enough for this year!  All I want to do is sit!  I’ll see what tomorrow brings!

Mexico City, Mexico, el once de Marzo, 2020

I left Morelia on the 10:45 Primera Plus bus which is so first class - upon entering, you get your choice of a sandwich or apple plus a drink.  The tv offers movies, music and games.  Along the way-

I was At my place by 4.  I have an ordinary room in a two bedroom apartment right on 5 de Mayo, two blocks from the Zócalo which is the main square.  I’m on the third floor and they have a sort of garden-

I was starving so headed to a taco stand for el pastor which is meat on a vertical skewer that cooks all day-

I went to the Zócalo which was filled with people selling stuff, always the same old stuff.  The Metropolitan Cathedral of the Assumption of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven is the main attraction.  It took 250 years to build from 1573 to 1815.  It includes many architectural styles including Gothic, Baroque, Churrigueresque and Neoclassical.  It measures 59 metres (194 ft) wide by 128 metres (420 ft) long and Is 67 metres (220 ft) high to the tip of the towers-

Inside-

There are two main areas of worship rather than one gigantic hall.  The first altar-

The organ and choir in between-

and the main altar-

To the side is the sacristy, the oldest part of the cathedral.  It’s a mix of Renaissance and Gothic styles-

I also visited the Gran Hotel which originally opened as a department store in 1899-

It has a doorman-

The Tiffany stained-glass ceiling was imported from France in 1908-

After, I wandered and figured out where to catch the bus Saturday morning to the airport - only about 4 blocks from my place.  Tomorrow I’m joining a walking tour at 11 and then heading to the Soumaya Museum.  I love Mexico City!