Mexico
To avoid long transfers between the camping site and Mexico city, we decide to book a hotel in Mexico.
We spend 5 days exploring this huge city of 21 millions inhabitants.
The Aztec capital city « Tenochtitlan » was laying at the origin on an island in the middle of a lake ( Texcoco) when Cortes lead his army into this city.
The spanish leveled the city to the ground, and used the stones to build their new buildings.
They gradually filled in the lake.
The buildings standing where the ancient city was, date from the colonial and post colonial period. It’s now a mosaic of architectutral styles : churches, palaces, theaters etc…
As usual, we spend our first afternoon wandering in the steet to catch the atmosphere.
Today is Friday and Mexican start to enjoy their week end. An incredible crowd invades the main street from « l’avenida Benito Juarez » up to « l’Avenida Madero »
The historical center is packed .
Some of the streets and avenues are closed for the week-end and left free for pedestrians, bicyles and rollers.
All generations meet together, eating Tacos, sweet corn or fruits in the street. There's a "fiesta" atmosphere and musician perform at every corner.
We really appreciate this moment, not forgetting that poverty and violence are hidden in every corner, as in all mexican cities.
We explore the city quarter by quarter.
« El Zocalo » also named « Plaza de la constitution »
* Palacio nacional : built in 1562 by Cortes on the site of the ancient
« Moctezuma palacio » it was the residence of the spanish viceroys. It now hostes the presidential offices, but tourists vivit it for its « Murales de Diego Rivera »
The biggest fresco painted between 1929 and 1935 is a living panorama of the mexican history with more than 200 people on it… Fantastic !
* Catedral metroplolitana : This cathedral is the biggest one in Latin america.
Its construction took three centuries (1525 to 1813). Therefore there is a big diversity of architectural styles.
It has been built on a marshy ground and the whole edifice tends to bend. There is a pendulum inside the church mesauring the leaning throughout the years.
A valuable collection of paintings and sculptures take place in the church.
* Templo Mayor : this temple has been built by the Aztecs during the 14th and 15th century. It has been nearly completely detroyed by the spanish. The on site museum gives an overview of the aztec civalization : warriors practices, human sacrifices, trade, government, fauna and agriculture.
* Secretaria de Educacion Publica : this ancient convent dating from 1639 is famous for its huge collection of murals of Diego Rivera. Painted between 1923and 1928 they reflect an hymn to the labour, landscapes of different regions and scientific experiences .
El Parque Alameda Central
It’s the oldest park in town created by the spanish in 1592. Its name ( Alameda) comes from the trees which were planted there : « los alamos » (poplar)
* Palacio de Bellas Artes : It’s a beautiful building built in 1905 . This theater has an Art Nouveau facade, an Art Deco interior and hostes beautiful murals from the 20th century.
* Museo mural Diego Rivera : This little building has been built around a mural de Diego Rivera painted in 1947. Divided in three parts, this mural represents the 19th century conquest… Very impressive.
* Casa de los azulejos : This 18th century building is covered by « Tavalera » tiles and has in its interior a mural of Orozco.
Chapultepec : this parc is a very famous park
* Museo nacional de anthropologia : One of the most important museum of the country, and one of the most beautiful in the world. It houses 26 exhibition rooms and more than 250000 artefacts. The masterpiece is the Stone of The Sun also called the Aztec Calendar. Wonderfull.
* Castillo de Chapultepec : Once the house of the mexican leaders, (as Maximillien emperor), this castel now hostes the National Museum of History. Built on top of a hill it offers a nice overwiew of the capital city.
Coyoacan : « The coyote’s place » is a bohemian quarter where Frida Khalo, Diego Rivera and Trotski lived.
* Museo Frida Khalo : The artist lived a great part of her life in this house where she was born and died in 1954. There she painted some of her most famous paintings inspired by the suffering time she went through after her accident.
We also visited smaller museums and buildings, but 5 days are not enough for Mexico city. We wil stay a few days more when we come back.
It’s now time to go back to France for a two months break…untill 30th may.
Pivoter pour une meilleure lecture
Tepotzotlan
That’s here that we’re gonna leave our camper… How sad it is to leave it there after 9 month…
We’ve found a camping site an hour and a half out of Mexico city, offering a storage service.. It seams safe and clean !
We also met there our friends Yumie and François also storing their camper before flying to Cuba for 5 weeks. We hadn’t seen them for 2 months. What a pleasure to see them again.
We spend two days preparing the camper for its two months storage .
A lot of cleaning and a few repairs.
Teotihuacan
« The place where men are changed into Gods » is one of the most impressive cities of antiquity.
It’s been built and then abandonned by an unknown civalization.
This colossal city had up to 150 000 inhabitants and covered more than 20 square kilometers.
Some theories indicate that a maladministration added to the progressive destruction of the surrounding natural ressources would have caused the discontent of the inhabitants, leading to a massive rebellion and then to the abandonment of the city.
This huge complex was ruling a great part of central Mexico imposing a cultural and religious influence.
When the Aztecs discovered the ruins of this city, they believed that Teotihuacan had been built by a race of giants at the time of the « first sun » and named it « the city of Gods ».
It’s the first site in Mexico to be listed as a " UNESCO World heritage Site " in 1987.
It takes us 6 hours to visit this site and discover all the monuments. It’s a wonderful site that cant be missed.
It’s invaded by tourists coming from Mexico city for only half a day or less. We met a group of french tourists who were there for just 2 hours. Impossible in that case to appreciate this site in its grandeur.
We realize how lucky we are to be able to take all the time we need to appreciate our visit.
* Piramide del sol : The pyramid has been built in such a way that it exactly faces the sun on the day of the summer solstice. Built during the 2nd century it is made of 5 superimposed parts, rests on a base of 220m * 225m, reaches 64m in height and contains 1 million cubic meters of stone.We climb up to the top by 245 steps.
* Piramide de la luna : Located at the extreme north of the « Calzada de los muertos » we can enjoy the best overview from its top. On its west side is the residential complex of « Qutzalpapalot ».
* Quetzalpapalot : Religious and residential labyrinth, it gathers several very well kept frescoes in « el Conjunto de los Jaguares » and « el Templo de los caracoles emplumados ».
* Calzada de los muertos : Monumental road, originally 4 km long ( 2km nowadays) in one piece and forming one of the largest streets in the world, it extends between « la piramide de la Luna » and « la ciudadela ». It’s fringed by the main monuments.
* La ciudadela : It’s a huge square esplanade including 15 pyramidal bases … administrative buildings.
* Templo de Quetzalcoatl : masks of the feathered snake God « Quetzalcoatl » and of the God of the rain « Tlatoc » decorate this temple . It’s a must…
ROAD BOOK 049
MAVROS ODYSSEE
