Day 26 – Mexico City

Our first day in CDMX started with an Uber ride to the Zócalo. On the way we caught our first glimpse of the gorgeous Palacio de Bellas Artes:

Then we visited the Zócalo where the buildings are sinking at an alarming rate…

I became an organ grinder…

…witnessed a witch doctor performing cleanses on a mother and child…

…and tackled the Templo Mayor, the largest temple of the Aztecs. It consists of an archaeological site in the middle of downtown and a major museum to house the spectacular finds. Our guide showed us the seven layers of concentric temples and explained the inner workings of this court up until the time the Spanish arrived in Tenochtitlán. These decorations topped the twin temples:

Excavations have unearthed pieces like these (over 14 feet each):

Other findings were funny and scary at the same time.

Afterwards we had lunch overlooking the ruins (you can corroborate what our weather app aptly noted: “unhealthy air quality”)…

… and posed wearing our charro shirts from Zacatecas!

The following texts engraved on giant walls facing the ruins are quotes from visitors who witnessd Tenochtitlán in all its glory…

Later we stumbled across the fabulous national palace. A town within downtown, it has enormous inner courtyards, a cactus garden with ten foot tall agaves, a sculpture garden, meeting halls, museums, well fed cats and fountains. After confiscating our hats so they could keep track of our faces, we were allowed to wander the maze at our leisure. We found Diego Rivera’s spectacular murals among many other wonders. We even saw paintings by Guatemalans Rina Lazo and Carlos Mérida.

Leaving the palace we walked along pedestrian avenue 5 de mayo, enjoying all it had to offer, including a darling boy singing a Christian song at the top of his lungs, a break dancer and a smoggy sunset with skyscrapers.

To finish our busy day Mark took me on a dinner date to Chinatown complete with street performers who had a suitcase as part of their drum set…

…followed by a grand lucha libre show at the Arena México. We screamed for the rudos against the técnicos. Everybody’s favorite: Cavernario!