Day Four, Mexico City: More Aztecs

I spent the first two nights without knowing there was a fan in the room. I turned it on and it made the night more comfortable.

The original plan was to go to the marketplace and spend some time at Centro Historica. However, due to time constraints, we could only go to Centro Historica and could not go everywhere there. We made a stop at Palacio de Bellas Artes first. They had an exhibition dedicated to the art of El Greco who’s art was years ahead of his time when he painted them in the middle ages and most of his art on display centered on religion. One of the pieces standing out was “The Disrobing of Christ,” a painstakingly piece of art that is magnificent. There was also a wing showing separate portraits of the twelve apostles and Jesus in center.

On the second floor there were murals drawn by various artist, including Diego Rivera. One was a remake of a mural he was drawing at Rockefeller Center in New York named “Man, Controller of the Universe.” It shows a man at the controls of the entire universe that surrounds him. The original mural in New York was never finished since it contained an image of Lenin and was destroyed since he refused to take it out.

The building itself is a three story complex with art deco design and marble everywhere.

We walked towards Catedral Metropolitana. It is another huge Catholic church that is also sinking and tilting in the soft soil of Mexico City. Inside, there is a pendulum showing the angle of the tilt, and how bad it used to be. The cathedral contains much religious art work and shrines. One that stopped me was the shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe. It was hard not to think of my mom yesterday and today walking in these churches. Seeing the shrine stopped me. I asked my cousin if they sold candles here and he said they did. So I bought a candle for her and my cousin lit it front of the shrine where I placed it.

Being pressed for time, my cousin said: What would you rather see more; Palacio National and Templor Mayor? I chose the ruins of the Aztec temple. The temple was built less just over 100 yards away from the cathedral with artifacts found as much as three blocks away. The temple is actually seven layers; each emperor ordered another layer placed on top of the previous one. Archeologists uncovered the layers, artifacts rooms and alters found in between.

The museum at the end of the walk through the ruins held many of the artifacts uncovered during the digs that began just over 30 years ago. There was a giant stone named Monolith of Coyolxauhqui, the goddess of the moon. On one level you can get right next to it. On the level above it you can see it better and illumined with color. The museum also showed many artifacts that included masks, gods and pottery among all the other items one can find during a dig.

My dad and I returned home early. We had lunch and dinner with the family. My dad and I needed a break.

Tomorrow, we don’t have much planned actually. Maybe we’ll get that shopping done.