Hola from Mexico City!
It has been a very abridged Teacher Summer this year but a quick trip to Mexico City has been perfect. There will be at least one other blog post to focus on the food, because . . . it's amazing.* But I guess I should report first on the actual things we did.
We started off with a walk around Bosque de Chapultepec. It is essentially Mexico City's Central Park. On a Saturday afternoon it was the hang-out spot for all the locals.** There were monuments galore and the Chapultepec Castle overlooking it all.
Conveniently located in the park is the Museo de Arte Moderno*** which we cruised through. We entered about an hour and a half before closing time and quickly found out that closing time meant the time they locked the front gate, not the time you headed for the door.**** Still, we had time for some Frida and Diego and bright colors.
The next day we went to the historic center and saw all your city favorites: the big church, the big plaza, the big government buildings. Kudos to you, Mexico City, because the plaza had a band blasting at all times and was definitely a party atmosphere.***** If we hadn't had several meals to get to, we could have partied more. The church and a random walking street are pictured below but my favorite was a courtyard wall covered in greenery like a giant mural.
In the afternoon we traveled to Teotihuacan, an ancient Mayan city about 45 minutes outside of Mexico City. It started to be built around 100 BCE and prospered through 600 CE. It is dominated by three different structures and was revered by the Aztecs who modeled their own cities after what they saw. We arrived and started at the Temple of Quetzalcoatl. It is not the largest pyramid but does have the most intricate carvings remaining. As you can see, the storm clouds were starting to come in . . .
From the top of the temple, the skies opened up and it started raining, then pouring, then hailing. We hightailed it to the car where we hid out for a bit and let the worst of it pass. Before we ventured out again, we donned some super sweet ponchos.
Next was the Pyramid of the Sun, the tallest structure in the city. There were many steps****** and awesome views at the top. AT stayed down below while our guide Alejandro and I made it to the top. His commitment to tourism photography was bar none.*******
We got AT back at the bottom and headed for the second biggest structure, the Pyramid of the Moon. At this point the rain was starting to pick back up so we took 80 million more pictures but called it a day.********
We have lots more museums to hit up but mostly have meals to eat.********* That should fill up the remainder of our excellent time here!
Hasta luego!
-KT
*Guys. The food is so good. I can barely type this because I am so full and so looking forward to the next meal.
**If they weren't hanging out they were taking bike lessons at the bike school which had a totally sweet set-up and hot pink bikes.
***Wham, bam, thank you, MAM.
****Any city that has such a passion for leaving work on time has already won my heart.
*****Except for the time we had music blasting in the background and then walked past a street musician organ grinder and it was definitely a nightmare atmosphere.
******Not a problem. Thanks, empty nesters of the local YMCA step aerobics!
*******And at one point I guess I thought I was a fashion model for ponchos?
********And at one point I guess I made AT be a fashion model for ponchos?
*********Have. I. Mentioned. The. Food.
It has been a very abridged Teacher Summer this year but a quick trip to Mexico City has been perfect. There will be at least one other blog post to focus on the food, because . . . it's amazing.* But I guess I should report first on the actual things we did.
We started off with a walk around Bosque de Chapultepec. It is essentially Mexico City's Central Park. On a Saturday afternoon it was the hang-out spot for all the locals.** There were monuments galore and the Chapultepec Castle overlooking it all.
Conveniently located in the park is the Museo de Arte Moderno*** which we cruised through. We entered about an hour and a half before closing time and quickly found out that closing time meant the time they locked the front gate, not the time you headed for the door.**** Still, we had time for some Frida and Diego and bright colors.
The next day we went to the historic center and saw all your city favorites: the big church, the big plaza, the big government buildings. Kudos to you, Mexico City, because the plaza had a band blasting at all times and was definitely a party atmosphere.***** If we hadn't had several meals to get to, we could have partied more. The church and a random walking street are pictured below but my favorite was a courtyard wall covered in greenery like a giant mural.
In the afternoon we traveled to Teotihuacan, an ancient Mayan city about 45 minutes outside of Mexico City. It started to be built around 100 BCE and prospered through 600 CE. It is dominated by three different structures and was revered by the Aztecs who modeled their own cities after what they saw. We arrived and started at the Temple of Quetzalcoatl. It is not the largest pyramid but does have the most intricate carvings remaining. As you can see, the storm clouds were starting to come in . . .
From the top of the temple, the skies opened up and it started raining, then pouring, then hailing. We hightailed it to the car where we hid out for a bit and let the worst of it pass. Before we ventured out again, we donned some super sweet ponchos.
Next was the Pyramid of the Sun, the tallest structure in the city. There were many steps****** and awesome views at the top. AT stayed down below while our guide Alejandro and I made it to the top. His commitment to tourism photography was bar none.*******
We got AT back at the bottom and headed for the second biggest structure, the Pyramid of the Moon. At this point the rain was starting to pick back up so we took 80 million more pictures but called it a day.********
We have lots more museums to hit up but mostly have meals to eat.********* That should fill up the remainder of our excellent time here!
Hasta luego!
-KT
*Guys. The food is so good. I can barely type this because I am so full and so looking forward to the next meal.
**If they weren't hanging out they were taking bike lessons at the bike school which had a totally sweet set-up and hot pink bikes.
***Wham, bam, thank you, MAM.
****Any city that has such a passion for leaving work on time has already won my heart.
*****Except for the time we had music blasting in the background and then walked past a street musician organ grinder and it was definitely a nightmare atmosphere.
******Not a problem. Thanks, empty nesters of the local YMCA step aerobics!
*******And at one point I guess I thought I was a fashion model for ponchos?
********And at one point I guess I made AT be a fashion model for ponchos?
*********Have. I. Mentioned. The. Food.
