Mexico City Odds & Ends

Our last meal in Mexico City before leaving tomorrow

"I'll tell you what makes me feel worthwhile: organizing and solving other people's problems. It makes me feel good to go to Mexico City and figure out theories on how you can reorganize and reduce crime. To me, it's one of the more fulfilling ways to spend a day."

- Rudy Giuliani

Yeah, that Rudy Giuliani.......Anyway this city is so large and diverse we just scratched the surface here. There wasn't enough time to tell about everything so before we board the bus tomorrow and head North here are a few odds and ends about some of our adventure here in no particular order.

Apparently it was 'Take your eagle to work" today. We didn't know

Diego Rivera, The legendary Frida Kahlo's stormy husband, painted his masterpiece mural of the history of Mexico at the National Palace. It is magnificent to behold.

And he didn't leave anything out. In the mural you can see where the Spanish force the local people to tear down their own Templo Major to build the church that stands here today.

Just a few of the horrific scenes that are a part of the history here. Rivera spared nothing

For some reason the frequent pharmacies here all have street touters out front shouting at you and handing out coupons. "Have you got a rash? We have your cream here!" (not making that up)

Although the Mayans and Aztecs had access to gold, they did not consider it as highly as jade. This magnificent jade mask adorned the sarcophagus of a Mayan ruler.

Yep, I wondered too but that is Pancho Villa

This is a restaurant in a cave we ate lunch at near Teotihuacan

Human sacrifices in these ancient Mesoamerican cultures were a real thing

Colleen sitting on an actual Mayan temple

I really wish I could have seen this wrestling show with Matt Socey, Abdul Hakim Shabazz, and Andy Burnett. That trio plus beer would have made this zany show seem biblical

The National Opera House. The curtain is made of Tiffany glass and weighs 20 tons!

And finally these guys. Like many large cities in the world, Mexico City is full of buskers working hard for tips. Most are great. We saw everything from Aztec dancers to opera singers. There was some real talent here. But then there were these "talents". We heard the organ grinder calliope-like sound on our first day. It was kind of nice for only a few minutes. Then, like bag pipes, they grow quite grating. All of them were the same. They would wear a brown military style uniform and aggressively pan handle you for money as they played.

At first I thought they were some kind of "Salvation Army" raising money for charity. Nope, they are organized "buskers" who wear a uniform for some reason. No charity. And they are everywhere. Some even ask for money with no organ grinder. It was kind of odd. If I am going to 'sing for my supper' I at least ought to...sing. What talent was there in turning a handle and demanding money aggressively? I spoke with a local who reports they are universally scorned but that doesn't stop them.

And no monkey either. Not that I want a monkey but after hearing them on every street corner and all the plazas, I was left wanting a little more.

So that is it. I just want to share a few odds and ends from our time in this magnificent city.

When we researched our trip we depended a lot on Chris and Emily, our kids, for advice. They recently went to Mexico and were very helpful to us. We knew we were going to stay longer. We were unsure and in our research one of our travel influencers "The Senior Nomads" was a big help. The wrote the blog below -

https://seniornomads.com/blog-feed/2016/02/san-miguel-de-allende-well-be-back.html

We leave for San Miguel de Allende tomorrow. It's a five hour bus ride.