We bought passes for the Touribus, an open topped double decker bus that runs several circuits around the city. We rode into the historic district from our hotel in the business district. We passed a few abandoned buildings that were victims of the 8.5 earthquake that occurred here in 1985. Most of the windows were intact but there were large cracks in the foundations and running top to bottom of the 4 story buildings.
We got off at the Alameda, a central massive square with large trees and grassy areas and paths wandering in the middle of the city. We walked past the Bellas Artes building. Gorgeous exterior with lines coming out of both sides with hundreds of people waiting to get in.
We walked to the Zocalo, which was covered by enormous white tents, and walked through the Cathedral. Large arched ceilings with little to no paint. There was a mass taking place as we came in, we attended IMO for a Wednesday morning @9:30.
The church is well maintained in the areas used frequently but lacks the luster of other cathedrals of that size. There was a net across the base of the bell tower cupola to catch pieces of the ceiling as they fell. It was a lovely church in need of some restoration. They do not charge people to tour it, but I wonder if they would make enough to restore the gold painted on the walls and repair the ceiling.
We walked on to the Templo Mayor. The temple was discovered by electrical workers trying to install cables underground in 1963. Until this discovery, it was believed that the Cathedral was built over the entire site of the original temple. There was not much to see other than the base of their buildings - but the try fascination for me was that they built these temples and buildings in a land that was mostly swamp because their leader believed that this was the chosen spot when he saw an eagle perched on a cactus holding a snake.
To build their massive buildings, they had to hammer long pieces if wood into the mud and build/weave a floor on top of them. It reminded me a little of the Uros on Lake Titicaca.
We ate lunch on the 4th floor overlooking the Zocalo, taking in our first Plata del Dia of the trip. It's a 3 (sometimes 4) course meal for a fixed price. It's plenty of food and super inexpensive versus ordering off the menu.
After lunch we ran to the bus. We had to stop it from driving off without us, but we made it. The seats up top were hot, hot, hot but we toughed it out and rode to the Archeology Museo in Chapultepec Park.
The museum is extremely well done and the ground floor features all of the historic culture and their remains (including models of some of the buildings left behind) and the second floor hosts a glimpse of the culture in the same areas today. I enjoyed one of the models so much, I'm hoping to change our flexible itinerary to take in the actual site.
The girls were tired of site seeing so we bought them a burrito and sodas and left them in the hotel room while we went to catch the South loop. We bought some snacks and walked to the bus stop to find out the bus was stuck in traffic and when the 9:00 closing time came, Touribus pulls in to whatever the closest stop is and drops everyone off.
Instead, we decided to walk through the Condesa neighborhood. Cute area with large trees in the center walkways and bars and restaurants scattered around. We sat at an outdoor table and enjoyed our time together and the quiet of the time without the girls. :)
Fantastic Day One!
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