Un día para la arqueología - A day for archaeology.

For Roger, who gets excited about finding a flint chip in the dirt, this day has been overwhelming. The plan was to take a morning walk to several places east of us and take the subway back. That lasted about 5 minutes. If nothing else, we adapt.

We took a taxi in the direction of the Zocalo, the original town square,  since we were a little intimidated by the Metro. And we made good progress all the way to Almeda Park. But the traffic in Mexico City is un-frigging-believable, so we got out and walked the last 5 blocks. This is not a bad thing. Any diversion from the plan rewards us with a view of something unexpected, in this case the character of a really, really old downtown section -- the closer we got to the Zocalo, the further back in time we went. The testimony was the number of older buildings we passed, really an architectural show. Just walking the streets downtown is a treat. There are ornately tiled buildings and remarkable architectural details everywhere you look.

We stopped at a church on the way, the Catedral Metropolitano, located on the Zocalo. It was started in 1573 and added to over the centuries of colonial rule. I guess calling it a church is a little understated. Standing in it is a akin to observing the Milky Way on a dark night in the mountains. We did not look over much of it, since there was a special event going on involving a number of cardinals.

Next to the Catedral is the Templo Mayor, the Aztec center of the universe. We won't do the details, just that Roger was impressed by the complexity of the site - seven episodes of construction, one for each successive ruler, starting c. 1400 AD. There is a large museum on site, just chock full of goodies and horrible artifacts involving human sacrifice that Karen did not want to learn about.

In another part of town, we hit the National Museum of Anthropology.  We met Omar and Karina there, then travelled off- site for lunch, and returned with just Karina. While Roger went looking for a local public phone card - our cells are not operating like we thought they would - Karen caught a glimpse of Voladores in front of the entrance. But they were done by the time Roger got back, so she said nothing about it until we returned.

As we approached, she remembered, then we heard their flute and saw the flyers. They danced, they climbed, they flew, and it was just breathtaking. Don't know what a voladore is? Visit the article on Wiki. There are some Youtube videos of them, and we will post the video we took at a later date

In the museum,  Karina was a trooper. She stuck with Roger and listened patiently as he talked archaeology to her (at her?), helping with his poor understanding of Spanish pronunciation. Karen learned long ago to separate from him and do her own quick look and wait on the nearest bench while he tours the museum.

The museum is the best museum we have ever seen in our life.  There are whole intact sections of temples, a massive collection of beautiful ceramics and artifacts, and lovely courtyards to display many of them.  Needless to say, Roger was in awe beyond description.

Again, dead tired.  Hasta manana- until tomorrow.

Your Mexican toursitas,
Karen and Roger