What? You are going to Mexico, don’t drink the water!  That was the typical first response we received from many folks when we told them of our vacation plans.

“Don’t drive, take the bus” said one American lady we met on the plane, she lives in Mexico City. “Don’t drive at night” we were advised by Rick’s friend to who’s wedding we were going attend the following week in Queretaro, Mexico. “Careful that you don’t wake up in a bathtub full of ice with your kidneys gone” said another friend to me. Hmm.

Well to make a long story short, we did all those things we were advised not to do, including driving at night, eating food sold by street vendors and we still have our 10 kidneys, 5 livers and 11 toes. 

Mexico turned out to be a fantastic vacation decision, and I can only recommend visiting. It could partly be to the fact that my laptop died (literally) in Orlando airport before we even left the US. It also turned out that my cell reception (T-Mobile) was not that great to non-existent which put me out of the e-mail loop during the next ten days. I was disconnected!

Rick and I are not the kind of people that go whaling ourselves on sun drenched beaches in front of conglomerate-owned luxury vacation properties blissfully awaiting the next round of cosmopolitan martinis and eating “safe” food. (We do that at home). We tend to be more the country-hiking and mountain biking tourist that ventures out to less traveled trails, longing for the unknown.  Eating dried banana slices with hot sauce for 5 Pesos is what we consider a gourmet meal.

The Gran Hotel main hall, with Rick standing in the way

At the opposite end of the Zócalo is the Templo  Mayor, the epicenter of the Aztec’s Empire, now one of Mexico's most important archaeological sites. Before we entered, we were met by Jesus, who offered to be our personal guide, for a special price only today!  Jesus taught us about the Aztec empire, and told us the story how in 1978 a city worker discovered the 8-ton stone depicting the dismembembered Aztec moon goddess Coyolxauqui during underground construction. Apparently nobody had known that the Aztec main pyramid of the capital (Tenochtitlan) was located right here, it was assumed to be buried under the Cathedral one block down. (The Spanish destroyed most of the Aztec capital in 1521 and built their own city on top). After this find, the City demolished a cityblock of historic colonial buildings in this location where you can now see the remnants of the Templo Mayor. The history of how Tenochtitlan and later Mexico City came about is a fascinating story. Especially having learned that the Aztecs were heavily into human sacrifices and cannibals and were considered “beasts” by the Spanish until around 1780 or so when the nice Pope finally dubbed them “human”.

Dismembembered Aztec moon goddess Coyolxauqui

Serpents guarding the Aztec Templo Mayor

Human skulls made from stone   

Choc-mool, dedicated to the water and rain god Tlaloc, we're not quite sure what they put in his bowl for offering 

We returned to the Gran hotel around 10 p.m. and guess what, there was a wedding going on! We asked the concierge until what time the wedding would go tonight and the answer was “Until 4 a.m. of course!”

People, cooking, singing, drinking and having fun on the trajineras, and Mariachi band and ranchera singer for hire

One thing that we noticed when returning to the hotel the night before, was a big truck out in front of our hotel room window that carried a lot of metal poles. We were scratching our heads trying to figure out what they could be for? Well, the Mexico City International Marathon was to take place the next morning here at the Zocalo. The workers started around 11 p.m. at night putting together the stairs and fences for the marathon  (clang, bang) and the announcer (also starting at 11 p.m.) started to test the PA system and played music and practiced his announcements throughout the night. (We are still trying to find some of the top hits he played). You guessed it, at 7 a.m. the marathon started with Fireworks, music and about 23,000 runners! We couldn’t have picked a better hotel for the entertainment! 

Start of the Mexico City International Marathon, fireworks, music and 23,000 runners!

Museo Nacional de Antropología y Voladores

One of the sites to visit in Mexico City is the National Museum of Anthropology which houses Olmec, Totonac, Mayan and Aztec artifacts. It is a huge display and you want to plan for at least six hours to visit here. The Olmec civilization is found to be the original Mesoamerican civilization that rose along the Gulf of Mexico (1400 BC), said to have migrated from Asia some 50,000 years ago.

Rick talking to an Olmec Head

Beatrice is still trying to figure out what this sculpture is about

We also got to see Voladores flying of an 82 foot pole, a tradition that was started by the Totonacs during a great period of drought. The pole flying is to attract Xipe Totec, the god of fertility so rains will come and nurture the soil. The tradition is still practiced to this day throughout Mexico, but originated in Papantla, where we will be heading to in a couple of days.

 The Voladores on an 82 foot pole, attached with a rope around their waste slowly "flying" towards the ground

For getting around Mexico City, we found taking the subway for 10 Pesos a person an ideal and fast transport method that got us all over town. Despite not speaking a lick of Spanish, our little translation book was all we needed to look like helpless American tourists. People came to our aid all the time, offering us help translating, pointing directions and providing us with local restaurant recommendations. Tomorrow we will be renting a car and head north towards Tula and Teotihuacan!