Mexico City - The Final Chapter

I am back home in Ohio.  Here is a report on the final days of my trip.

On Saturday, my last full day in Mexico City, Alejandro and I took another excursion.  Alejandro suggested that we go to Chalco, a city on the outskirts of the capital.  He said that as a child, he and his parents would go there, and that it was pretty, little town.  Well, we discovered that Chalco is now a large and not very attractive city... just another part of the sprawling metropolitan area of Mexico City.  The only picturesque portion of the city was the colonial church and plaza.  When we entered the church, a service was being held for a girl's "quinceañera"... the celebration of her fifteenth birthday.

It was a beautiful, sunny day, and I said that we should continue driving and perhaps find someplace more interesting.  I'm glad that we did because down the road we came to a town called Mixquic.  Mixquic is actually within the borders of the Distrito Federal (Federal District).  Thus it is technically a "colonia" of Mexico City, even though it is a rural area that seems light years away from the capital.  Mixquic is famous for its celebration of the Day of the Dead, and a huge skeleton figure known as a "catrina" was still at the entrance to the town.

In the center of Mixquic is a church dating back to 1620.  The exterior looks very ancient.  But the interior is like a jewel box, resplendent in gold gilt, an exquisite example of the churrigueresque baroque style of architecture that flourished in colonial Mexico.

On our way back to the city, we were treated to a view of the two snow covered volcanoes, Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl, which are usually obscured by the air pollution.  You may have heard of Popocatepetl, because in recent years there have been minor eruptions.  During my time there, however, it was quiet.

 

 

Yesterday was a long day making the journey back home.  Because of the storms in the Midwest, my flights were delayed.  I did not make it back to Cleveland until 10 P.M.  Although it was very windy here, we did not experience the destruction that some places suffered. 

 

That concludes my trip to Mexico City.  I will be returning to Mexico, to Mérida in the Yucatán, in January.  In the meantime, come back to visit my blog, because I will post from time to time about some of my other trips to Mexico and elsewhere.