Among the people who were thinking about coming to Mexico City are my friends Nancy and Fred. Nancy and I for many years were teaching colleagues at the same high school. You might even remember them from this blog because four years ago they went with me to Mérida. Their interest in visiting Mexico City was further piqued when I showed them my pictures of last year's Day of the Dead celebrations. Shortly before my departure on this trip they told me that, yes, they would like to come here in October / November. I wrote up and gave them a tentative itinerary. A few days ago Nancy emailed me and told me that they had made their plane reservations. So, later this year I shall be putting on my "tour guide hat" once again.
During this trip I will have an opportunity to check out once again the sights on the itinerary and to fine tune the tour. Of course, one of the places that we will visit will be the National Museum of Anthropology, one of the great museums of the world. It is impossible to see the entire museum on one visit. Thinking about the eventuality that I would someday be playing tour guide, I have been formulating in my mind a highlights tour for some time. On Thursday, I went to the museum once again... this time with a pen and notepad... and I made a list of the objects that I want to include.
A colossal statue of Tlaloc, the rain god, at the entrance to the museum
When I entered the museum, I saw that all the ticket booths were closed. I asked the lady at the information booth if admission were free today. She said yes because one half of the upper floor is closed for renovations. The upper floor deals with the indigenous peoples of Mexico today, and, although it is interesting, it is not visited by most tourists. My planned tour will concentrate on the archaeological treasures on the ground floor.
I came into the courtyard of the museum which is dominated by an enormous canopy held up by a carved pillar. From around the pillar, a fountain of water cascades down to the pavement. On my last trip the area was barricaded off and renovation work on the canopy / fountain was being done. It appears that the work is nearing completion, and I suspect that the fountain will once again be functioning by the time that Nancy and Fred are here.
The pillar was made of stone, but it appears that it is now covered with a metallic surface with new carvings that are much more visible.
I spent a couple hours finalizing my highlights tour. We are going to concentrate on the civilizations of the Olmecs, the Mayas, Teotihuacan and the Aztecs. In each hall I have picked out up to a dozen objects that are the most important and interesting. (That's not to say that Nancy and Fred can't wander around a bit and ask me about other things that interest them. This tour guide is very flexible.)
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