A Less than Satisfying Visit

Mexico City is a city of museums, around 170 at last count, and the crown jewel of them all is the National Museum of Anthropology.

I have been to the museum more times than I can count.  Since I had not been there for a couple of years, I decided to return last Thursday.  It turned out to be my least enjoyable visit to the museum.  It was Christmas vacation, and not only were there more foreign tourists than usual, but there were loads of Mexicans, from Mexico City, or visiting from other parts of the country.

Just to enter there was a long line, longer than I had ever seen before.  It stretched across the plaza in front in front of the museum.  It did move at a fairly steady pace, but only because the security guards had given up on using the metal detectors at the entrance.

(There was still a long line when I left a couple hours later.)

Once inside the doors there was an equally long line snaking around the lobby waiting to buy tickets.  I did not check my watch to see how long I waited, but, finally, I was inside the museum.

One reason I came was to see a special exhibit on excavations at Chalco.  Chalco is a municipality to the east of Mexico City.  It was an area inhabited by various tribes for thousands of years before the Aztecs arrived in the region.  Recently, construction was begun on a streetcar line connecting Mexico City with Chalco.  That work has uncovered numerous artifacts from Chalco's pre-Hispanic cultures.

"Uncovering the Past   Chalco and Its Surroundings"

 

The exhibit was actually rather disappointing.  It was in a small hall with about a dozen showcases filled with archaeological finds.  However, it was jammed with visitors as if this were one of the great discoveries of the century.

I thought I would avoid the crowds by going upstairs to the ethnographic exhibits, the halls dealing with the life of the indigenous peoples of Mexico today.  Most visitors come to see the archaeological treasures on the ground floor.  Usually when I go upstairs, I have the area almost to myself.  Not on that day, however.  It too was crowded with people.

I wandered around for a while and then went to the large gift shop which was also uncomfortably jammed.  (I didn't buy anything.)  I finally decided to leave.  I learned a lesson for the future.  Do NOT visit major attractions during vacation time!