I just like the way this photo turned out.
Last week I was walking along Madero Street in the "Centro Histórico". Rain clouds were approaching from the west, but the sky in the east was still clear. As a result, the Latin-American Tower is gleaming against the dark sky.
There are many plaques on the buildings in Mexico City's "Centro Histórico" which give tidbits of information about the history of the neighborhood. Last week when I was downtown, I saw a plaque that I had not noticed before.
"Stradavarius" is a chain of women's clothing stores from Spain. There is a branch along Madero Street, the pedestrian street that cuts through the heart of the historic center. It is on the ground floor of lovely, 19th century building.
Next to the entrance is a plaque which says that this was the location of Plateros Drug Store, and that the first public showing of a motion picture took place here in 1896.
Here are more sculptures from the "Cows on Parade" exhibit along the Paseo de la Reforma...
After visiting the Anthropology Museum last week, I walked down the Paseo de la Reforma. I discovered that a public art display, known as the "Cow Parade", is being exhibited along a mile-long stretch of the famous boulevard. The exhibit features more than fifty, life-size, fiberglass sculptures of cows, each one painted by local and international artists. This curious event began in Zurich, Switzerland, in 1998 and has spread to numerous cities around the world. This is the fourth time that the "Cow Parade" has been held in Mexico City. I saw it once before (and I may have posted a few photos on the blog), but I did not walk along the boulevard to see all of the sculptures. This time I did.
The event in Mexico City is sponsored by Lala, a major dairy company here. At the end of the exhibit, the "cows" are put up for auction, and the proceeds are donated to charity.
I frequently contribute to the Mexico City Travel Forum on Trip Advisor, answering questions or giving advice to people who are planning on traveling here.
Last week a person from Los Angeles wrote that he was going to be in Mexico City for the Day of the Dead, and wanted some advice on what events occur at that time of the year. He referred to the holiday in Spanish as "Día de los Muertos¨, a literal translation of "Day... of... the... Dead".
The original poster thanked me for the information. However, he said that he is Mexican (perhaps Mexican-American) and has said "Dia de LOS Muertos" all his life, and so does everyone else he knows. "I'm sticking with it," he said. Another poster, who travels to Mexico frequently, agreed and said that he always has called it "Día de los Muertos".
I responded that I did not mean to be argumentative over a minor language point, but I posted links to three websites, including the Mexican Secretariat of Tourism, that referred to the holiday as "Día de Muertos". I also mentioned that I am a retired Spanish teacher and that I live in Mexico City.
Someone else then posted a snarky comment. He wrote, "I have seen this discussion before. More often than not, it's some gringo trying to prove how 'Mexican' they are when they correct someone that uses the definite article 'los'." He said that the Royal Academy recognizes both forms as correct, and that a Spanish teacher should know that.
That angered me. I wrote back, "The Royal Academy is in Spain. I am in Mexico, and here in Mexico we do not use the 'los'." Still annoyed, I wrote another post, "While I am the first to admit that I do not know everything there is to know about the Spanish language, I do not appreciate my knowledge as a teacher being impugned."
He made a couple more snarky comments, but I just dropped the topic.
Then, yesterday, the original poster wrote a new post.
The snarky guy has made no further comments.
Last week I went to the National Museum of Anthropology to see a special exhibit entitled "Forms and Colors from Pre-Roman Italy.
Here are a few of the ancient works in the show...
