How I met my cousins

In my first post on this blog, I mentioned that I have been researching my family tree.  I have had no luck tracing my father's side back to Poland and Slovakia.  However, my mother's side, from England, Switzerland and Germany, has been easier. 

The English branch was the easiest of all.  I knew that my maternal grandmother's parents were from England, and I knew their names.  Almost immediately I was able to find British census records on the internet which placed my great grandparents in a village called East Garston.  I posted an inquiry on a genealogical website asking if anyone had any information on the family.  Within a day or two, I had an answer from a fellow named Kevin who lives outside of London.  He shares the same surname with my great grandmother.  He told me what he knew about his family tree.  I read his reply, and wrote him back saying that his great grandfather and my great grandmother were brother and sister.  That would make us third cousins. (Since then I have traced the family farther back.  On one branch of the family I have gone all way back to our great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandparents in the late 1600s!!)

Kevin and I continued corresponding via e-mail.  I eventually traveled to England and briefly met him, his wife, and two sons.  In the summer of 2011 they took a vacation to the United States, and in between visits to New York City and Las Vegas, they spent a few days here in Ohio.  It was great to get to know them better, and to play tour guide for them.  It is wonderful to discover family that you didn't even know existed!

 

Here are Kevin, with his wife Sue, and their two sons, Charlie and Scott.  The boys wanted to visit Cedar Point Amusement Park, in Sandusky, Ohio, not far from where I live.  Cedar Point bills itself as the "Roller Coaster Capital of the World."  It had been a long time since I had been there, and I wasn't sure if this "old man" was up to riding the roller coasters.  But I had as much fun as they did.

 

 

Here is Kevin by the grave of my great grandparents in the nearby city of Strongsville, Ohio.

 

 

Article on Mexico City

I just read an article about tourism in Mexico City that you might like to check out...

Are you avoiding Mexico City for outdated reasons?

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.

Coming to the end of my trip

Today is my last full day in Mexico City... at least until the next trip.

Alejandro and I are planning on taking an excursion outside of the city today, and when I return to the apartment, I have to pack my suitcases.  Sunday morning Alejandro will take me to the airport.

I probably won't have time to write the final chapter of my trip until Monday when I am home in Ohio. 

Thanks to all who have been visiting my blog and following my adventures.  But keep coming back.  In between trips I will be posting about some of my past travel experiences.

¡Hasta luego!

Wandering around the "Centro Histórico"

As I said in an earlier  post, in a city of 20 million people, there is always something new to see.  That happened again today when I returned to the "centro histórico".

I took the metro.  When the subway system was built many Aztec artifacts were found.  At the Pino Suárez station an altar to the god Queztalcoatl was uncovered.  It was left in place, and the station was built around it.

I got off the subway at the Zócalo station.  The Zócalo is the main plaza in the heart of the "centro histórico". It is dominated by the Cathedral of Mexico, the largest cathedral in the Americas.

  

A few blocks to the north of the Cathedral is the Church of Santo Domingo, which in colonial times was the headquarters of the Dominican order in Mexico.  I have passed by this church numerous times in the course of my visits to Mexico City, but the doors have always been closed.  This time they were open and for the first time I got to see the interior.  The Dominican churches are usually very ornate, and this one was no exception.

 

On one side of the Plaza de Santo Domingo, is the "Portal de los Escribanos"... the Porch of the Scribes.  In olden days when a large percentage of the population was illiterate, those who needed a letter written or a document filled out came here and employed a scribe.  Today illiteracy is low, but you can still come here to have wedding invitations or business cards printed off.

 

To the other side of the Church of Santo Domingo, is the former Palace of the Inquisition.  The Dominican order was in charge of the Inquisition, a Church tribunal which tried and punished heretics.  The Inquisition was abolished when Mexico won its independence.  The building was then used as the School of Medicine of the University of Mexico, until a new campus was built in the mid-twentieth century.  Today it houses two museums, the Museum of Medicine, and the Museum of the Inquisition.  I visited the Inquisition Museum today, and, although it does present a lot of historical information (all in Spanish), it's somewhat like a tacky wax museum with scenes of torture and execution.

   

I continued down the street into an area of the "centro histórico" that I had not seen before.  I came to this building which is called the Theater of the People.  It was built in the 1930's, although one lady there told me that the central courtyard had once been part a colonial convent. On the ceiling and walls were mural paintings that appeared  to be in the style of the famous muralist Diego Rivera.  The same lady told me that they were done by students of Diego Rivera.  

Next door to the theater was the Abelardo Rodríguez Market.  It too has murals painted by students of Diego Rivera.  Unfortunately the murals in both places have deteriorated and are in need of restoration.

Around the corner I came upon another colonial building.  It was originally a Jesuit church.  In 1824 the first constitution of Mexico was drafted here.  Today the building is a museum.

   
Farther down the street is the Church of Our Lady of Loreto.  After I returned to the apartment I did some research on the internet.  It was the last church to be built in Mexico City during the colonial period.  It was completed during the War of Independence a few years before Mexico finally won its freedom from Spain.  If the building looks tilted, it's not because of the camera angle.  Part of the building was built with a light, volcanic stone.  The other part was built of heavier stone.  As a result, the building is sinking unevenly into the spongy soil of Mexico City.

The dome of the church is the largest in Mexico City.

The architecture of the church is quite impressive.  Unfortunately humidity has caused the paintings in the dome and on the ceiling to flake off.  The uneven sinking of the church has made the structure unsafe.  Cracks have appeared in the walls, and experts say that the building is in danger of collapsing.  Fortunately it didn't collapse while I was visiting, but I fear that some day we might read of a tragedy in which worshippers are buried under the rubble of the church.  It is a historic and artistic gem that deserves to be stabilized and restored.  But the parish says that it can not afford the cost, and because it is a functioning church, it falls outside of the government jurisdiction of the National Institute of Archaeology and History.

Finally, as I was walking through the old city, I saw many stores with banners advertising the "buen fin" (literally, the "good end").

In recent years, Mexican retailers have taken a cue from our "Black Friday", and are beginning the Christmas shopping season with a weekend of sale prices.  This weekend is the "Buen Fin", but at least the stores (as far as I know) are not copying the United States by opening at ridiculous hours in the middle of the night!

Another neighborhood

I was reading an article in a magazine in the apartment about interesting neighborhoods in Mexico City.  I had already visited all but one of them, the "colonia Santa María la Ribera".  Yesterday was warmer, and the sun was peeking from between the clouds.  So I decided that I would take an excursion to Santa María..  It was an easy trip up Insurgentes Avenue on the Metrobus (and the bus wasn't overly crowded for a change!)

After I returned from my excursion I did some more research on the neighborhood on the internet.  Santa María la Ribera, located to the northwest of the "centro histórico", was the city's first planned neighborhood.  It was developed in the late 1800's, and attracted wealthy families. It remained a very affluent "colonia" until the 1930's, when middle class families started moving in, and the rich moved on to newer, more stylish areas of the city.  The neighborhood has more than 1000 buildings which are classified as having historic or artistic significance.  After the great earthquake of 1985, displaced families from poor neighborhoods moved into Santa Maria.  The neighborhood fell into decay, and it became one of the poorest, most crime-ridden, and dangerous parts of the city.

Hmmm.  If I had read that first, I probably would have never ventured to Santa María.  Yes, the neighborhood seemed rather shabby.  There was a great deal of once beautiful architecture that had fallen into disrepair or even complete abandonment.  But, judging from the people I saw on the street, the neighborhood felt as solidly middle class as where I'm staying.  I did not feel at all unsafe. (Perhaps, after dark it might be a different story.)

Then I read something else on the internet that said that, after years of neglect, the neighborhood is experiencing a resurgence.  Artists and intellectuals are taking advantage of the low rents and moving in.  New restaurants and even art galleries are starting to appear.  I could imagine that if the beautiful, old buildings were restored to their former grandeur, Santa María la Ribera could once again be a fashionable address.

Here are some photos of the faded glory of the neighborhood...

 

The Church of the Holy Family, completed in 1906, and very non-Mexican in appearance, is a mixture of Byzantine and Gothic styles.

 

Its stained glass windows were imported from France.

This unusual metal building was prefabricated in Germany in 1902.  It was shipped to Mexico and rebuilt, and for many years was the natural history museum.  It is now owned by the National University of Mexico and is a museum for exhibits of contemporary art.

 

The major point of interest in Santa María is this Moorish style pavilion which stands in the middle of the neighborhood's park.  It was built to represent Mexico in the St. Louis World's Fair of 1884. The prefabricated structure was moved several times before ending up here in 1910.  After years of neglect, it was recently restored.

 

  

   

More fine dining... Puebla style

The city of Puebla, which is located about two hours to the east of Mexico City, is considered one of the culinary capitals of Mexico.  A number of the country's most famous recipes were created in the kitchens of its colonial convents.

I read a very favorable review about a new restaurant in Mexico City called "Angelopolitano".  The restaurant specializes in dishes from Puebla, and the tongue-twisting name of the place is a reference to Puebla's nickname, "the City of Angels".

Alejandro and I went there for supper last night, and for the second night in a row, had a superb dining experience.  Alejandro began with "sopa de flor de calabaza"... squash blossom soup.

I had the tortilla soup.  Both  soups were delicious.

 

For our main course we both ordered one of the masterpieces of Mexican cuisine, and my favorite Mexican dish... "chiles en nogada".  The story goes that the nuns of one of Puebla's convents invented this dish to serve to Emperor Agustín de Iturbide when he visited the city.  (Iturbide was an unscrupulous military officer who had himself declared emperor shortly after Mexico won its independence from Spain.)  The colors of the dish are those of the Mexican flag... green, white, and red.   A green poblano pepper is stuffed with a mixture of shredded meat, fruit and nuts.  The pepper is covered with a white cream walnut sauce.  It is then garnished with red pomegranate seeds.  This sweet and savory dish is so completely different from the American stereotype of Mexican cuisine.  We both agreed that the "chiles" were excellent and that "Angelopolitano" is on our list of restaurants to visit again!