Back Home

I'm now back home in Ohio.
My flights went very smoothly, leaving and arriving on time.  Because I had splurged and purchased seats with more leg room, the journey was also very comfortable.  The flights were not crowded, and I had no one sitting next to me.  Passing through immigration and customs in Houston was also a snap.  I did have a bit of a line to pass back through security, but the whole process did not take much more than a half hour.  Once again I had a long layover in Houston, but I had another free pass for the United Club, and I was able to pass the hours comfortably.  It was fortunate that I did not leave a day or two earlier.  I missed the disastrous flooding which hit Houston at the beginning of the week.  As we were landing I could see evidence of the heavy rains which had hit the city.  When I arrived in Cleveland the temperature was close to 70 degrees. 

It was a gray, misty morning when I left Mexico City.

 

 

 

 

The final approach to Cleveland as we pass over the suburb where I live.

 





Time to Go Home

My two weeks in Mexico City have flown by.  Tomorrow I return home.  I must be at the airport at 7:00 AM for my 9:00 flight.  

If you have been reading my posts you know that this trip has not been so much about sightseeing.  After all, I have been to Mexico City so many times that I have seen most of the sights.  (In spite of that I do always find someplace new.) 

My trip to Mexico City was more about spending time with Alejandro and his family, enjoying the sunshine, and savoring the food.  Because I rent an apartment rather than stay at a hotel, I am also able, during my brief sojourn, to feel as if I am a resident of the city instead of a tourist. 

Throughout my stay the weather has been warm and sunny.  But tonight it was pouring rain.  Perhaps the skies of Mexico City are crying because I am leaving.  Ha, ha!
 
It is time once again to say "hasta luego" to this monstrous , delightful, aggravating, fascinating city and return to Ohio.

Sunday in Chapultepec

Chapultepec Park is the largest and most visited park in Mexico City.  On Sunday, rather than drive anywhere, Alejandro and I decided to simply walk over to the park.  I have been to Chapultepec countless times during the course of my many trips to Mexico City, but it had been a long time since I had visited on a Sunday.  Believe me, this was no peaceful stroll through the forest.  On Sundays the park is thronged with families.  It may not be a relaxing time to visit, but it is a great day for people watching and to soak up the carnival-like atmosphere.

I asked Alejandro how many people he thought were in the park.  He said maybe 5,000.  I said I thought that there were a lot more than that.  Well, I did some research and discovered that Chapultepec receives an estimated 15,000,000 visitors each year.  That would average out (since the park is closed on Mondays) to nearly 50,000 people per day... and weekend attendance is much higher than during the weekdays.  It is estimated that on some days the park has 250,000 visitors!

The main paths through the park are lined with stands selling trinkets (mostly made in China, I would guess).

  
"Lucha libre" wrestling masks are a popular item.

Of course there are plenty of snacks to eat.

Although I had visited Chapultepec Zoo on my last visit to Mexico City, Alejandro had not been there in more than twenty years, so that's where we headed.  It too was very crowded.  Although foreign tourists primarily go to the museums in the park, for Mexican families, the zoo is the most visited attraction.  It is estimated that one half of all visitors to Chapultepec go to "el zoológico".  



Admission to the zoo is free, but there is a fee to enter the butterfly house / insectarium and the herpetarium.  I had not been to the butterfly house on my previous visit, so we paid to go inside.  There are all kinds of butterflies, but it's next to impossible to photograph them as they quickly flutter from spot to spot.  About the only place where you  can get a good photo is at the plates of fruit set out where some of the species pause to feed.

Before you leave the building. you must check yourself out in front of mirrors to be sure that no butterflies are hitching a ride on your clothing.  Sure enough,  Alejandro had one on his shirt sleeve.

It was nearly 5:00 when we left the zoo.  Beyond the zoo exit is this beautiful carousel.  Look at it carefully.  I had never seen one before that has two levels.

After about seven hours of walking we were exhausted, but it was a fun day!

Panoramas

There are several places to go if you want a 360 degree view of Mexico City.

There is the revolving restaurant at the top of the Mexico City World Trade Center, but that is a rather pricey option.  The food is good, but really not worth the price.  You are paying for the view.

A much less expensive choice is to go to the Monument to the Revolution.

In 2010, the Centennial of the Mexican Revolution, an elevator was built which takes visitors up to the dome of the monument.

The view is great.   You are not so high that you are unable to make out the details of the cityscape. 

 The large building in the foreground was the "frontón" where jai alai was played.  That building now appears to be closed.

 Looking due east toward Juárez Avenue and on the historic center

To the south a line of high-rises marks the Paseo de la Reforma, the city's most famous boulevard.

Another place for viewing the city is from the observation deck on the 44th floor of the Latin American Tower.  This skyscraper, which was completed in 1956, was at the time the tallest building in Latin America.

Looking to the east, pedestrianized Madero Street runs to the Zócalo (main plaza).  Amazingly, from the open observation deck, I could hear the organ grinders playing on the street far below.

Zooming in on the main plaza with the Cathedral and National Palace...

Avenue Lázaro Cárdenas heads due north from the tower.

Looking down at the Palace of Fine Arts...

Heading west, Juárez Avenue passes the Alameda Park.

   

Desierto

(image from the web)

Last week I wrote about the posters which I saw advertising a new film called "Desierto".  Last Friday Alejandro and I went to see the movie.  

The film is a Mexican-French production which won an award at the Toronto International Film Festival.  This certainly is not a movie which Donald Trump or his supporters would enjoy.  The heroes are a group of Mexican migrants attempting to cross the border; the villain is a xenophobic, rifle-toting vigilante.  

It is an interesting and topical movie, and the stark images of the desert landscapes will stick in your mind.  It is fast moving and definitely not boring.  However, it is not a deep movie.  There is not much of a plot, and not a great deal of dialogue.  Even if you don't speak a word of Spanish you would have no trouble following the story line.  It is basically a chase movie... or you could even say a formulaic horror flick.  The protagonists are chased across the desert by monsters... the demented vigilante who is the epitome of evil, and his terrifying, vicious dog.  There is no subtlety; we are given very little background on the characters.

For a better understanding of the issue of undocumented migrants I would recommend the old 1983 movie "El Norte" which I used to show to my Spanish classes.  It tells the story of two Guatemalan teenagers who escape the violence in their homeland, and make their way across Mexico to the United States.

Manuel Tolsá

Although he is not well-known outside of Mexico, Manuel Tolsá was a leading architect and sculptor of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.  He was born in Valencia, Spain, in 1757.  In Spain he gained a reputation for his work, and in 1790 he was named the director of sculpture of the newly established San Carlos Academy of Art in Mexico City.  The following year he sailed to Mexico (at that time the colony of New Spain) where he spent the rest of his life.  

Tolsá brought the neoclassical style of art and architecture to Mexico.  He designed numerous palaces and church altars.  He put the finishing touches to the Cathedral of Mexico by designing its dome and decorative features of the facade.  His architectural masterpiece is the "Palacio de Mineríá" which was built to house the School of Mining.

The building stands in the heart of downtown Mexico City.  Today it is owned by the engineering department of the National University of Mexico.  At one end of the "Palacio" is a small museum which i visited a couple days ago.  It honors the life and accomplishments of Tolsá.

The most famous sculpture by Tolsá has a long and interesting history.  He was commissioned to design an equestrian statue of Carlos IV, the King of Spain at that time.
It is the second largest bronze cast statue in the world, and is generally considered to be one of the world's greatest equestrian sculptures.  

                             A model of the equestrian statue in the Tolsá Museum

In 1803 the statue was unveiled at its original location on Mexico City's main plaza in front of the Cathedral.

However after Mexico won its independence, anti-Spanish sentiment was strong.  It was feared that the statue would be damaged or destroyed.  So in 1821 it was moved to a more secure location in the courtyard of the University.

In 1852 it was considered safe to place the sculpture in public view again.  It was put in a location that eventually became a busy intersection along the Paseo de la Reforma.  That is where I remember it from my first visits to Mexico City.

(image from the web)

The statue became popularly known as "El Caballito" - "The Little Horse" - as if to say, "we don't care for King Carlos, but it's a nice sculpture of the horse."

In 1979 "El Caballito" made its final trip when it was moved to the elegant plaza between the "Palacio de MinerIa" and the National Museum of Art.  Unfortunately in 2013 a company was hired to clean the statue.  They used an acid that corroded a large portion of the sculpture. At first it was said that the damage was irreparable, but later the government said that "El Caballito" could be restored.  A scaffold and fabric were put around the statue.  That was three years ago, and "El Caballito" still remains under wraps.

   

A Belated Birthday Present

I have written previously about how I got my friend Alejandro hooked on the British TV series "Downton Abbey".  He has the DVD sets for every season except for the final one.  That was going to be his birthday present while I was down here on this trip.  The first day after my arrival in Mexico City, I went to "Mix-Up", the city's leading music / video chain hoping to buy it.  Alas, it had not yet been released in Mexico, but the clerk said that it would be out on April 15th.

Alejandro's birthday came and went.  Today, April 15th, I went back to "Mix-Up", although I was not optimistic that it would be there.  But, sure enough, it was there.  First I found the boxed set of the entire six seasons on a rack of new releases.  But I didn't want that since Alejandro already had the first five seasons.  I asked a clerk, and led me to a different shelf that had Season Six.

Mission accomplished!  I have Alejandro's belated birthday present.  I suspect that this weekend we will be doing a "Downton" marathon.