Over the Mountains

Over the weekend Alejandro and I took an excursion to the state of Puebla which is located about two hours from Mexico City on the other side of the range of mountains which include the volcanoes Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl, the second and third highest peaks in the country.  Both of those peaks have elevations of over 17,000 feet.  The toll road connecting Mexico City with Puebla was built in 1962 is one of the oldest superhighways in the nation.  I have traveled that road countless times; the first time being nearly fifty years ago when I came to Mexico to study at the University of the Americas in Cholula outside of the city of Puebla.

Of course the road trip begins with getting out of the city, which is always difficult especially on weekends.  We experienced a number of spots where the traffic was slow.

The air quality was not good that day, and it was obvious that our drive was not going to afford us any good views of the volcanoes, at least not from the Mexico City side of the mountains.

In this photo you can see the aerial cable cars that have been recently built as a form of public transport in the Mexico City district of Ixtapalapa.

As we reached the eastern fringes of the metropolitan area we could finally see ahead of us the mountains that we would cross.

 We reached the toll booth and we were now on the "Autopista México-Puebla".

We were finally out of the metropolitan area.  However the air quality was still not very good, and the volcano Iztaccíhuatl was only a vague outline.

It was a relatively quick journey through the pine forests and up and over the mountains.

We crossed the mountains, and were in the state of Puebla.  However, the air was smoggy on this side too.  The state capital, the city of Puebla, now has a population of over three million people and is an important industrial hub, so it also has its share of air pollution.  We were not going to have a good view of the volcanoes from this side either.

 

Our sightseeing destination for the day was a short distance from the highway well before reaching the state capital, the city of Puebla.

A Cactus Garden

When I walked to Condesa last Thursday I took a different route than what I usually take.  As I looked down on the busy expressway known as the "Viaducto Miguel Alemán", I noticed how nicely the median strip is landscaped with a variety of cactus. 

When Alejandro drives me to the apartment, we usually exit before this stretch of the expressway, so I had not really noticed this landscaping.  I don't know how long it has been here, but I looked at Google Maps satellite view, and the median strip here is bare.  But then again, the satellite view doesn't show the Ecoducto, the green space and pedestrian walkway farther up the highway, either.  So Google Maps has not updated their view for a number of years.

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In a couple hours, Alejandro and I will be taking off to spend the weekend in the state of Puebla.  I don't want to take my laptop with me since we will be doing some sightseeing along the way.  So, I will not be posting until we return.  ¡Hasta luego!

A Place to Relax

While walking around the Condesa, I stopped at "Parque España", one of the two major parks in that neighborhood.  (The other one is "Parque México")

I noticed a new feature in the park.  There is a small area cordoned off by a wall of vegetation.  It's called the "Audiorama", and it is meant to be a place where one can escape from the stress of the urban monster that is Mexico City.  There is a similar space in Chapultepec Park that has been there for a number of years.

The "Audiorama" has very specific rules.  You are to be silent.  No pets are allowed.  No smoking, eating or drinking.

When you enter this space of relaxation, you find a pleasant area with comfortable chairs.  Very tranquil music is playing... I guess you would call "New Age" music, or music to meditate by.

They have a box full of books that you can read while you relax.  A few of the books are in English.  (That's not surprising since Condesa is one of the most popular neighborhoods with foreign visitors.)

I picked out a novel in English, sat down, and read for a while.  Even though you could still hear the traffic from the nearby avenues, and dogs barking in the dog park, it was a very relaxing spot.  I might return, read a few more pages, and bring along a few books to donate to the book box.   

Architecture

I wrote in my last post that the clerk at the FONART store had told me that I could find the miniature figures that I wanted to buy for my cousin in England at a different branch.  That store was located in the government headquarters of the Secretariat of the Economy in the neighborhood of Condesa.  Yesterday I set out from my apartment to the store.  Condesa is about a half hour's walk away.  I reached the government building which is a tall office tower.

Because this is a government office, I couldn't just walk into the store.  I had to sign-in and receive a visitor's pass. Then I had to go to another desk where my temperature was taken.  The store is not nearly as big as the one I usually go to, but, sure enough there was a case with miniature figures.  I bought three for my cousin, and a couple of other items for myself.  

I am quite familiar with the Condesa neighborhood, but I had never been on Pachuca Street,  where the Secretariat is located.  I took a walk down the street, and there were many interesting buildings.  The older houses, built when Condesa was developed in the 1920s, are often in neo-colonial style.

  

This interesting house appears to be brand new.  The occupants have not yet moved in, and workers were still putting the finishing touches on it.

An entire city block is taken up by this apartment complex.  The architecture, reminds me of many of the older buildings in Madrid, Spain, with small, glass-enclosed balconies, projecting from the structure.

I came to familiar territory as I approached Veracruz Street since on several trips I rented an Airbnb on that street.  I remember when this apartment building was being built.  I really don't care for it, although I am sure the apartments are very expensive.  The entire structure is covered with shiny, ceramic tiles.

Nearby on Veracruz, is this business with an enormous sculpture of a hand on the roof.  I have no idea what the significance of it is, or if it is just a bizarre fancy of the owner.  In the background are the skyscrapers of the Paseo de la Reforma which is just a short walk away.

 

A Temple of Handicrafts

Readers of my blog know that I love Mexican handicrafts.  A place that I visit on almost every trip to Mexico City is one of the FONART stores.  FONART (The National Fund for the Promotion of Handicrafts) is a government agency which seeks to provide artisans increased income from the sale of their handicrafts.  The prices at the FONART stores may be higher than what you will find in the handicraft markets, but the quality of the merchandise is high, and you can be assured that the artisans are receiving a fair price for their work.

There are several FONART stores in Mexico City, but I like to go the largest one, which is located on Patriotismo Avenue, about a half hour's walk from my apartment.  

Earlier on this trip, I walked over there only to find that it was closed for inventory.  I went back yesterday, and it was open.  I was taking some pictures of the items in the store windows (photos which did not come out that well because of the reflection of the glass), when the guard at the door said, "There are lots of nice things to photograph inside."

I was rather surprised.  I figured that photography in the store would be frowned upon, but he said it was OK to take pictures inside.  Just to be sure, I asked one of the store clerks, and she said that it was not a problem.

There was a shelf of beautiful "Trees of Life".  I have mentioned before that these clay sculptures originally portrayed the story of the Garden of Eden, but now artisans make them with a wide range of themes.

This one has a theme I had not seen before... monarch butterflies.

The story of Noah and his Ark

I had never seen this theme before either.  It shows the "voladores", the men who swing by a rope tied to their feet from a tall pole in a ceremony that dates to pre-Hispanic times.

The "Trees of Life" are not cheap.  This one costs about $300 in U.S. currency.

There is a wide variety of pottery in different styles from different parts of the country.

There were a number of large pieces of the famous black pottery from Oaxaca.

I especially loved this one with a butterfly motif.

Lacquerware gourds, trays and boxes

I've purchased a couple of gourds at this store.

There is large selection of textiles and traditional clothing.

I came here to buy something specific.  My cousin in England collects miniature toy soldiers, and on a previous trip I found some here.  I bought four of them, and sent them to him as a gift.  I had hoped to find some different ones, but the case in which I had found them now contains jewelry.  I asked one of the store clerks, and she was very helpful.  She called some of the other stores, and found out that they have miniatures at a FONART store located in the headquarters of the Secretariat of Economy.  She started to tell me how to get there by public transport, but when I realized it was located in the Condesa neighborhood, I told her that I knew the neighborhood well and that I could walk there from my apartment.  So, another walk to Condesa is on the agenda! 

Constellations of Memory

Last week I made another trip downtown, this time to see a special exhibit at the National Museum of Art called "Constelaciones de la Memoria".

Last year was the 500th anniversary of the fall of the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan to the Spanish.  This exhibition contains a variety of objects which portray that conquest and its legacy.

Here are a few of the items on display...

An 1885 painting entitled "The Visit of Cortés to Moctezuma" by Juan Ortega

We refer to the Aztec emperor as Montezuma, but in Mexico he is called Moctezuma.  In Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs, his name was actually Motecuhzoma.  

The woman next to Cortés, is La Malinche, the native woman who served as his interpreter and eventually became his mistress.

A 2019 painting by Daniel Lezama entitled "Cortés and Malinche in Centla".

When Cortés landed on the coast of the present day state of Tabasco, he fought and defeated an army of the Chontal Mayas who inhabited the region.  Afterwards Cortés was given twenty slave women.  La Malinche was one of them.  

A sculpture of La Malinche done in 1852 by Manuel Vilar,

The cover of a children's history book, "Cortés before Moctezuma" published in 1900

The illustration was done by the famous engraver, José Guadalupe Posada.

The title page illustration of "México Através de los Siglos" (Mexico through the Centuries), a five volume history of the nation published in 1884.

This photograph of the Grand Historic Parade, held as a part of the 1910 centennial of Mexico's independence, shows participants dressed as Aztec warriors.

A 1947 painting by the famous muralist José Clement Orozco entitled "Spanish Soldiers and Indians"

Moctezuma, who had welcomed the Spanish into the Aztec capital, was eventually killed by his own people, and the Aztec forces drove the Spanish out of Tenochtitlan.  Legend has it that after the battle, in which the Spanish suffered heavy losses, Cortés sat under a cypress tree and wept.

That tree survived for centuries and became known as the "Tree of the Sad Night".  The famous landscape painter José María Velasco did this watercolor of the tree as it appeared in 1910.  The tree finally died in the 1960s, but the trunk still stands.  Last year its name was officially changed to the "Tree of the Victorious Night" in honor of the resistance against the Spanish invaders.

The last Aztec emperor was Cuauhtémoc, a cousin of Moctezuma.

He is portrayed in this bronze bust done in 1891 by the sculptor Jesús Fructuoso Contreras.

After his disastrous retreat from Tenochtitlan, Cortés regrouped and laid siege to the Aztec capital.  On August 13, 1521, Cuauhtémoc surrendered, and he was taken prisioner.

Cortés, seeking the hidden treasure of Moctezuma, had Cuauhtémoc tortured, by placing his feet over hot coals.  

This sculpture, done in 1887 by Gabriel Guerra, portrays "The Torture of Cuauhtémoc".

According to one legend, another Aztec noble was tortured along with him.  While Cuauhtémoc withstood the torture stoically, the other noble cried out in pain.  Cuauhtémoc supposedly said, "And do you think that I am sitting in a bed of roses?"

Cuauhtémoc never revealed the location of any treasure.  Later, Cortés accused him of plotting against the Spanish, and put him to death.

A photograph taken in 1900 shows the monument to Cuauhtémoc, which was erected along the Paseo de la Reforma in 1887.

No are no monuments in Mexico to Cortés!