Foreign Money

Obviously, for this summer's trip to Europe I want to have some Swiss francs and some British pounds.  I already have a decent amount of Swiss francs from my last trip to Switzerland.  It should be enough until I am able to get to an ATM there.  

I should mention that one thing I like about the ATMs in Switzerland is that you can select the denomination of bills that you receive.  I wish that banks here in Mexico would adopt that custom instead of always spewing out large 500 peso bills.

I was looking at the Swiss banknotes, and I saw "Twenty Francs" in both French and Italian...  "Vingt Francs", "Venti Franchi".

Of course, I know that French and Italian are both official languages of Switzerland.  But where's the German?

I turned the bill over and there was the German... "Zwanzig Franken".

But there was also a fourth language.  Many people have never heard of Switzerland's fourth official language... Romansh.  Romansh is a tongue that developed from Latin (notice the similarity to French and Italian) that is the primary language of around 40,000 people in Switzerland.

I have Swiss francs, but it did not have any British pounds.  So, I went to a currency exchange located inside the World Trade Center and asked for 300 pounds.  I was happy to receive the cash in 20 pound notes.

I don't know whether or not the U.K. has started to issue banknotes with the portrait of King Charles, but these crisp bills still had the face of Queen Elizabeth.

When I turned a bill over, I did not recognize the person pictured on the back.

At first I did not notice the name printed in small type to the side, but after studying the bill a moment, I recognized the image in the background as one of the paintings by J.M.W. Turner, an important 19th century English painter and a precursor to Impressionism.

Moneywise, we are now set for the trip.

By the way, I converted these photos to black and white because I did not want to possibly violate any anti-counterfeiting laws!  

 

A History Lesson in the Metro

I saw this tile plaque at the entrance to the Balderas subway station.  It commemorates Father Hidalgo, the village priest who began Mexico's war for independence from Spain in 1810.

The caption on the plaque says... "Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla began the fight for independence, abolished slavery, returned land to the native peoples.  He died before a royalist firing squad."

In the picture, Hidalgo is holding a banner of the Virgin of Guadalupe with which he marched into battle.  In the background is the church bell which he rang in the early hours of September 16th to arouse his parishioners to revolt against Spanish rule.

Sprucing Up

Throughout Mexico City it is obvious that the government is busy sprucing things up in preparation for the millions of tourists that are expected to arrive this summer for the World Cup.

Scaffolding covers the Palace of Fine Arts as the white Italian marble building receives a cleaning.

 

New Glasses

When you walk down Madero, the pedestrian street in the heart of the Historic Center, you are always approached by touts trying to get you to patronize their tattoo parlor or piercing studio.  Even more ubiquitous are the people shouting "Lentes.  Lentes en una hora." (Glasses.  Glasses in an hour!)  Of course if you need bifocals, progressive lenses or photosensitive lenses it will likely take a week rather than an hour.

It is amazing how many opticians are located along Madero Street.  Take this multi-story building, for example.  Every floor above the ground floor is nothing but "ópticas" and labs where prescription lenses are made.

On the fourth floor is "Miranda Optica", an optician where Alejandro and his family have purchased glasses.

Several years ago, before I had made the final move to Mexico, I decided to get new glasses while I was in Mexico on a trip.  I brought the prescription from my ophthalmologist in Ohio, and Alejandro took me to "Miranda".  I picked out new frames, and in about a week I had my new glasses.

That was about four years ago.  My glasses are still good.  My vision has remained pretty stable, and I can read all but the smallest line on the eye chart when I visit my ophthalmologist here.  However, the lenses are scratched to the point where it is sometimes a nuisance.  I decided it was time for new glasses.

Last Saturday, we went back to "Miranda".  The lady who tested my vision said that it had changed very little.  But she said that with the new glasses I should be able to read even the smallest line on the chart.  I picked out the frames and was told that they would be ready in about a week.  So any day I should get a call from the optician.

And no, this is not a paid advertisement for "Miranda Optica".    

 

 

More Handicrafts, More Art

Next door to the Mexico City World Trade Center is a structure known as the Poliforum Siqueiros, a cultural center designed by the famous mural painter David Alfaro Siqueiros.  The exterior and interior murals together constitute what is claimed to be the largest mural painting in the world.  The Poliforum was opened in 1971.

In 2017 the building was closed to the public, and a program of restoration was announced.  However, nothing has been done in all these years.  The outside murals are deteriorating, and the interior is only open for private events.  The grounds around the building have been converted into a parking lot.  It is truly a disgraceful situation.

Last week, I noticed a sign advertising a handicrafts fair to be held at the Poliforum.  I decided to take advantage of the opportunity to go inside and see the murals which I had not seen since before the closure.

Handicraft vendors had set up their stalls in the enormous circular hall where Siqueiros had painted his mural "The March of Humanity".

The hall is covered on all sides, even on the ceiling, with Siqueiros's monumental work.  I do not particularly care for his art, but to be surrounded on all sides by this gigantic mural is an impressive experience.

As far as handicrafts go, I really had not planned to buy anything.  However, as I browsed among the stalls, I found one with textiles and crafts from the state of Oaxaca.  There was a table filled to overflowing with "alebrijes", the brightly painted wooden sculptures of animals which are one of Oaxaca's best known forms of popular art.

I looked at an intricately painted figure of a bear that I liked.  On the underside, it was signed "Roberta Angeles".  I wondered if the artist was related to Jacobo Angeles, who is one of the most celebrated creators of "alebrijes".  His works are very expensive and are to be found in museums.  I visited his workshop many years ago in the Oaxacan village of San Martín Tilcajete, and I bought one of his figures... also a carving of a bear.

I have posted photos of my bear by Jacobo Angeles before.  Out of all of the Mexican handicrafts, it is probably my most prized possession.  It was rather expensive back in 2010 when I bought it.  I can imagine what the price tag would be now that Jacobo's fame has increased.

I asked the lady in charge of the stand if Roberta Angeles is a relative of Jacobo,  She responded "I am Roberta Angeles, and I am a cousin of Jacobo."

We had a nice conversation, and I ended up buying the "alebrije" from her.  It is now keeping yet another bear company.   Last year at the Christmas market on the Zócalo I had purchased a figure by an award-winning "alebrije" artist, Agustín Cruz Prudencio.  The two look very good together.

My new bear is the one to the left.

I'm still upset over what has happened to the Poliforum Siqueiros, but I am glad that I went to this handicrafts fair.

 

Gift Shopping

As I mentioned in my previous post, we are visiting my cousins in England and Switzerland this summer.  Last week I started shopping for gifts for them.  I went to the "Ciudadela" Market.  With over 350 vendors, it is the largest handicraft market in Mexico City.

As I have written before, the market has its share of kitschy tourist junk, but you will also find handicrafts of good quality here.  While I was there, I found gifts for my Swiss cousin Brigitta and her husband Peter.  The last time that I went to Switzerland, I bought Brigitta a "rebozo", a Mexican shawl, and for Peter I bought a "guayabera" shirt.  They seemed to be genuinely pleased with their gifts.  

They frequently spend their winters at a yoga retreat in Thailand, and from the vacation pictures that I have seen of them, they favor tropical-style clothing on their trips.  So, I figured I would buy traditional Mexican clothing for them again.  Brigitta had previously told me that her favorite color is soft pink and that Peter's is light blue.

I found this cotton blouse, made in a town in the mountains of the state of Puebla, with embroidery at the bodice.

I bought another "guayabera" for Peter.  This one has blue embroidery down the sides.  It was made in the Mexican beach resort of Puerto Vallarta.

Hopefully they will enjoy these items.  Since they rarely look at the blog, I don't think the surprise will be spoiled.

Summer Travel

We are in the process of making reservations for a trip to Europe in July to visit my cousins in England and Switzerland.

We will take British Airways non-stop service from Mexico City to London's Heathrow Airport.  We will spend a couple of nights at an inexpensive hotel near the airport, and take the train to central London to spend a day simply walking around and seeing some of the iconic landmarks.  Then we will take a bus to the small town in Devonshire on the English Channel to visit my cousin Kevin and his wife Sue.  The last time that I traveled to England they lived in the outskirts of London, but, now that they are both retired they have bought a house just a short walk away from the coast.  

After spending three days with them, we will head back to Heathrow for a flight to Zurich.  My cousin Brigitta and her husband Peter live outside of Zurich, and we will spend a weekend with them.  We will then take a train to the city of Aarau where we will visit my cousin Walter and his wife Helen for several days.  During our time with them we will have a chance to visit other cousins who live nearby.

Finally, we will take a train to Frankfurt, Germany.  After spending a night there, we will board the non-stop Lufthansa flight back to Mexico City.