Birthday Time

 In Alejandro's family, a bunch of birthdays are clustered together.  You may remember that a couple weekends ago we celebrated Alejandro's sister's birthday.  This past week marked the birthdays of Alejandro and of his favorite aunt.

On Saturday we went to his aunt's home to celebrate.  The apartment was filled with her children, grandchildren and even an infant great-grandchild.

Then on Sunday, we had a smaller celebration of Alejandro's birthday.  His dad, sister, nephew and I went to a nearby restaurant, a burger joint that bills itself as a 60's / 70's retro cafe.  It's a fun place decorated with all sorts of music and movie memorabilia from the era, and the food is good.

After we took the rest of the family home, we then went to a nearby bakery.  I bought Alejandro a chocolate raspberry cake.

  

Dinner at the Top... Again

You may recall that a few weeks ago, we took my cousin's son and his girlfriend to the revolving restaurant at the top of the World Trade Center while they were visiting Mexico City.  The restaurant, called Bellini, is the largest revolving restaurant in the world, and its location on the 45th floor of the World Trade Center offers spectacular views of the city.

The Saturday before Easter, we returned to Bellini.  Alejandro's friends Andrés and Tonio wanted to get together with Alejandro for an early birthday celebration.  In earlier posts I have mentioned Charles whom we have been showing around during his vacation in Mexico City.  It was his last night here, so I invited him to join us.

Unfortunately, I never seem to have good luck with the weather when I make dinner reservations.  I always make the reservation for early evening hoping to have a nice view of the sunset.   But it always turns out to be overcast.

  

This is the closest we had to a sunset view.

Our leisurely meal stretched on until after dark, and we had a view of the city lights.

Even if the weather was not entirely cooperative, it was an enjoyable evening of good company.

The Furniture Expo

Every year there is a furniture exposition, supposedly the largest of its kind in Latin America, at the World Trade Center.

It's always held during Holy Week.  Yes, even on Good Friday and Easter Sunday, the expo is open.

Alejandro and I have been there the last two years.  Last year we bought a new chest of drawers for the guest bedroom.

Admission is free, so even though we didn't plan on buying anything, on the Saturday before Easter, we decided to check it out.

Actually, there was something that I was looking for.  In my house back in Ohio I had two black, rectangular pedestals on which I had a couple of pieces of decorative pottery.  I should have had them shipped down here when I made the move.  They would have looked good with the other pieces of black furniture that are in the living room / dining room.  I did not see anything like them at the previous two expos, and I really didn't expect to see anything similar this year.  I kept my eyes open, but saw nothing.  

However, we did not go home empty-handed.  As we reached the last row of displays before reaching the exit, we saw these door mats which I thought were cute.

I bought one, not to put outside the entrance to the apartment, but inside where we take off our shoes.

Then we saw these stuffed animals which are hand crocheted by women in Mexican prisons.  I bought the duck for the daughter of a friend, and Alejandro bought the tiger for the grandson of one of his cousins.

So, our trip to the furniture expo was not a complete waste of time.

Back to the Anthropology Museum

For the second time in less than a month I played tour guide at the National Museum of Anthropology.  I previously mentioned Charles, the law partner of one of my high school friends, who was visiting Mexico City.  I had told him that I would be happy to give him a tour of some of the highlights of Mexico's greatest museum.  So last week, we spent a few hours there, and I gave him an overview of some of the country's pre-Hispanic civilizations.

Here are a few random photos from our visit...

Charles stands next to a colossal stone head carved by the Olmecs, the oldest civilization of Mexico.

A life-size replica of a Mayan temple in the garden outside of the Mayan Hall

A Mayan "chac mool", a messenger of the gods 

The hearts of sacrificial victims would be placed on the bowl that the figure holds over its belly.

A skull carving from Teotihuacan, the archaeological site north of Mexico City that we had visited just a few days before.

A replica of a mural painting from a palace in Teotihuacan

An enormous column in the shape of a warrior

It held up the roof of a temple in the Toltec capital of Tula.

A stone hoop from a pre-Hispanic ball court

Most of the civilizations played a ball game in which they would try to hurl a rubber ball through the hoop... without using their hands or feet!

A monolithic statue of the Aztec mother goddess, Coatlicue

Her head is composed of two serpent heads and her feet are eagle's talons.

She wears a necklace of human hands, heats and skull, and a skirt of snakes.

A model showing what the ceremonial center of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital, looked like.  Behind it is a mural showing the city which was built on an island in the middle of a lake.

Present-day Mexico City stands atop the remains of Tenochtitlan.

More from Teotihuacan

I suppose that there are more than a few tourists who come to the archaeological site of Teotihuacan, see the pyramids, and think that is all there is to see.  In fact there is much more to Teotihuacan than just the pyramids.

After climbing the Pyramid of the Moon, Alejandro, Charles and I continued our tour.  To one side of the plaza in front the Pyramid of the Moon there is a structure which archaeologists named the  Palace of the Quetzalpapálotl (Feathered Butterfly).  It is thought to have been the home of a high ranking priest or dignitary.

The head of a feather serpent, the god Quetzalcoatl, is by the entrance to the palace.

The buildings of Teotihuacan were all painted and decorated with murals.  Amazingly after more than 1500 years there are still traces of paint and decorations.

In the center of the palace there is a courtyard with intricately carved pillars.

Archaeologists at first thought that the carvings represented feathered butterflies, hence the name that they gave to the palace.  However, now they are of the opinion that the carvings represent owls.

The palace was built on top of an older temple, known as the Temple of the Feathered Conches because of the carvings on the walls of the subterranean chamber.  It is thought that the conch shell was a symbol of war since they were blown when armies went into battle.

There are also murals which portray birds, perhaps macaws.

Another feathered serpent head

Another structure is known as the Palace of the Jaguars.  In its courtyard are murals showing jaguars wearing headdresses and blowing conch shells.

At this point, Alejandro, Charles and I left the archaeological site to have lunch at a nearby restaurant.  We still had one section of the ruins to see.  At the far southern end of the site there is a large enclosed plaza named the Citadel and the Temple of the Feathered Serpent.  It was only 4:30 in the afternoon when we got there, but they had already closed the gate.  We thought that was quite strange.  Even though Charles did not get the full tour, he was very impressed with the ruins of Teotihuacan.

A Trip to the Pyramids

Long-time readers of this blog may remember my high school friend Duffy who lives in Puerto Rico and works as a lawyer there.  A month or more ago, Duffy wrote me that his law partner Charles was planning a vacation to Mexico City.  He asked that I offer his partner advice in planning his trip.  Charles and I exchanged numerous emails in which I gave him pointers for his trip.  Alejandro and I offered to take him to the pyramids of Teotihuacan outside of the city while he was here.  So, on the Saturday after his arrival, we met him at his hotel for breakfast and then drove him to the archaeological site.

Teotihuacan was the first great city of the Americas.  It reached its zenith prior to A.D. 500, and probably had a population of over 100,000.  It is a city shrouded in mystery.  We don't know who built it or exactly why it fell in decline.  It had been abandoned for centuries when the Aztecs came into the region.  They saw the impressive ruins and thought that it must have surely been built by the gods.  It was they who gave it the name by which we know it today... Teotihuacan... the place of the gods.

We arrived at the archaeological site, paid for our admission and parking, and parked at the lot closest to its grandest landmark, the Pyramid of the Sun.

The name was given to it by the Aztecs, but we do not know what deity was worshipped atop the structure.  It was probably built around A.D. 200.  It is one of the largest pyramids in the world with a height of 215 feet, and a base measuring 720 by 750 feet.  It has been closed to climbing since the pandemic.  However, Alejandro noticed some workers on the pyramid, and he wondered if they might be getting ready to reopen it to climbers in time for the World Cup.

Stretching the entire length of the site is the Avenue of the Dead.  Again, the name comes from the Aztecs.  They thought that the earth-covered ruins along the street were burial mounds.  We walked along the Avenue of the Dead to the other great structure, the Pyramid of the Moon.

On the wall of a building along the avenue, there are the remains of a painting of an animal, most likely a puma.

The Pyramid of the Moon was built between A.D. 200 and 450 over a pre-existing pyramid.  It is 141 feet high and stands in front of a large ceremonial plaza.

This pyramid was also closed to climbing during the pandemic, but last year the first flight of stairs was once again opened.  From there, you have a superb view looking down the Avenue of the Dead to the Pyramid of the Sun.

It's been a few years since I have done any pyramid climbing, and this old man found the climb a little more difficult, particularly the descent.  However, all three of us made it.

With Charles

Carefully making my way down the steps

More from Teotihuacan in the next post

Political Satire

I generally refrain from politicizing this blog, but occasional entries have made it perfectly clear to my long-time readers what I think of the current administration in the United States.  Alejandro sent this to me, and when I got to the end I laughed out loud.  I simply had to post it here on the blog.