City on the Water

Mexico City is built on the site where the Aztecs founded their capital of Tenochtitlan.  The city, located in a high mountain basin, was built on an island in the middle of a shallow, saline lake.  Actually, there were a number of interconnected lakes in the valley.  The largest of them was Lake Texcoco.  Beginning in colonial times efforts were made to drain off the lakes in order to control flooding.  Today there is only a remnant of that lake system.  Nevertheless, even though Mexico City is landlocked and 200 miles from the ocean, its beginnings as a city on an island in a lake have influenced a large part of its history.

Currently in the courtyard tucked between the Latin American Tower and the Church of San Francisco there is an exhibit of historic images and photographs that portray the city on the water.

In this 1683 painting of Mexico City you can see Lake Texcoco in the background.

Tenochtitlan was the Venice of the Americas with canals forming many of his streets.  If you look closely at the painting you can see that many of those canals still existed in colonial times.

In fact, some of those canals survived into the 19th and early 20th centuries.

In this 1869 lithograph you can see the Canal de la Viga which connected the center of the city with Xochimilco in the south.  The first steam boat in Mexico City plied its waters.

This early 20th century photograph shows that canals were still used as thoroughfares for transporting goods.

This painting from 1874 shows that a sizeable portion of Lake Texcoco still survived.

This painting from the 1860s shows Chapultepec Castle.  Today, the castle is in the heart of the city, but in those days it was far off in the rural outskirts.  In the painting Mexico City is in the distance.  You can also see that there were still wetlands between Chapultepec and the city.  You can also see the aqueduct that carried water from the fresh-water springs at Chapultepec into the city.  Remnants of that aqueduct can still be seen along busy Chapultepec Avenue.

That aqueduct ended at a colonial era fountain in the city known as "Salto de Agua".  The original fountain is now in the National Museum of the Viceroyalty.  An exact replica now stands in its place in the middle of multi-laned Arcos de Belén Avenue.

The draining of Lake Texcoco did not end the problem of periodic floods.  This photo from 1865 shows a flooded street in the center of the city.  Entrepreneurial locals would build wooden footbridges across the streets and charge people 6 cents to cross them.

Even today, heavy downpours during the rainy season can turn some streets into impassable lakes.  It almost seems as if the ancient Lake Texcoco wants to reassert itself. 

Post-Op

The last five posts on this blog were written ahead of time and scheduled to be published automatically.  You see, beginning last Friday, I figured that I would not be able or would not feel like writing on my blog.  On Friday morning I was scheduled to undergo minor, laparoscopic surgery.

Alejandro took this photo of me prior to surgery.

Even though the doctor referred to it as a "very friendly surgery", I was frankly quite scared.  In my entire life I had never undergone surgery.  I trusted the doctor, but the thought of going under anesthesia at my age frightened me.

The surgery went well, and I was released on Saturday morning.  However, if this was a "very friendly surgery", I hope that I will never have to undergo a "not so friendly" major surgery.  The last few days have been miserable..  Getting in and out of bed is torture.  Thankfully Alejandro has been here taking very good care of me.

I still have several topics in reserve so that I will still be able to post something daily on the blog.  Hopefully, by that time I will be up and about and will be able to write about something other than my aches and pains.  

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.