Two Emperors and a Bus Ride

Last Friday, as I wrote in my previous two posts, I visited the Plaza of the Three Cultures.  I had taken a taxi to get there.  After my visit, I had to decide how I was going to return to my apartment... a distance of about 5 1/2 miles.  I didn't see a taxi stand nearby, although I probably could have hailed a taxi along the street.  I could have walked back to the apartment.  It would not be the first time that I had walked that distance in Mexico City.  However, given the fact that the Plaza is adjacent to the notorious neighborhood of Tepito, I was not sure if that would be a good idea.  Running close by is the Paseo de la Reforma, and running the length of that boulevard are the double-decker busses of Route 7 of the Metrobus. 

 

In pre-pandemic times I would take public transportation all the time in Mexico City.  With the Metrobus system and the subway I would be able to go almost anywhere in the city that I would want to go.  However, the busses and subway can also be packed like the proverbial can of sardines.  Even though I am vaccinated and wear a mask, public transportation seemed a rather risky proposition during this time of another surge of COVID.

However, it was not rush hour, and the Route 7 busses are often less crowded.  Fortunately I had my bus / subway card in my wallet.  I decided to chance it.

There was a Metrobus stop nearby at the Cuitláhuac Monument.

We shall depart from the topic for a brief history lesson.  Very, very few people in the United States would be able to tell you who Cuitláhuac was.  If you asked them who was the last emperor of the Aztecs they might tell you Montezuma if they were able to give an answer at all.  Well, Montezuma (more correctly Moctezuma) was indeed the ruler when the Spanish arrived, but he died before the Spanish conquest was complete.  Some accounts say that he was killed by his own people for having caved in to the Spanish.  After Moctezuma's death his brother Cuitláhuac took control, led the fight against the Spanish, and very nearly annihilated them.  He, however, died after 80 days of leadership, probably a victim of smallpox which had arrived in the New World thanks to the Spanish. 

So, anyways, I got on the Metrobus at the Cuitláhuac Monument, and there was hardly anyone on the bus.  As we continued down Reforma a few more people got on, but it was far from crowded.  I did not feel as if I were in a virus incubator.  I got off at the Cuauhtémoc Monument.

So, who was Cuauhtémoc?   After Cuitláhuac died, Cuauhtémoc, a cousin of Moctezuma, was chosen to take command.  He was the last of the Aztec rulers, and after the conquest he was executed by Hernán Cortés.

The monument stands at the busy intersection of Reforma and Insurgentes.  From there I hiked back to the apartment, a one hour walk of about three miles.