Mexico City - May 2018




Today I am leaving on what is a rare business trip to Mexico City and decide to spend a couple more days later during the extended weekend to visit the city which I wanted to see for some time already especially at the urging of some friends hailing from this huge city.

Waiting for the airplaneInside the terminal - lots of work being done
After a short direct flight the first step after exiting border control is to find a currency exchange and then a taxi to take me to the hotel. It is a 40 minute drive and the streets are relatively clogged but the hotel is reached safely and then it is time to enjoy the great views over the city while working till late afternoon.

Hotel roomView from room
In the evening it is time to exit to find something to eat. However first, a short detour is needed to take a short stroll to the Paseo de la Reforma, one of the major boulevards in Mexico City where the daily migration home is happening. It is quite awe inspiring to see the masses of peoples moving in unison in one direction however after some people and grackle watching it is time to find a restaurant nearby.

Hotel from outsideThe evening migration - sidewalks are one way only:)
Grackle watching the masses of peopleFlower in nearby park
The first place to search is near nearby Lincoln Park where a few good restaurants are located however nothing strikes my fancy and the clouds seem to look more and more threatening so I decide to walk back towards the hotel to find a restaurant closer to it.

Statues in Lincoln ParkMLK Statue - a bit unexpected
Finally I find a Mexican one which looks interesting and the food is quite good while watching the heavy rain fall outside :). The rain ends right before finishing so overall it was quite lucky and I make it safely and dry back to the hotel and after watching some TV and finishing work it is time to go to bed.

Evening meal, soup and ....Mole
In the morning it is time for breakfast which is unexpectedly sparse for a luxury hotel but at least the buffet is good and refreshed it is time for my long walk to the office.

Breakfast buffetReally, that is all?
Yes walk - there are two ways to reach the office a nice 30-40 minute walk or to take a taxi. As the weather is nice the taxi seems more trouble than it is worth so walk it is. The whole area is very walkable (likely because it is an upscale area) with some boulevards having pedestrian areas nicely separated in the middle of the roadway from the traffic (with some problems when you meet crossstreets). As these are green areas they are also a haven for squirrels, birds and of course rats that can all be met during the walk.

Beautiful houseUpscale mall
Courtyard along the wayWalking to the workplace
Squirrel along the wayInca dove
After a few hours of work it is time for lunch which is later in the day than expected, around 1-2PM. We go to a close-by restaurant which is emptier than most and after a steak, recharged, continue on until the evening.

Steak for lunchSpecial lunch container
The ritual is similar each way with me sometimes choosing different ways to get to work - parallel streets, different cross-streets and so on just to vary the walk a bit and to see the most of the city.

View from hotelImpressive
Pigeon feeding areaFlowers along the way
Different way to workAll the luxury stores are here
Food is also varied - second day we eat at a steak tartare, which is made from raw ground meat, first time for me, which is quite an interesting experience.

Interesting lunchLake in Lincoln Park
In the evening it is time to explore the nearby Park - Chapultepec Park, a huge park in the middle of the city. It is one of the largest and most visited urban parks in the world and is the most important of Mexico City's "lungs" with trees that replenish the oxygen for Mexico City. While the plan is to enter section one close to the hotel ultimately because I cannot find an entrance I reach section two first which is across a very busy interstate which luckily has a shaky pedestrian overpass.

Auditorio NacionalQuite busy during rush hour
Popular sign for photosYou have to be careful here
The major attraction in section two is the Lago Mayor, the largest lake in Chapultepec, and a walk around especially in the evening is quite nice with ducks and egrets relaxing along the shore.

Walking along Lago MayorNot a lot of people on the lake now
Egret enjoying the quietAnd a duck
Walking back I decide on a different route to reach the Paseo at an earlier point, it is a nice walk with the Paseo being again choke full of people returning from work.

Less busy in this areaSidewalks are like human rivers
Next day is another typical day, with a more consistent breakfast, another walk to the office watching the usual birds along the way, work, then lunch (steak this time) and then more work until the evening.

BreakfastCastle like building
Rufous back robinHouse finch
Back on the main pathSteak for lunch
This time on the return way there is something special - a police parade in Lincoln park along the way - no idea why but it certainly looked impressive.

Sometimes you can pass easilySometimes you can't
Police paradeChapultepec sign
Today I decide to explore in a different direction passing the Anthropology Museum that I intend to visit a bit later in the week and then examine a few more museums and interesting statues along the way. It is surprising to see a Tito statue or a monument to Nagorno Karabakh so I try to find out as many of these interesting artifacts as possible.

Anthropology Museum fenceStatue in front of the museum
Museum in Chapultepec ParkThis could be a bit controversial
Interesting statuesA blast from the past - Tito
Finally today I am able to enter section one of Chapultepec Park even though I am not sure if it is open or not. The signs say no but the doors are open and people are passing through so I do the same. Most things are closed and it is eerily empty in different areas which makes actually for a nice walk without a lot of people.

Entering the main part of Chapultepec ParkInteresting sewer covering
Green heron waiting to go to sleepMost kiosks are closed
Passing in front of the zoo I am followed and then attacked by a squirrel who jumps on me and climbs searching for food I guess and then retreats unsatisfied. Quite an exciting encounter really.

Another famous signStreets are eerily empty
Approaching.......and attack
As it is the last day at the hotel I decide to eat in - the plates are quite small and relatively expensive however the food is good and it is convenient of course.

Food at hotel restaurant........quite expensive but good
After work today it is time to pick up the bags from the hotel and move to a different hotel for the rest of the stay - the visiting part. The new hotel while less impressive has a very nice rooftop restaurant with some great views of Chapultepec Park and the Castle in the middle of it.

Chapultepec castle in the distanceClose up of castle
Impressive green park in middle of cityCommemorative statues
It is time for an early dinner and we eat at the rooftop restaurant with the food being quite good, however it takes a long time for it to be made so it is getting quite late by the time we exit the hotel for a short exploration of the area.

Early dinnerQuite good
In the end we decide to enter just Chapultepec for a short while before it closes down and then walk through a few more surrounding parts, more to get a feeling of the area before the next two days which are promising to be quite busy.

Beautiful egretDuck resting
Interesting statue"Bird" bench



In the morning we decide to eat at a breakfast place close to the hotel and the food is quite good and varied. We are always surprised at how many breakfast options there are in Mexico vs. most other countries, it is quite enjoyable.

Breakfast placeGood breakfast even though a bit spicy
After breakfast we start our day with a more in depth visit to Chapultepec Park - the second largest urban park in Latin America. Until now we have barely scratched the surface but now we plan to spend a few hours in the park exploring some of the attractions. The park has a long history from ancient times to more mmodern and we intend to see as much as we can from Montezuma's Well to Chapultepec Castle, the former residence of the Mexican presidents, and everything else of interest in between.


Chapultepec on SaturdayTwo tailed Swallowtail
On our tour we first pass by the Nine Heroes Monument dedicated to six young military cadets defending Chapultepec Castle against the invading US forces. Legend says that one of them jumped to his death with the flag wrapped around him to ensure that it won't fall into enemy hands. While some modern historians claim that some parts of the story are not factual the story is commemorated by a national holiday on September 13. We also stop at another interesting place - the audiorama a garden dedicated to relaxation with some nice and very comfortable lounge chairs.

Nine HeroesTemperance Fountain
Inside the audioramaPeople relaxing
One interesting site is the Baths of Moctezuma, which was a systems of tanks, reservoirs, canals and waterfalls constructed by the Aztecs from ehich only a small area remains and has been reconstructed with some interesting informative panels. It is also a relatively quiet place in the park with only a few tourists visiting in contrast with the rest of the park.

Montezuma's BathInside the baths
Informational panels - not in EnglishSign of Chapultepec
The squirrels here like in the rest of the park are quite friendly if not downright aggressive to visitors but at least this one doesn't jump wontonly on us at first sight even though it approaches us with a lot of interest.

Flower near the bathSquirrel in attack mode
Next we decide to walk towards the castle and find along the way a few more signs of the past - some excavated ruins and a few carvings at the base of the hill that the Spanish tried to destroy when they conquered the area so relatively little is left.

Ruins in ChapultepecRock carvings - Montezuma Petroglyph
To enter the castle area you have to submit to a baggage control at the base but you do not pay the ticket except at the gate so we decide to walk up the hill for the views and to see the castle up close but do not enter the castle proper as we do not have enough time.

Climbing towards Chapultepec CastleFountain on the way
View from Chapultepec CastleForest with skyscrappers in the distance
The castle looks interesting enough from the outside but the queue to enter is quite long so we turn around and wander down and towards the major goal of the day the Anthropology Museum for which we need to set aside at least half of a day.

View from belowFront of the castle
Fountain near castleDetail on the Chapultepec Castle
The Anthropology Museum is close to the park and is quite popular so we have to wait in the ticket queue for some time until we can buy tickets to enter it but for certain it is worth it.

Quite busy todayEntrance to the Anthropology Museum
Museum FoyerEntrance line
The first stop is the Xochipilli temporary exhibit, centered around a beautifully preserved statue of the Lord of Flowers. You can walk around it to examine it from all drections and also to our surprise it is not encased in any protective display which makes taking photos quite easy.

Xochipilli - Lord of FlowersView from the back
The museum is ordered in mostly chronological and regional order and we start with the exhibits focused on the earliest inhabitants of Mexico. From there the artifacts soon progress to historical times with some beautifully made objects, including the dancer which would not be out of place in a modern sculpture exhibition.

Early burial ritualsReconstruction of early excavated grave
The dancerPottery imitating wildlife
Soon we enter an interesting section that deals with the discovery of one village and the burial area nearby - the skeletons are arranged exactly how they were found and a house is reconstructed so you have an idea how people lived at that time - quite interesting.

Overall viewAncient wowen cloth
Excavated villageReconstruction of home
Nearby is an even more impressive sight, a reconstructed temple showing how they looked during the heyday. To our surprise when we enter a door below the pyramid that we (and everyone else) assume is going nowhere we reach a hidden burial chamber inside the pyramid which looks quite genuine. It is an interesting way to display it and makes us feel like Indiana Jones a bit, exploring hidden areas of the pyramids.

Reconstruction of templeSecret behind the temple
Reconstructed temple roomClose up of altar
Details on wallsThis is how it looked like originally
We continue through room after room, many of them with some impressive and weird artifacts, the carvings especially can be quite fun especially when trying to decipher what they are without any other information.

Stellae... one side.......and the other
Interesting statueCool carving
The Toltec section is one of the more interesting ones, mostly because since childhood I have been fascinated by their culture and the huge statues they built. Chac Mools are also present and there is a fine collection of ball game rings outside - it was quite popular at some point in large areas of today's Mexico.

Toltec statuesChac Mool
Ball game ringSolar disk - very popular item in the area
Likely the largest room and opposite from the entrance is the Mexica room with lots of interesting artifacts and probably the most popular room in the museum. We are attracted by one of the few feather headdresses we see in the museum which is quite impressive but the protector statues are quite intimidating and interesting too.

Mexica roomVery well preserved and scary
Feather HeaddressImpressive sculpture
The centerpiece of the room is a huge sun disk where most people congregate. We are more interested however in the original of the Chapultepec cricket as well as in the are dedicated to the cult of the dead which can be quite gruesome.

The major sun diskThe real icon of Chapultepec
Lots of interesting itemsA few items are scary :)
After the Mexica Room it is time to eat something so we try the restaurant inside the museum. Unfortunately while the food looks good it takes a long time to be served (which is not good in a museum where you want to return to the exploration as soon as possible) and also simply is not that good as the food we have eaten at other restaurants in Mexico City.

Lunch - looka good but it was mehAnd the dessert
Returning we continue through the second section of the museum. This section is focused a few regions that we know nothing about and the Maya which we know a lot about. The artifacts are nothing short of amazing many times, looking both familiar and scary at the same time.

The objects found are quite interestingInteresting carving
Typical museum room with artifactsOne of the cases
There is a lot of focus on excavated tombs including mummy like burials, we appreciate the times when it is shown exactly how the person was buried, it is quite interesting to see how this differs from epoch to epoch and from civilization to civilization.

Burial exampleMummy like burial
Looks like a fireplacePainted beautifully
Lots of masksBeautiful pottery
The variety of sculptures is also quite surprising you can see how the character and the type changes when you move from region to region. Some of them are simple and classical while some are almost whimsical.

Toltec headBetter preserved head
Almost modern sculptureFamous figurine
Arriving at a second reconstructed temple we know the drill and look for the stairs going down below to the burial chamber. we recognize soon the famous Palenque find, one of the few Maya tombs that wasn't grave robbed containing the grave of one of the longest living rulers in the world (and the longest ruler for the Americas) - quite exciting.

Reconstruction of a major templeThe guards of the tomb
Major sarcophagusThe burial
Outside of the museum in the garden there are also multiple reproductions of famous temples and buildings including some that we have seen during our visit in the Yucatan peninsula. Surprisingly even here you are not allowed inside, given that it is a reproduction that is unexpected.

Outside temple reconstructionAnother rebuilt temple
Before leaving the museum it is time to visit the more modern second floor which is more folklore related. It is almost empty as everyone is on the ground floor even though the exhibits here are quite interesting also. As we have limited time left we focus on only a few sections which are however quite interesting - we like the many masks created just for a festival while the pottery displays can be quite impressive also.

Wonder if the masks are used daily?Interesting mix
Lots of masks are used in the ceremoniesNew pottery items for a change :)
Before returning to the hotel we visit also the Botanical Garden nearby, it is not large but it has a good collection of plants and also some sculptures including some of huge, scary ants and bees.

Banana tree in Botanical GardenAnd a huge ant
Small pondPlant growing on a boat - interesting idea
In fact that is a theme throughout the Garden with another area using giant mushrooms to a great effect. Overall it is a nice walk to stretch our legs in the sun after the long visit to the museum however soon we have to retire to the hotel as we are quite tired and tomorrow we have another long day planned.

Examples of wood and insects that use the woodHuge mushrooms in the background
Path through the gardensSmall plants area



This morning we decide to eat breakfast at the rooftop restaurant of the hotel - there are many options to choose so we choose two at random and they are quite good and then full we are ready for the long walk day we have planned today.

Another typical breakfastSpicy but good
As luck would have it on Sunday the major boulevard that leads from downtown to the place we are staying the Paseo de la Reforma is closed to vehicular traffic and open only for pedestrians and bicycles. We are quite surprised at how many bicycles there are, we have to be quite careful about them until we get used to follow the flow.

Our hotelHuge new building towers
Paseo de la Reforma on a SundayThe needle in the middle of it all
One big advantage of walking on the Paseo, a great boulevard modeled on the European ones, on Sunday is that you can actually get close and admire the monuments that are erected in the middle of the major intersections. The most famous one of them is the Angel of Independence with the golden statue on top of it however for us the show is stolen by the dinosaur dancing on the steps of the monument - quite fun.


Diana the Huntress StatueWaiting for the cross traffic to pass
Angel of Independence - very popularView from a distance and middle of the Paseo
Even the dinos are in on the funNot fully pedestrian - crosstraffic can still pass
For a while we also wander on the sidewalk which has some very inviting benches and to our surprise also swallowtails - who would expect something like that in the middle of the city?

Beautiful benchesMagnificent swallowtail
Not all monuments are popular for example the Columbus statue has grafitti on it while the Cuahtemoc Monument dedicated to the last Aztec ruler is close by and it is spotless. Given the long complicated history of Mexico this is not unexpected in fact it is quite interesting to see the statues so close by (relatively speaking).

Cuahtemoc MonumentColumbus statue - not very popular
One of the interesting things that we notice as we walk the Paseo de la Reforma is the mix of more historical buildings with the new high rises. Too us the high rises seems quite scary given the number and magnitude of earthquakes that hit Mexico City but they seem to endure quite well - only the National Lottery seems to have been affected and closed by the latest one.

High rises on the PaseoEnd of our Paseo walk
National lottery - closed now we thinkChurch of San Hipolito
After finishing the Paseo walk we turn towards the downtown area passing through the Alameda Central Park and taking a look at the old churches on the north side of the park - at least one of them is certainly impacted by the earthquakes and seems to be closed.

Alameda CentralThose are not quite vertical
San Juan de Dios ChurchIglesia de la Santa Veracruz
Between the churches sits the Museo Nacional de la Estampa - with our poor Spanish we understand it is the Museum of Postal Stamps but after entering we understand it is the Museum of Engravings/Printing. Still it is a nice visit with some interesting pieces with the caretakers being quite enthusiastic about showing us around.

Museum between the churchesStamp museum - postal stamps?
Not really - still interestingLooking down from the balcony
Exiting the museum we return to the Alameda Park where we get a view of the wildlife of Mexico City (or any major one for that matter) - rats that seem quite tame as they eat from some thrash thrown in the park.

What is that?A brown rat - not the first one we have seen
Our next stop on our walk is the Palacio de Bellas Artes/Palace of Fine Arts, a beautiful building completed in 1934 in a mix of styles - exterior of the building is primarily Neoclassical and Art Nouveau and the interior is primarily Art Deco. It is quite well known for its murals by Diego Rivera, Siqueiros and others, as well as the many exhibitions and theatrical performances its hosts, including the Ballet Folklórico de México and this is something that we see firsthand as it is full of tourists for the murals and architecture and locals coming for the performances.

Palacio de Bellas Artes from the backAnd the front - quite impressive
Inside the Palacio de Bellas Artes - famous muralsLooking up
Close to the Palacio de Bellas Artes is the Old Post Office building. We are quite happy that you can enter the ground floor even if the majority of the exhibits are closed. The Post Office was built in 1907 in a very eclectic style mixing several different traditions into a very complex design making it certainly worth a stop.

Inside the Old Post/Postal MuseumWonder what is upstairs?
There is a small museum insideAnd a painting gallery
We then pass the National Arts Museum - no time to visit today - but still spare a few minutes to visit the outdoor meteorite exhibition on the other side of the street.

National Arts MuseumMeteorite - is it real or just a copy?
Continuing on Tacuba street we do some window shopping especially for food deciding to come here a bit later when we are more hungry. And then we finally arrive at the Central Square of Mexico City where we plan to spend some time before returning to Tacuba street for lunch.

Tacuba streetSweets for sale
Anchoring the Central Square from the North is the huge and impressive Mexico City Cathedral. The cathedral was built in sections from 1573 to 1813 around the original church that was constructed soon after the Spanish conquest of Tenochtitlan on top the former Aztec sacred precinct near the Templo Mayor and it is one of the major sights in Mexico City. Unfortunately however it is Sunday and Mass so we cannot enter deep into the cathedral in order to not disturb the services so we decide to try to visit it later.


Mexico City Cathedral from the sideAnd the front
Mass time insideGolden altar
The Central Square or Zocalo as it is known is a really huge plaza, we had no idea before exiting the church and trying to get to the other side which after some walking seems like a mirage - we are going in that direction but are not getting closer. In fact checking later we find that our impression of the size of the Zocalo wasn't that much off, with an area of 57,600 m2 (240 m × 240 m), it is one of the largest city squares in the world. To fortify ourselves we decide to stop at a stand in the Zocalo and try some cold Tepache (fermented beverage made from the peel and the rind of pineapples sweetened with either piloncillo or brown sugar and seasoned with powdered cinnamon) which gives us an energy boost to finish the crossing of the square :).

National PalaceThe cathedral from further out
View from ZocaloIt is a huge plaza
Show in the ZocaloShould we try this?
On the other side of the Zocalo we take our bearings and decide to continue towards the National Palace anchoring the Zocalo from the east. Of course we learn that the entrance is near the cathedral so we have to walk back towards the cathedral to search for entrance.

Impressive buildingCortez coat of arms
View from the other side of the ZocaloFinishing the tour of the Zocalo
The entrance in the National Palace is free however you have to leave your ID with the guards which give you a pass. At the end you give the pass back and you get the ID back, worked well for us even though it was a bit scary to have the passport out of our sight. After entering the Palace you can wander around and visit the exhibits in any order you prefer so we start with the Benito Juarez museum which has quite a few artifacts linked to him exhibited across multiple rooms.

Line to enter the National PalaceBenito Juarez museum
His sash and other objectsMortuary mask
Benito Juarez, while not that well known outside of Mexico, is one of the most famous Mexicans with his birthday being is a national public and patriotic holiday, the only individual Mexican so honored. He held power during the tumultuous decade of the Liberal Reform and French invasion becoming President in 1858 and never relinquishing office although forced into exile in areas of Mexico not controlled by the French while maintaining that he was the legitimate head of the Mexican state, rather than Emperor Maximilian. He died of a heart attack in 1872, while reading a newspaper at his desk in the National Palace in Mexico City which has been kept since then unchanged and can be visited during the tour.

Meeting roomRoom where he died
Official roomThere is one for each region
After finishing the tour of the Benito Juarez museum we continue our visit of the Palace looking for the famous Diego Rivera murals. On the way we can see the signs of archaeological digs that were done in previous years - ultimately the Palace was built right above the Aztec buildings so almost everywhere you dig you can find something related to the Aztecs.

Inside the palaceRuins inside the palace
Soon we discover the courtyard which has the Diego Rivera murals and make our way up to see them - the majority of the tourists are here as they are quite well known even outside of Mexico.

Another of the many courtyardsFamous for the Diego Rivera murals
One of the muralsThey are quite large
However after just a couple murals we discover a mystery door that leads to a large exhibition of Aztec and more modern artifacts - it is like a hidden museum that no one knows about. And it is quite large, multiple rooms, with some of the objects being quite impressive.

There is an expo with interesting objects insideEven some rare gold items
Interesting maskScary skull
Impressive inside roomSome more modern items
And then we exit the exhibit and we are again in the middle of the famous murals. The murals that we are looking at represent the life of the Aztecs prior to the arrivals of the Europeans with the most famous one, The History of Mexico, being under repair unfortunately. However we can still sneak a peek at it especially at the controversial representation of Marx as a god like figure.

Continuing the row of muralsThis is quite a large one
The most famous one...and controversial one (if you look closely)
After the murals we continue our visit through the buildings and we find another hidden gem - the Old Parliament room that based on our experience most people do not experience at all. There are also a few more small archaeological digs along the way with some having mirrors set on top of them so you can see the dig easier.

Old Parliament roomThe ceiling
Interesting setup - a mirror to see downThe ruins
Before leaving we sit for a while in the tranquil park examining the curve billed thrashers playing around in the trees doing their best to avoid the heat.

A small park in the palaceCurve billed Thrasher
After leaving the National Palace it is time to return back to Tacuba street to find a restaurant for a late lunch. The streets are quite full of people and we decide to try a different route to Tacuba passing the major excavations at Templo Mayor along the way - they look impressive and we decide to return after lunch to visit the site more in depth.

Outside again - lots of peoplePassing by one of the many museums
A model of the cityTemplo Mayor - looks interesting
We decide to try to eat at Cafe Tacuba based on a recommendation from a friend however that does not seem realistical given the number of people that enter the building and how small it looks. However when we enter there is enough place as the cafe extends seemingly across multiple buildings and floors (and maybe dimensions for all we know).

View from the outsideInteresting building
Inside Cafe de Tacuba - recommended to usMuch larger inside than we expected
Detail insideeverything is bird oriented
We order a few local specialties and all are quite good and satiated we leave the building ready to tackle the last major stop of the day, the Templo Mayor.

Eating a local specialtyBeef tongue - quite good
When we arrive at the Templo Mayor we find out we have only about one hour left to visit the complex so we have to go relatively fast through the Temple. The first stop is the Sacred Tree which was standing at the foot of the pyramid and the reconstruction of the pyramid so we have an idea of what we are seeing versus how it looked during the Aztec times.

Templo Mayor - cross-sectionSacred tree
Looks very oldStarting our walk around the site
As we start our walk along the site (on a boardwalk so we don't touch the stones which might become eroded) we are impressed by the representations of the snakes which were guarding the main stairway up the temple. There are both fully sculpted serpents and only serpent heads but both seem to still be covered by some of the original paint - quite impressive.

Beautiful stone serpentOnly the head remains from this one
Part of the carvingPyramid side
The walk then continues to the former summit with the two twin temples on top of it, one shrine was dedicated to Tlaloc, the god of rain, and the other to Huitzilopochtli, the god of war. Very little is left now of the former splendor except an eroded Chac Mool at the base of one of the shrines.

Walkway through the templeSewage tunnel running through the site (not active :))
Temple was devoted to two godsChac Mool in front of the altars
Overall view of the siteHouse of the Eagle Warriors
Next we arrive at the House of the Eagle Warriors which still has some interesting carvings visible at the base of the walls. There is also original paint visible on the walls which is likely why they are protected by a roof from the elements. There is also a skull wall upon which the skull rack was standing which was used for the public display of human skulls from human sacrifices - a bit gruesome but interesting.

View inside the buildingDetail of Eagle Warriors
Building of skullsOriginal paint
As the time is growing short we hurry as fast as we can towards the museum to see if we can still sneak inside and yes we can and we have 15 minutes to see everything it has to offer.

Walking towards the modern museum buildingOne last view over the site
Of course we are drawn by the skull wall - it is much larger than the one outside and must have been quite intimidating (it still is). There are a few interesting graves that show what was found when Aztec tombs were excavated.

Skull wallBeautiful bird sculpture
Objects found in a tombClose up view
There are a few huge carvings that were found in the temple likely representing various gods but the masks and the skulls with the eyes are really more unsettling and interesting to us.

Huge carving in the middle of the museumBeautiful carving
Interesting skulls with eyesMask is surprisingly modern looking
Before we exit we visit also a short section about wildlife and then out we go to finish our loop walk. However unfortunately we are not able to do that today - there is a guard that point to a door and says shop which sounds interesting but it seems it was a ruse because as we walk through the house we exit on the street and we cannot reenter back, so glad that we had already have seen all the highlights.

There is a section about wildlifeInteresting sculpture
Before starting on the way back to the hotel we decide to try the cathedral one more time. As luck would have it there is another Mass at this hour and again it is mostly closed - guess it was not meant to be.

Once more into the cathedralThat is a huge pipe organ
For our return we decide to take the subway to Chapultepec from the Zocalo. it is unexpectedly full for a Sunday (at least versus what we expected) but we find out the reason as soon as we exit - everyone is going to Chapultepec which is really bursting at the seams.

Chapultepec is full of people on our returnBoat races in a park
As there is still time and we want to use the full day we decide to visit one of the malls - the prices are mostly prohibitive but at least we eat some sweets and can rest our legs for a while before returning to the hotel. Overall by our calculation we have walked at least 15 miles/24km but it was certainly worth it (and it makes us fall instantly asleep when we return to the hotel room).

Visiting the mallPassing the Anthropological Museum - we like the wall



Today is our last day and we eat again at the hotel restaurant given the number of options that are available and that the food was consistently good and today again we are not disappointed.

Sooo....many options for breakfastThis was good also
As we have a few hours before we have to take the taxi to the airport we decide to explore another area close to the hotel that we never went to. It is a nice area with parks were people are jogging and soon we arrive at the street I used to get to work during the work week and walk along for a while until it is time to return to the hotel.

Popular running track through the parkInteresting fountain
Walking on the usual path - few people nowPath empty - not a very common occurence
We return to the hotel passing the small castle building on the way and after checking out are on our way to the airport. We have some time also in the airport so we browse the shops and have quite a bit of fun regarding the sign that the government put out that the president is not responsible for the delays observed at the airport and that the airlines are lying when they say that. The way back is uneventful and soon we are back in Phoenix tired but quite impressed by the beautiful city.

Small castle building along the wayThis sign was funny (for us)



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