Cuernavaca Adventures

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Hola mi familia & amigos,
I was not sure if the last blog posted as the computer kept crashing and was very slow. I was glad to see that most of what I put on was published. We are winding down with three days left before we return home. Yesterday we went on a tour of the large Cathedral in Cuernavaca. It is the oldest Spanish structure still standing in the Western Hemisphere. We learned that one of the bishops here in the 1960s had all of the saints and images removed from the church because so many people were rubbing them for good luck and forgetting to pray to God. Now they fill their water bottles up from the baptismal font to take to a sick friend or to keep at home for an emergency. Several people filled their bottles while we were in the sanctuary. Interesting! We also visited a beautiful garden that was once at the home of the French Emperor Maximillian and his wife Carlotta. Napoleon the Third sent them to Mexico in hopes of reestablishing a foothold in the western hemisphere and under the guise of collecting a debt. It did not work out so good for Maximillian as he was executed by President Benito Juarez in the late 1800s. My favorite place we visited was the murals by Deigo Rivera, the famous muralist, at the Palace of Cortez. The murals which stretch 70 feet or so tell the story of the Spanish Conquest.

Hope this note finds you all well and not too hot. I will try and bring some of this rain back to Las Vegas with me. Every night it pours rain. A couple of nights ago it started raining at 8 pm and poured until 3 am! The next day we took a bus tour that stopped at the springs of Cuernavaca. (It is the only bus tour in the Western hemisphere that involves walking up and down more than 100 stairs!!!!) Anyway, the exercise was worth seeing the incredible amount of water that pours out of the rock cliff in 60 main springs. It is the source of the municipal water supply which they say is in short supply. If they want to see water in short supply they need to visit Vegas. This will probably be my last blog from Mexico so hope to see you all soon. Love, Patty

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Photos

Diego Rivera Mural
Just one of several of the panels in this mural. It shows the Spanish branding the natives for slavery. The second person in waiting to be branded with a star on her neck is a young mother with her baby.

Pancho o Villa?
We have two little amigos that live in our room with us and eat the ants. They are very efficient!!! I am not sure if this one is Pancho or Villa.

Baptismal Font
The water in this font has miraculous healing powers, at least that is what is believed by many people here. The bishop worries that it might be a transmitter of disease so they are always adding bleach and water purifers to the water.

Outside Cathedral
Services are sometimes held in this outside portico right off the main sancturary.

Jardin de Borda
Two friends relax at one of many pools in the gardens. The leaders of Mexico have indeed lived very well!

Houses for the rich dead
We walked through a cementery (sp?) where the rich of Cuernavaca are buried. They have little houses over the crypts with pictures, fresh flowers, candles, chairs so people can visit. The only thing they do not have is a bathroom. A builder in the state of Juarez recently built an entire subdivision of new homes, but pocketed the money for the bathrooms. So the rich dead live about as well as the living working class.

View from the Palace at Cortez
From the balcony of the palace you can see the Tutti Bus that we took on our sightseeing tour. The plaza is called the Zocalo and there are always at least 100 indigenous women who are bent on selling you a necklace. I am the proud owner of two such necklaces but now avoid the plaza like the plague.

16th Century Aqueduct
This aqueduct was built by the Spanish in the 1500s to bring the water from the springs to the city.

Comments

[Dan Hooker]

Hi Patty!
Thanks for passing along your link. You took some lovely photos! I particularly like the one from the cortez palace looking back southeast. I had a great time in Cuernavaca, but I am equally glad to be home! I enjoyed meeting you. Have a great rest of your summer! Dan