Mexico City

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Our visit to Mexico City began with a series of interesting experiences. First, we wandered into our dorm room and found a group of fellow travellers smoking joints, turning the room into a bit of a hot box.

Then, to get our bearings, we went down to the square outside the Fine Arts museum. There, we were confronted by a bunch of nude campesinos protesting and banging drums. We really wanted to visit the museum (since there was a big exhibit on Frida Khalo), but the line stretched into the square. This meant nude women would occasionally come over and explain their cause to us in rather hurried spanish. Ben didnt know where to look and quietly took their pamphlet rather than explain he didnt really speak Spanish. At some point they all put their clothes on and headed off.

We did an interesting day trip out to the ruins at Teotihuacan. On the way we visited a square which we decided was the Square of Death. First, the Aztecs used to sacrifice people there (apparently there are a few heads without bodies lying around). This is also the place where the last Aztec king was slaughtered. More recently, a group of about 1000 protesters were in the square when the president gave the order to shoot them all. This was just a few weeks before the Olympic Games were due to start in 1968. So as to avoid a fuss, the military took the bodies away and burned them and forbade any media from reporting the event. Then, in the 80s, a huge earthquake rocked the city and heaps of apartment buildings in this area fell down. The ones in the photo sit on awkward angles. We felt a bit icky by the time we left.

Teotihuacan was a pretty cool spot. This site pre-dates the Aztecs. In fact, the Aztecs found it abandoned and took it over for themselves. Many of the pyramids are still buried under mounds of earth so there is still a lot of work to be done there.

Some interesting facts about Mexico City:
- The people are STILL taxed to pay off the Olympic Games. They were nearly 40 years ago!
- The city has over 20 million people living there. Yep. The place is big.
- Half the buildings here are on a crazy lean (due to sinking and earthquakes), including Mexico City´s first skyscraper.

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Photos

Layers of history
Tenochtitlan ruins, one of the oldest Catholic Churches in Mexico and modern(ish) apartments

Old artwork
Uncovered during an excavation