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  Tepotzotlan, Mexico
Wednesday, February 22, 2006

We are now in the city of Tepotzotlan, north of Mexico City. This will be our home for four nights. We drove through Cuernavaca and Mexico City to get here. We had to drive over some mountains and I think we got up to about 8,000 feet. Our Sunday morning drive through Mex. City to avoid traffic wasn't too effective. There's still a lot of traffic and construction. We bumped a construction sign and lost our side mirror. The streets in Tepotzotlan are very narrow and getting these rigs through the town was interesting. There was a Sunday festival and trucks in the street, buses to pass, and drivers to dodge. A few of us walked into town to lunch and had a great meal. When we went by the place a while later there was no restaurant there, only a VW parked in what looked like a carport.
Monday we took a bus trip to the ruins of Teotihuacan. It's a very large site with the Temple of the Sun and Temple of the Moon dominating. Afterwards we were taken to San Martin and a restaurant for lunch where we were treated to dances by Indians.
Tuesday, our bus with the grasshopper on it took us into Mexico City for a tour. Our guide Jose Luis gave us a play-by-play as we drove through the city. We stopped at the large zocalo, or Plaza de la Constitucion, the first Aztec capital. It has no trees which is very different from other zocalos we've seen. We had a tour of the National Palace which has murals by Diego Rivera which depict the whole history of Mexico. They are very beautiful and very interesting. We saw the cathedral on the north side of the zocalo which was begun in 1562 and is the largest in Mexico and took almost 250 years to complete. It houses 16 very beautiful chapels. Outside you can see the remains of some Aztec ruins. We also went to the National Museum of Anthropology where we ate lunch in the beautiful outdoor restaurant and then were given a quick tour by Felix. The museum houses pre-Columbian art beautifully displayed in the unique museum. We were then taken to the Basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe. It is a unique shrine that was dedicated in 1976 after the original 18th century building began sinking. The basilica is a sweeping modernistic building providing sweeping views of the Virgin of Guadalupe. There is an underground viewing area where you ride on moving sidewalks to view the shrine. There is a lot of history and folklore attached to the shrine.
On Wednesday there were no activities scheduled until evening. So most everyone cleaned their rigs, inside and out. In the evening we went to a very nice restaurant in Mex. City and then to the beautiful Ballet Folklorico. The dances, dancers, and colorful costumes are indescribeable. The theater has an enormous Tiffany stained glass curtain with a painting of the Valley of Mexico and the volcanoes Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl. The building was completed in 1934 and is one of the most beautiful buildings in Mexico.

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