The journey in Peru, Bolivia and Chile is now over, I’m on the plane leading me to the Northern Hemisphere. But not to Canada, not yet. I still have a little stop to make to visit somebody for a few days. Next place, Mexico City!
This stop was already planned before I left to South America. After two weeks touring in Europe with the Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montreal, ma beautiful girlfriend joined the company Tania Perez-Salas Compania de Danza for a month of “vacation”.
This little time in Mexico is so more than needed! And, after all, it’s almost on the way home!
Not much to speak about, I spent a lot of time walking and discovering on my own during the day, and together in the evening. Some pictures, but not a lot!
Coyoacán, Mexico City
We stay in the beautiful house of Pedro, in the heart of Coyoacán, one of the most beautiful neighborhoods of the capital city. Independent village for a long time, Coyoacán had been integrated into the agglomeration in 1857, but has managed to keep its architecture and its configuration when the capital city changed completely during a strong expansion phase and urbanization in the middle of the 20th century. Still a small village in a megalopolis!
Welcome to Coyoacán!
Historical Center, Mexico City
Minutes away from Coyoacán by metro, the Historical Center is yours.
But first, a word about the metro of Mexico City. Beyond the fact that it transports you from a point to another one in the city, which is a good thing, the metro is some kind of commercial system on its own. Druing your journey, people will enter one by one in your car to offer you some products to sell: from chewing-gum to music discs, from artists with their guitar to breakdancers who try to demonstrate their art in a square meter, you will see almost everything… even guys entering with bags with crushed glass which they put on the floor before jumping on them, arms first, torso, back… Some coins for some other scars and a few drops of blood left…
WELL!
Back to our visit.
The Historical Center of Mexico City is one of a pearl. At each corner, you find many historical buildings, architectural jewels from different periods and styles: classical, baroque, churrigueresque, Renaissance and neoclassical. Metropolitan Cathedral, National Palace on Zócalo Square, Palacio de Bellas Artes, everywhere, churches and buildings have an amazing beauty.
Mexico City, a city to visit once again!
The Metropolitan Cathedral on Zócalo Square
La Place Zócalo
Here, at nightfall, children come and play making soap bubbles, or with kites… on the largest square of Mexico!
Pyramids of Teotihuacan
Inscribed on the UNESCO’s World Heritage list in 1987, the site of Teotihuacan has some of the tallest mesoamerican pyramids ever built.
“Place where gods were born” could be a good translation of the name of the city. In the Aztec mythology, this is the place where the gods gathered and met to create the sizth sun, the one that shines in our sky today.
The 10 sq mi city is built around a central axis, the “alley of the Deads” (that’s nice!). Many pyramids and temples rise on each side of this street. At its North point is the Pyramid of the Moon, in front of the Cerro Gordo, an ancient volcano. More South, the Pyramid of the Sun, 215 ft tall, built on an old volcanic cave.
A lot to see there, the archaeological site is really breathtaking. And if you’re a bit of an adventurer, leave the main paths and enter the forests of cactus which are all around!
From the Pyramid of the Moon. In the center, the “alley of the Deads”. In the distance in the left half part, the Pyramid of the Sun.
A little walk out of the touristic paths, in front of the giant cactus… which grow in trees!
There. It concludes this travel journal, for good this time. My next flight will bring me back to Montreal…
Heading North!