El Zocalo

So, continuing the mexico adventures...

Went to the Zocalo which is the main big square in Mexico City in the Historic Center.
It really isn't too far from where we are staying so we walked there.

All the colorful tents are different vendors. Not sure when they will not be there b/c it looks cooler

w/o them there. There is a giant flag pole in the center where they fly the mexican flag sometimes.

The long building to the left is the Palacio Nacional, political building of fedreal government.

At ground level

Inside, there are a ton of guards, a lot of them with guns. You have to go to through a metal detector and

there is also a xray machine. This is the nice courtyard inside.

Close up of fountain

Here is the completely awesome Diego Rivera mural, "The Epic of the Mexican People" which is a triptych

depicting the history of the mexican people.

Olivia and I

On the second floor there are 11 panels painted by Deigo Rivera depicting the pre Hispanic era.

Justin and Olivia

Close up of one of the panels

There were several rooms you could go into and see different displays of some really cool artifacts, paintings,

one room had several diffrent mexican flags but you were not allowed to photograph these. There was

enough security that made sure you didn't.

Here's a cactus garden in another courtyard. There are 14 courtyards but only a few are open to the public.

Going back to the main square, there is a beautiful cathedral, "Metropolitan Cathedral of the Assumption of

Mary" which is the largest and oldest cathedral in the Americas

The first polaroid I have taken

Here's another Polaroid I took from the top of a restaurant in the Holiday Inn right on the square

So, that is the Zocalo, for now. I do plan on going back a few times b/c there is always something going on.
Plus it's free to go there and hey, free is muy bueno.

My last blog I said i was going to post about that traffic buildup outside my hotel but I am going to wait. I
think I will do a post just on traffic alone or even just on "outside the hotel room." Some pretty interesting
things can occur.

Next post will be about our trip to Queretaro,MX when we went to the Rolland/Modesto family reunion.

Buenas tardes!