Tepotzotlán

So, I said that the next blog would be about Pachuca but I lied. I completely forgot about my trip with Ariana to Tepotzotlán and how could I? There is an amazing museum here and church. I am really starting to get behind on my blogging. Bad, bad, bad...I will try to play catch up this week. So much has been going on and it isn't about to stop. I love it when I have things to do and planned and venturing out. This, in itself, causes me to lag behind on this blog. I will try not to get so behind from now on.

Tepotzotlán, a lovely town north west of D.F. The Museo Nacional del Virreinato is located here which houses the most complete collection of colonial art and artifacts. The museum is housed in what was once a Jesuit college built in the 17th and 18th centuries. There is also a Baroque church, Iglesia de San Francisco Javier, in the same complex that has absolutely amazing gold altars. It was $49 pesos and definitely worth every cent.

Ariana and I arrived in Tepotzotlán via bus from the Terminal del Norte. It was only $32 pesos, each. Once we got there, we took a camión for about $11 pesos to get to the museum. We went on a Saturday and the square was bustling with people and vendors. There is a church, Iglesia de San Pedro which is located beside the museum still used by the people. There happen to be a wedding going on that day.

Iglesia de San Pedro with the bride and groom.



Inside of Iglesia de San Pedro.

We headed to the museum part next door. There were many rooms with art and artifacts. I tend to not take many photos of these things.

This is the room right before entering the Iglesia de San Francisco Javier.

This was, by far, the best part of the entire place. It was built in the late 1600s.

The exuberant main gold altar in the background.

One of the altars to the side.

Needless to say, I took lots of photos. Only posting a few though. There was no flash allowed, of course. They were very strict about this and eyeing people like hawks. I personally don't like flash anyway.

Here's a close up of the main altar.

There is a wing off to the side with an ornately decorated chamber called Camarín de la Virgen.

Going back to the rest of the museum, more rooms with artifacts, statues and art. Here's a couple of statues I shot.

There was this lovely chapel called the Capilla Domestica. It was used to inspire religious awe for students during services.

We headed upstairs. There were many paintings of nuns dressed elaborately. We walked out to a patio area and there was a nice view of part of the museum.

Back downstairs, there was the kitchen area and courtyards. One photo of part of the large kitchen.

This place was pretty large. We didn't go through all of the rooms. We were starting to get hungry so we decided to check out some of the garden area and then leave. There was a nice little chapel but no flowers.

Back out to the square, we sat and ate some of our lunch we brought. I took this photo of the Iglesia de San Francisco Javier.

We walked around checking out the different booths.

This was a candy stand. They had many wonderful looking treats to buy.

This man was making Gorditas. Sadly, when I think of gordita's I think of the Taco Bell version. I didn't realize they were a sweet bread. They're very good.

More photos of Iglesia de San Francisco Javier. The façade is an excellant example of the Churrigueresque style.

Walked around the square more and we ended up buying elote.

Ariana loves her corn. I like it too. It's pretty dang good.

We decided it was time to go. On our way of finding a camión, I saw this little girl selling stuff.

Overall, this was a nice day trip and pretty inexpensive. We ended up taking the train back. It's kind of like the metro but way cleaner and nicer. A little more expensive but not too bad.

Next blog: Pachuca...for real this time

A Trip to Metepec

The trip to Metepec was supposed to be super fun and it was my first night away from the apartment and Justin and Olivia. I was with Ariana, of course. Our friend, David, came by and picked us up in his car. No metro, no bus...yay! But, the whole day I was feeling funky. I got up, worked out, made these plans to go and ate breakfast. Then my stomach started to feel yucky. Yeah, that kind of funky. I just thought it was because I was excited about leaving and nerves so I took some Alka Setzer and disregarded. Umm, things were still in an unsatisfying state so, more Alka Setzer. David showed up around 4pm and I was still feeling bad, but like my stubborn self, I was determined to leave because the thought of staying in the apartment again made me feel even more ill. So, we left.

David's friend had a coffee shop that was opening up and so we were going there for the grand opening. We stopped by one of his friends house to follow them to the coffee place. By the time we got to his friends house, I was feeling absolutely horrible. I was officially sick and was trying to figure out how the hell I was going to survive the rest of the day. We drove to the center of the town and found a place to park. I really tried to continue on but at this point there was just no way. I couldn't even leave the car. I started crying because I felt like crap and I was embarrassed. Ariana knew I was in bad shape. We decided to just find a hotel I could chill in. We found one nearby and it was expensive but at this point I was dying. Ariana was awesome for getting that squared away and David was awesome for driving and being sympathetic. So, for the remainder of the evening and night I was shacked up in the hotel. Ariana and David went to the coffee opening and had a great time. At this point, I was thankful for a bed and a toilet.

The next day, I felt a lot better. I was a little dehydrated and weak feeling but was able to walk around and finally enjoy my surroundings. I'm not really sure what caused all of that but in reality, perhaps it was bound to happen eventually. I just hope and pray that I don't get that way again.

Some of the few shots I took while in this lovely little town. It's a nice town, close to Toluca, very peaceful feeling.

One of the churhes located in the downtown square.

It was situated on a hill. So, we climbed the stairs.

I figured there would be a cool view. I was right. A shot of overlooking the town.

Another photo of the church.

Back down the stairs. There is another church nearby.

David met up with us. We were all hungry, though I was frankly terrified to eat anything. Still, we walked around looking for a place to eat. We passed a bakery with some deliscious smelling breads. I got some bread and pan dulce. Can't go wrong with that. I snagged a shot of the baker. It was super hot in there.

They ended up finding a restaurant. I just ate some of my bread and water. Afterwards, we walked around some more and they got some ice cream. I tasted some of it and it was really good. Here's a photo I sneaked of David and Ariana eating their ice cream and in deep discussion.



Another nice looking church.

Ariana and I were going to go to the ruins in Malinalco, which is a small town about two hours south of here. But after being sick the day before, I didn't feel like I had the energy to go but I wasn't ready to go home yet either. So, David offer to drive us around. Yay!

This was part of someone's house.

Ended up going to a small town called Zinacantepec. There was a nice church and monastery there. I took some photos but I feel like they weren't very good so I'm not posting them.

Back to Metepec area, we walked around a square with another church. It was late afternoon by this point and I was ready to go back home. So, Ariana and I got on a bus and headed back to the city. Despite getting sick, I'm glad I went. One of these days Ariana and I will eventually go to Malinalco.

One last church.

Next blog: Our trip to Pachuca

Museo del Telégrafo y Torre Latinoamericana

Last Friday, Justin, Olivia and I went to the Zocalo to find the Museo del Telégrafo. As many of you know, Justin is here working on his dissertation. He is writing about the impact of wireless communications on Mexican politics, economics and foreign relations, 1900 - 1940. Hence, this is why we went to this particular museum. I have to say, though, I was pleasantly surprised by this place (once we finally found it.) For one, it is located in a very cool building which houses the Museo Nacional de Arte. The architecture alone is worth going. It was interesting to see all the old devices that they used for communication and it was nice to see Justin very happy and in his element. Olivia behaved very well too which is always a bonus. I was feeling a bit under the weather. Hung over to be exact. The night before, Ariana and I went out and drank some tequila, ummm yeah. I was feeling depressed so what better way to cure that then to go drink. (There is no logic to that, of course. But what the hell, right?) Somehow I managed to still venture out.

This would be the entrance to the Museo del Telégrafo.

The entire building.

The statue that sits in front of the building. Known as El Caballito (The Little Horse), it's considered one of the cities favorite monuments.

I had to go pay for a fee to take photos, $5 pesos, super cheap. The entrance to the Museo del Telégrafo is free. I don't remember the entrance fee to the art museum but I know it isn't a lot plus one day out of the week, not sure which one, it's free. A snagged a shot of part of the cool stairs of the art museum. I wasn't sure if I was allowed to, since we didn't pay for that, but I was like, I'm going to anyway. (Yes, I am finally coming out of my huge shell. It's ridiculous, I know)

Walking back to the telegraph museum.

Inside Museo del Telégrafo near the entrance.



One of the first antenna used for radio telegraphy in Mexico.

This is another radio telegraphy device. It was used to send messages in Morse code.

The statue of Guglielmo Marconi. He was the first person to successfully send a transatlantic radio message and to patent and commercially apply radio telegraphy.

Apparently, radio telegraphy was an important tool for empire and nation building and the creation of the modern world market. It is also a predecessor to radio broadcasting, television, and the internet.

(...so Justin says)

Olivia, Justin, and Marconi

Olivia and Justin standing in front of the radio device used at Chapultepec Castle. It was imported from Germany in 1918.

A view of the museum in it's entirety.

Some close-ups of some of the paintings that were on the ceilings. They were very impressive. Check out the intricate wood cravings surrounding the paintings too.

Afterwards, we started heading over to the Torre Latinoamericana. On the way, we saw this guy in front of the Museo Nacinal de Arte. Some nice chalk work.

Across the street, a view of the Torre Latinoamericana.

There is an allyway known for selling lots of books along the way. We found some cool t-shirts here too.

I took my own photo of the Casa de los Azulejos (The House of Tiles) finally. My post about that http://acastrophotography.blogspot.com/2011/06/la-casa-de-los-azulejos-y-palacio.html

There were these street performers standing outside the tile house. The one in black was holding a box. Justin gave some pesos and the person opened the box which was filled with lots of little pieces of rolled up paper. He took one and it said something about ... that he had to put everything into his project in order for it to succeed.

The other guy was standing very still and covered in mud. At first I thought he was supposed to be a living statue but then he knelt down and started talking to Olivia, in English.

We gave him some pesos too. He made a flower out of a napkin and gave it to Olivia. Then he told her that it was very important for her to learn seven different languages. I believe he said English, Spanish, Mandarin, Hebrew, German, French and Arabic. Not a hundred percent on that but most of those make sense. I'm not exactly sure why he was covered in mud either. Perhaps to appear like a poor beggar on the street but who was full of knowledge, as in the whole "looks can be deceiving" thing.

Okay, finally we make it to the Torre Latinoamericana. It was $90 pesos for all of us. It would have been $120 but I had a coupon. It's kind of pricey but I knew that there was a cool view waiting for us. We get in an elevator where a lady is sitting. We go up 37 floors and the whole time I was thinking about how this lady does this all day. I mean, wouldn't that kind of suck? Operating an elevator all day and never leaving doesn't sound fun.

Views from the 37th floor on a pretty smog free day.

You can see the Palacio Nacional and the Catedral Metropolitana in this one. I drew arrows to help point them out.

Justin and Olivia ... she's enthralled.

You can see the hotel we stayed at in this one. Again, I drew an arrow pointing it out.

View of the Palacio de Bellas Artes.

You can see the traffic congestion in this photo. It never seems to go away.

This would be me.

I've been wanting to get a Polaroid of the Palacio de Bellas Artes building so what better time to do it. The Polaroid was shot with TZ Artistic film with my SX-70 camera.

Next blog: A Trip to Metepec ... I became very ill and it was bad.