Teotihuacan

My free day in the historic centre was spent in museums and shopping. The museum in the National Palace in the Zocalo, the largest square in Central America, has murals of Diego Rivera. He is Mexico’s most famed artist, except maybe for Frida Kahlo, who he married twice. The first marriage ended when he slept with her sister. He really got around considering he was not incredibly attractive.He and Frida lived in her Blue House in separate areas until her death. I saw the museum now there on my last visit to Mexico City.

The museum in the Palacio de Bellas Artes also has murals by Rivera and others.

There is no evidence in the Centro historico that I can see of the recent earthquakes that devastated southern Mexico, but I learned the upscale neighbourhoods of Condesa and Roma were hit harder.

The next day I was signed up for an Urban Adventures tour to Teotihuacan, an ancient site with pyramids second in size only to Giza in Egypt. My group of 5 travelled by pubic bus north of the city. As soon as you leave the metro area, there are hills covered in houses built by squatters. Some are painted in bright colours, but most are shacks. There is a cable car system for public transit, copied from Medellin, Columbia.

After a couple of hours we reached the site, dominated by the Temple of the Sun and the Temple of the Moon, joined by the massive Avenue of the Dead, so named because it is lined by massive tombs. It was once the largest city in Central America, with a couple hundred thousand inhabitants.

We first saw rooms with colourful murals, some using obsidian stone. Then we climbed part way up the steep Temple of the Moon, as practice for the higher Temple of the Sun, which could be climbed to the top. That was no small feat, it’s one of the largest pyramids in the world. We were lucky to have a clear day to see the surrounding hills.

Leaving the site, we walked to a local home where obsidian is carved, and were served the fermented drink pulque, tequila, and the stronger and smokier mezcal, all made using the agave plant.

After that we went by car to another town nearby for dinner in a local home.

We got back to the city using bus and metro by 9 pm. The streets were crowded with Friday night partiers.