Sam And Saundra's Year Long Adventure - Part 80

Sam And Saundra’s Year Long Adventure – Part 80

Mexico 

3/22/09 and 3/23/09 – San Blas

YeeeeeHaaaaaaw!  No tours, no scheduled activities.  Big bunch of water, with beach attached, to explore.  Two villages close enough to investigate on our own.  After all those big cities, what more could we ask for?   We entered the park from the north and parked on the left of the drive.  On the right are the regular full hookup spaces, banos,  a large grassy shaded area and just to the north of the grassy area is the restaurant.  The restaurant has indoor and outdoor seating.  The outdoor overlooks the Sea of Cortez, open water to the left and San Blas to the right.  So we are actually at the other end of a slight crescent-shaped bay. The sunrises are great, but the sunsets are fabulous. The pool is a good sized one, relatively clean and we use it a lot.

Local Places To Stay and Dine

Beach

During our two days here, we walk the beach in front of the park, all the way past Santa Cruz and out to the tip of the point, were we could see down the coastline quite a distance.  This is a very different type of beach. Most of it is a darker, courser sand than elsewhere.  At places, there is no sand, only rocks, from small pebbles, to large rocks.  Closer to San Blas (we are about 15 miles from there), there are more sand beaches and very long, divided palapas are on the beaches, stuck into the sand.  The wood branch sides look more permanent, but the fronds on top look like they may have to be replaced maybe once or twice a year. Each division can hold a car, table, chairs, blanket, picnic, kids, animals, grandparents, all sorts of strange things.  We drove out to one (Not on Sunday – Sunday the locals get their turn at using the beach and all the fun that goes with it), but Brutus would not fit, so we parked him on the end of one palapa and set up in the end division.  We were amazed by a couple of small, light weight flying wings (ultra lights), carrying at least 2 people, which flew over us every so often.  We never did find out whether this was a local club thing or just some crazy people.  We had seen so few flying anythings, except birds.

Open Beach Picnic Palapas

San Blas Main Street

We hunt shells and rocks (not a great beach area to do that – but they are there) and walked in the waves. Two guys came by walking the waves close to shore, carrying machetes and one big white plastic bucket.  Every so often, one would let go with a big swing of their machete and strike the wave.  Then something would go into the bucket.  Of course we had to go find out what they were doing.  Turns out they were crabbing and machete-ing a bunch of them.  While we were walking in the surf, I was startled by a rock lobstrosity zipping back into the open water.  I thought for sure Stephen King was behind me laughing.  I had to admit to Sam that it wasn’t that large, it just startled me.  We did not swim in the ocean – the sand was mixed in thickly with the water. It was clean enough, but the sand did not make the water inviting.  It was great for wading. The main characteristic of this beach, compared to any other, is… the water is HOT.  Not cool, not not-cold, not warm, but HOT.  Sam guesstimates it at about 85 degrees HOT. 

Water

Pretty

We drove to San Blas twice.  We found an RV park there that is big enough to handle 2 or 3 caravans of rigs. All sites are full hookups and the bano/showers are very clean. The actual village of San Blas did not inspire either of us into writing any odes.  The town is there, the people are there. I did not feel particularly welcomed or disliked. We did miss going on the Gator river tour.  One of the star areas for both of us is Leo’s Restaurant in Santa Cruz (one of the small Santa Cruz’s). The second night, we had another bon fire to burn the rest of the wood that was brought.  Even though we were late, the cook and waiter at Leo’s did not shut and lock the kitchen on us (the eating part is all under palapa).  The first day, we had their seafood special and had lobster, shrimp and oysters (cooked) {No Sam you cannot eat raw seafood in Mexico – ask your sister Judy}.  It was so good that on our last night in San Blas we went back with Chuck and Janet, Hugh and Barbara and Klaus.  When the wonderful sunset was over, the waiter tried to devise ways to provide us with enough light to see what we were eating. The candles did not want to stay lit in the wind. The waiter fixed a plastic cup around the candle and it worked.  I have no clue what the others ordered.  I had giant shrimp.  Three of them.  They were sooo large that eating three was not easy (Sam ate one).  They tasted more like Maine lobster and were almost as big as the rock lobster.  I was so into the experience of eating that meal.  I liked the shrimp.

Beach

We walked back to camp along the beach and started the preparation for the next travel day to … let’s see.  Oh Yah! MAZATLAN !!!! “0”  ‘~’. 

Sam And Saundra's Year Long Adventure - Part 79

Sam And Saundra’s Year Long Adventure – Part 79

Mexico 

3/21/09 – San Blas

As we are packing up to leave Guatalajara, our neighbor here is talking to one of his travel friends.  I look at the friend – he looks back.  I go over and ask him who he is.  He asks the same back.  I figure I got to know him if he is being that snitty.  Turns out he is a co-worker from Multnomah County.  We worked for years in the same downtown office, in the same department.  Rick!! We talked!  It was hard to leave someone you know and meet so far away from home.  Wish we had known he and his wife were there before it was time for us to go.  Apparently we were all using his wifi system to access the internet.  Thanks Rick.   We get on the road.  We have 168 miles to travel in about 5 hours.  We are now following the signs to Mazatlan. Grin.

Leaving Guadalajara Camp Spot

The mountainous terrain remains mountainous.  We see several Mt. St. Helenish type mountains were the tops of them have blown off and left only the bases of the mountains with domes sticking up and peering down at us. Reminding us that they are still a part of a volcanic mountain range.  We pass fields and fields of agave plants being grown on mountainside areas that look too steep to walk.  We pass the town of Tequila – the one that gave the agave-made liquor its name. The wounds in the mountains that have been cut open to build roads have been patched up with cement.  The tubes that are placed in the cement for moisture release, are a little different in every location we have seen it done, including here.  It is a kind of artwork of it’s own.  Sam thinks that the consistency of the concrete is the secret to how this system of soil and rock holding works.  We pass the turn off to Magdalena and see some large ranch-type places along the road. The road itself is pretty good.  No major problems.  But wait…

Mountainside And Moisture Control

Sign To Tequila

We reach the town of Tepic.  A radio conversation takes place and the wagon master is asking for input on directions to the next road.    I am a little concerned that we have become a group of direction-challenged rigs.  We turn left.  The road we follow is supposed to be a red road per the map.  It looks more like a dotted yellow one.  The road is windy and climbing and windy and dropping and windy and canyons all over the place.  I hum and casually keep my eyes off the road and away from the places in the road – very narrow road – that drop out of sight.  San Blas is worth it, right?  I am beginning to think that the darkness of the tunnel going through the pyramid was a much better place to be, when Sam tells me I can open my eyes.  It appears that we are actually close to somewhere.  We have dropped elevation – quickly- and the caravan is turning left into another long driveway-looking road.  We are told to stop and wait while directions are obtained from locals.  We wait.  The wagon master returns and we are led to a park, where only a few regular spaces remain.  The rest get to dry camp in a nice grass field, surrounded by trees of all kinds. After we get to move from the only non-grass weed patch space onto the grass, I liked this very much. We were back on water.  The Sea of Cortez was waiting for us and Sam and I hit the rocky beach. 

Mountainous!

Water

Happy Anniversary

We came back for the paid dinner at the restaurant on site and the celebration of 50 years by Chuck and Janet – some of my most liked-people.  The restaurant and shore area was also the site of a local wedding and reception party.  That celebration was noisier – as they had hired a company that put on a light, sound and music show for the wedding reception.  We had a great time and Chuck and Janet did too.  They had purchased champagne and we all had chipped in to get and keep it cold until the party.  We were there until well into the night.  At least until 10 pm.  

Sam And Saundra's Year Long Adventure - Part 78

Sam And Saundra’s Year Long Adventure – Part 78

Mexico 

3/20/09 - Guadalajara – Tour

This is our last official tour of this trip!  We have already seen the ‘last’ ruins.  We have enjoyed every one of them, and they are some of the main reasons we came on this type of trip. But we are happy that this is our last official tour.  We bound up and get to the office area where we wait for he bus.  We don’t mind waiting, since we can look for more rocks.  The bus comes and we meet our last guide.  He is an architect by trade and a licensed guide for fun.  He is very nice and easy for us non-bilingual, hearing challenged, people to understand.  He points interesting things out on our way. Our first stop is at a statue of a herd of running horses.  Of course we get pictures.  We are next to a glorietta that has the month, day and year ‘written’ out in colorful blooming flowers.  It is changed every morning at very, very early, so that it is always correct.  That’s cool. A little obsessive, but cool.

Action Figures

Different Shapes

Our guide points out all of the different buildings from an architectural influence perspective – duh.  He makes it very interesting and we both enjoy seeing the various neighborhoods.  We are dropped off in the main plaza, abutting the large cathedral.  We have time for coffee and find a pastry shop.  We also scurry around for batteries for the camera so I can take my usual hundreds of pictures.  Next we walk to the cathedral and tour as much as we can.  Although no mass is being held at this time, there are a few other functions going on.  A very nice church, with fabulous artifacts. If the US has any like this, they must be in the musty part of the country – they are not in Oregon. Just when I was trying to get a picture of a picture – we are called outside of the cathedral to watch another clock thing where the lifelike saints come out and around a track when certain hours are ‘tolled’.  Very interesting – but way high up.  We get back in the bus and see a remaining gate of the city that is very old and Sam rushes to take a picture of the ‘sexiest’ statue in Guadalajara.  It was a female warrior – fully clothed – so it must have been the helmet. Or maybe it was the other statue of a female that was next to an obelisk.  That picture is kind of blurry.

Cathedral

Clock

We toured another government building that was located in an old building that was once an orphanage.  The murals in this building are amazing.  It is still strange to see fabulous artwork painted right on to the walls.  We go on to yet another government building – where there is a meeting going on.  (The meeting reminds me of Multnomah County commissioners meetings).  We bypass them and go upstairs to see more mural artwork.  We get a mini lesson, but unfortunately, I did not listen – I was taking pictures. We later pass a building where the siding is pretty blue and white tile. We walked around the downtown area, seeing great fountains, statuary, buildings and people.  I was getting pooped. Sam pronounces that this is one of the prettiest cities we have been in.

Wall Murals

Street scene

Various Thrones

We got on the bus and went to the town of Tlaquepaque for a late, late, lunch.  The restaurant featured female mariache bands, where trumpets were used. The restaurant was packed, the food and music were good.  We had a little over an hour to shop around in this very unique-styled artsy area.  Then off again on the bus. 

Waterfront Sign

Sunset

This time our goal was to view the sunset.  One of the most fabulous works of art mankind will ever know.  This one was typical of that ‘fabulous’.  We were taken to Chapala on the Laguna de Chapala – a huge body of water.  Huge, huge, huge.  Very big.  We wandered aimlessly around the park-like area that is located between the village of Chapala and the shoreline. You cannot see the other side of the laguna.  It is huge.  All sorts of fishing is going on.  We walk and goggle, and walk some more, until the sunset spectacle begins.  Then we watch and take pictures and hold hands and think that we are so lucky to be able to take a trip like this and have these experiences to treasure for a lifetime. We both wish you were here.

Sam And Saundra's Year Long Adventure - Part 77

Sam And Saundra’s Year Long Adventure – Part 77

Mexico 

3/19/09 - Guadalajara – San Jose del Tajo RV Park

Today’s travel requires 181 miles and 5 hours. At the end of the day, we will be in Guadalajara. Guadalajara!  I even heard of this place when I was a kid. I can pronounce it! I am excited! We will be traveling on cuota roads the whole way and the directions appear good in the road log. This will be easy! We pass village after village.  Flashes: bright-colored flowers on blooming trees; more brown and gold – but still a lot of green; senales; church crosses and bell towers all along the way; quick peek passing San Juan De Los Lagos; mountains; construction; toll booths; turns to Mezquitic and Jalostotilan; rocks; lakes; bright blue skies with puff ball clouds; agave fields; signs to Tepatitlan and Guadalajara.  We know we are close when we see a Rockefeller Center. Probably nothing like the one in the US. The travel log is right on – we are going to have a straight ‘go into the RV Park with no problem’ experience. 

Church Cross

Not Flat Desert
 

Not to be. We follow the wagon master as they turn too early and go in the opposite direction from the one we need to go.  We follow.  A retorno finally appears and we reverse directions, eventually discovering that the road we are now on, is actually the road we would have been on had we taken the right turn.  All we had to do is follow it to the entrance of the park, make a right turn, and drive down the extremely long, rock-cobbled driveway to the RV Park. 

Senales

Yep! Rockefeller Center

We get assigned a space and maneuver our way into it.  The back end of our trailer is backed into the back yard of a private residence.  But it is surprisingly comfortable.  The guy in the rig next to us is from Hillsboro – Oregon.  We like this place!  It even has wiifi. We get set up and find there is obsidian in them thar dry creek beds.  We fill our pockets with little ones and our trailer with larger ones. We celebrate Penny’s birthday at a gathering, with cake and ice cream, in front of Chuck and Janet’s rig. We then take a run to Walmart, eating out at Applebee’s.  Their ‘neighborhood’ has gotten quite large.  Good ribs. We get back after dark. Sam not only got us there with no problems, but he found a ‘not obvious’ retorno to get us back very easily as well.  Boy is he good! Yes he is!

Sam And Saundra's Year Long Adventure - Part 76

Sam And Saundra’s Year Long Adventure – Part 76

Mexico 

3/18/09 -  Guanajuato – Tour of San Miguel de Allende

Sam and I enjoyed our day off immensely, and we are now ready to go.  We hurry onto the bus, pick our seats and wait as the bus driver and guide take us from the Bugamvilla RV Parque to Sam Miguel de Allende.  The bus takes us on a windy, mountainous road to the Centro Plaza of San Miguel and drops us off.  We’re a little early and have time to rush to the Starbucks and get Café Lattes, a couple of small muffins and get back in time to meet the trolley that is our tour vehicle for this city. 

Laundromat

If you can stop thinking about the boarder towns of Mexico, San Miguel would be the ‘ideal’ that would come into your mind about Mexican villages.  It is stunningly beautiful.  The colors are the colors of Mexico.  The streets are narrow, but cobbled, many with eye-catching designs.  The trees in the main, and many of the surrounding plazas, are trimmed into shaded passageway and simple-elegant designs.  The buildings are well maintained and to own one, requires the owner to follow a strict code to maintain the colonial look of the town.  All doors are massive, carved wooden doors. The doors that face the cobbled streets have to be opened and entered before you can fully discover what is held inside, sometimes several businesses radiate from the ‘interior plazas’.  Restaurants for every palate. The today is well blended with yesterday. Statuary, fountains, great art works of all mediums, flowers, flowering trees, trees, bushes- all work together to please the eye.  Many churches, spires, towers – some with bells, are interspersed with other buildings making it difficult at times to choose what to focus on.  The trolley and very informative female guide, took us to a plaza that was used in the ‘old days’ as a laundromat.  The brightly painted cement rectangular tubs lined the outside of a small square and were about the size of a large present day laundry sink (about 4-5 gallon).  A trough carrying water runs around the outside of all of the tubs.  The water can be diverted into the tubs, cloths washed, and water emptied.  Our guide indicates that some people still use the system.  Near this area was a school for kids and up the hill was a university.  What caught my interest was an area just past that.  A bunch of tall trees contained white egrets.  They looked like they were trying to decorate the trees, making them egret trees instead of Christmas trees. 

Egrets Growing On Trees

Our guide indicates that about ¼ of the population of San Miguel are foreigners.  They are welcome in San Miguel and they have blended well into the community.  They try to incorporate the culture into their lives.  She even pointed out the church that was established for foreigners.  That explained the numbers of people I heard speaking English, French, German and even Japanese in the plazas and shops.  Yes, we shopped.  The other thing that is well blended here are the old world and new world shops.  We bought another drum and Sam had his leather sandals buffed.  We thoroughly enjoyed our stay here, eating a panini sandwich for lunch.  To top off our tour, we were taken to a high overlook spot and we were able to take in the city in one view.  Wow!! 

Sam's Leather Sandals Renewed

San Miguel de Allende!!!

We get back in the bus and head for home.  Our regular guide for this day is a new one, not very comfortable in his role yet and still needing practice in his English – but he is trying hard.  He informs us that we are going through the downtown area of Guanajuato, which Sam and I missed yesterday.  So after looking over Dolores Hidalgo, we go left and through Guanajuato.  It is also built in a hilly area, just more so.  The houses are built to the top, and I could not see roads.  The whole town was similar in feel to San Miguel, including that it was very clean.  I did miss the charm that exuded from San Miguel.  The bus even went through the mountain via the tunnel road.  Not too scary.  I took pictures.   We made it back to camp in time to start preparing for the next day’s travel.  Although not as fun as Paamul, we enjoyed learning more about Mexico today. 

Even The Evening Was Awesome 

Sam And Saundra's Year Long Adventure - Part 75

Sam And Saundra’s Year Long Adventure – Part 75

Mexico 

3/17/09 – Guanajuato – We took a day off

We decided not to go on the tour of Guanajuato.  We slept in, cleaned and reorganized our living space and in general – goofed off.  We went in to the suburbs of Guanajuato and found a Pollo Filiz Restaurant and had a grand lunch – and ordered additional meals to go to warm up for dinner.  We had a relaxing day.  It was a good MH time out – for both of us. 

Nearby Flowers

Sam And Saundra's Year Long Adventure - Part 74

Sam And Saundra’s Year Long Adventure – Part 74

Mexico 

3/16/09 – Guanajuato – Bugamvilla RV Park

Today we are traveling about 160 miles, an estimated 4 hour drive.  We are warned ahead of time that we do not want to get lost here, as the road into this town involves underground tunnel-roads that go through mountain and not very comfortable for taking RV rigs through.  I listen-up.  Still lots of mountains.  We follow the signs out of Teotihuacan toward San Miguel de Allende. It is amazing how populous and green this interior still is.  Where is the desert?  We bypass Loma Linda (I thought that was in California) and find that although close, we have to pass Queretaro too.  I am anxious to get settled into a space.  It seems that there is way too much unclarity as to where we are going, by those who are ‘in the know’.  I see a big sign with the word disponible – I still do not know what it means. We get closer.

Travel Picture

Signs

We see a sign to Guanajuato.  I am relieved.  One of the caravaners has experience a problem not with their springs, but with the brackets for the springs.  Not good.  They were babying it until they could work on it in the RV Park. No problem, our wagon masters have been here before.  They did not know how to get to the park.  We followed the wagon master right into town. We were going down narrow, nice neighborhoods, with people looking at us like we were crazy.  We are. The direction opinions of those with GPS systems were asked.  Luckily Brutilla was off and we kept silent.  The GPS’s were glitching.  Connie turned just before going into one of the ‘dreaded tunnels’ Connie had warned us about this morning.  We all followed. Housing was thick, as was traffic.  We pulled over as close to the side as possible at the request of the wagon master. She went in to a restaurant, and back out very quickly.  We all resumed following. We came to a Glorietta and the radio spouted the news – “Oh, I think I know where we are”.  I don’t know about you, but that made me feel better.  We soon came to a stretch of highway that was in the country with no housing about at all.  It was clearly not a part of the city.  And there was a big sign – Bugamvilla RV Park.  You only had to go through a junkyard (not garbage dump) to get to it.  We all parked and got set up.  I then went to work watching the men work on #9, Doug and Sherry’s brackets. I have pictures. 

Men Working On Rig

This One Stayed While We Ate

We eat the $5.00 meal at the RV Park restaurant. Socialize and end this exciting travel day.  I am sure I will dream of our trailer getting stuck in a tunnel with traffic in front and behind us and the CB blaring “Lemmings – Why are you following me?”  I need a break.  My sense of humor has fallen off one of those extremely deep and beautiful canyons we were rimming.  

Sam And Saundra's Year Long Adventure - Part 73

Sam And Saundra’s Year Long Adventure – Part 73

Mexico 

3/15/09 – San Juan Teotihuacan – Tour Of Teotihuacan  Ruins

Camping Field With Passing Celebration Parade

Today, we get to move to the RV Park.  We have only one more day at this location before we go to our next destination, but move we do. We have to make a very testy right turn to get onto the street and out of the field. Very testy. Then a block or two later, we make a tight left turn at the cathedral, cross a narrow stone bridge and immediately turn right into the narrow RV Park.  We are directed to a spot and quickly get set up.  As I stand in front of the trailer trying to count the number of blocks we have moved, and Sam is checking to see if there really is electricity, a woman comes over to me with a big smile and says “hello”.  Her grinning young son hugs me. I am clueless.  Turns out these were the people that I thought were Judy and Dennis in Puebla.  Their truck broke down in Puebla and they had to get both their truck and their 5^th wheel towed here.  It cost them about $3,000.00 and they still have not received information about when a mechanic will even be willing to look at their truck.  We only have an inkling about how they feel, as we received magnificent help with our breakdown. We invite them to go to dinner with us this evening, and they accept.  I gotta, gotta, gotta start learning about the uselessness of the gripe. I am glad we moved. Sam and I then go with a group to the Teotihuacan Ruins, which Tommy agreed to guide. 

Ruin Recovery In Progress

Active Ruin Recovery Site

These ruins start with an active archeological site that Tommy had access to.  Many carvings and stainings (paintings) could be seen on the walls of various newly excavated sites, that are not yet set up to be viewed by hordes of public sightseers.  These were so eerie to see at this stage.  I have pictures.  They are too sophisticated and ancient looking.  We then went to the main pyramid/temple site and I took pictures as Sam climbed one of the pyramids.  (I know, I should be getting tired of Sam climbing all the pyramids – but I am actually quite relaxed.) I went through one of the temples, when I wasn’t taking pictures of Sam’s climbing efforts.  I found a piece of obsidian and we looked at artisan wares, including more drums.  I know I have said this before, but being able to climb and walk on these ancient sites make the experience doubly unique.  Seeing the artifacts “up close and personal” is mind-boggling.  I know that this will have to be limited in the future to maintain the integrity of the sites.  I am thankful we are here at this time in history.

Pretty Awesome

Everyone Is Watching Sam Climb

We get back to camp and have time to run back to the side of the road to scavenge more obsidian.  Then we pick up our stranded neighbors and head back to the Jaguar Restaurant where we had eaten lunch.  Dinner was outside and we ordered a meal that was served in a heated stone bowl, containing a myriad of meats and vegetables, and with flour tortillas.  Terry, Donna and Oslo were great dining company.  They let us in on their caravan experiences, which quickly deteriorated when they had mechanical problems.  They were ‘coaxed’ into signing a statement by their professional wagon master and tail gunner, indicating that they were ‘voluntarily leaving’ the caravan.  Weird.  They gave us their e-mail so we can contact them later and see how they are doing.  They are fine at this point and the RV owner is helping as much as she can.  We enjoy our dinner with them and leave them reluctantly.

View Towards Town From Ruins

Always Have A Climbing Partner

We end our stay at this location and feel gratitude that we were able to get our mechanical problems fixed so quickly. Thankfulness. My prayers are getting more out loud.

Sam And Saundra's Year Long Adventure - Part 72

Sam And Saundra’s Year Long Adventure – Part 72

Mexico 

3/14/09 – San Juan Teotihuacan - Tour of Mexico City

The caravan was supposed to go to Tepotzotlan today, but for some reason, we are staying in the field. Probably because I can’t spell it without looking at the travel log. We are picked up by bus, meet our new tour guide – Tommy.  He was born in Mexico of German parents and was educated in the US.  And you think I get confused. His parents now live in Arizona.  We all understand him very well and he is an excellent guide.  Did you know that tour guides in Mexico are licensed? Did you know that even though we are not near the beaches (sob), the sunrises and sunset are still gorgeous? We have quite a ride into the city.  The area is somewhat flat, with nice sized hills popping up out of the ground.  Tommy says that in Mexico City, the people are allowed to build houses only up to a certain height.  He says that there are no streets or water on the hillsides.  All water has to be carried up.  Tommy says that the upper housing areas are some of the places even the police will not enter, although Mexico City is safe in general.  The colors have not gone away – they are just hidden in the air pollution haze.  Tommy informs us of the vehicle pollution control requirements, which are similar to Portland, but they also have a sticker system, which limits when certain vehicles can travel into the city.  For example, you are assigned a blue sticker based on the last number on your vehicle license plate.  This means you can only travel into the city on certain days and only one weekend per month.  Mexico City has a subway system, but it only goes one direction.  The bus system has a dedicated lane throughout the heavily traveled areas, and they can be entered only through bus stops similar to subway stations.  Tommy says that although the pollution issue has gotten better, with 24 million people, it is still bad. Inversions make it much worse. Mexico City appears to be a modern city on the surface, but still has a long way to go in the infrastructure.  Electricity, water and sewage still need to be problem-solved and upgraded. 

One Of The Residential Hillside Areas

Stickers That Control This Vehicles Movement In City

Bus Stop/Dedicated Lanes

Tommy says a lot of things.  We go to the Villa De Guadalupe first.  The site has the old cathedrals, new cathedral, the convent, the site where underground springs used to come to the surface, the actual shroud of Guadalupe, and much, much more.  It took us several hours to view just a portion of what was here to see.  The wonders are spiritual for some, visual for all. The statuary, gardens, architecture and artwork are fabulous.  The story of Guadalupe is brought to life here.  The slow sinking of the original cathedral and convent, and how it is trying to be saved is amazing.  The use of huge hydraulic jacks, to the building of a brace to hold the cathedral dome, which then supports the rest of the cathedral, is just plain awe-inspiring.  I have a huge, huge respect for these people. This is a place to come see and experience even if you have no religious preference.  Maybe you will have by the time you leave. There is a large ‘rotating figure clock-like’ feature in one of the new structures, that has life size figurines reenacting the story of Guadalupe.  There are several statues of Popes.  One is made out of donated brass keys and depicts the visage of Guadalupe on his robe. The new cathedral has a system where while the mass is being held, the tourists can enter the church, walk around the back of the cathedral and go to a lower level system of walkways that allows you to be under the front of the church and look up and see the original shroud of Guadalupe.  We did not cause any interruption of the service overhead that was being attended by hundreds of people. 

Overview Of Cathedral Grounds

Entrance To Original Cathedral

Statuary Depicting the Shroud Of Guadelupe

The Shroud

We next bus it to the main Mexico Museum – “Cultural Heritage of Humanity”.  What an experience!  I like plain ole nature the most. But this history, this diversity, this color, this ‘staring at you in the face’ stuff – is fantastic.  We started our visit by having lunch.  I am glad we did, because it took a lot of energy and concentration to see everything we could see in the few afternoon hours left of this day.  The museum is massive and covers humanity in meso-america.  We saw the original Olmec Heads, the items taken out of tombs/pyramids that we had already visited and much more.  The historic items were presented in a very tasteful and artistic way. A brief summary about all the different cultures and artifacts covered and presented in this place would be too lengthy. You got to see it yourself.  My self-concept is changing – I think I am beginning to like history – at least some parts of it.  I have pictures of it.  About 700 taken this day alone, although not all were keepers. We liked this day. Talk about time travel…

Original Olmec Head

Artifacts

Tommy takes us to an area of Mexico City where the Mariachi Bands loiter, waiting for someone to come along and hire them to work for a party, family gathering – whatever.  He explains that like karate – these musicians use color to show experience.  Black suites indicate full- blown mariachi status.  White indicates brand-new bands. Other colors in between.  We went into a local establishment for social hour and two of the white bands played for us.  They were very good, and Tommy even participated.  Des and Arlene danced and a good time was had by all. 

Flag Of Mexico

We are tired and fall asleep quickly. Unfortunately, we do not stay asleep.  The carnival, loud music, but mostly the firecrackers/fireworks/canons constantly interrupt even the best of dreams.  Church bells chime in again in the early morning. Even I could hear this.