Oxaxca City

Oaxaca City is a quaint low rise city in the mountains close to the Pacific coast.  The center of town has an amazing atmosphere with colonial buildings all painted in vibrant colours. In Oaxaca we took 3 days of Spanish language lessons and are now grappling with the crazy verb endings and other eccentricities of the language.

Oaxaca City - Guelaguetza

We unwittingly arrived in Oaxaca City during the biggest festival of the year - Guelaguetza! The festival is part of a long tradition in which the inhabitants of the surrounding villages come to Oaxaca City (the capital of the province) to share gifts with each other and with the people of the City. Each village presents and competes with the other villages to have the best music (you can hear brass bands everywhere), the best dancing (all in their traditional dress for that village), and the best produce (weaving, jewelery, chocolate, cheese, mezcal...). We saw numerous parades, with music, dancing, and gifts of chocolate and mezcal!

The street food was delicious!

... And the atmosphere infectious!!!

Teotihuacan - The Pyramids of the Sun and Moon

Teotihuacan, consisting of the pyramid of the sun, the pyramid of the moon, the avenue of the dead and associated religious and ritual structures demonstrates the importance of the location of Mexico City Basin to maintaining rule over the Mexican region.  The site was used by several ruling civilizations , including the Aztecs, and was built between 100bc and 250ad.  The pyramids were thought to have been sacred places with the remains of ritual sacrifice being found at the corners.  The scale of the site and structures was phenomenal, with a large proportion not yet recovered or restored.

Diego Rivera Mural

The murals of Diego Rivera (one of Mexico's most celebrated artists) are without dobt vibrant and beautiful.  This mural was accompanied by a classical pianist who was spectacular to say the least. The whole exhibition was free to attend and portrays a strange mix of Mexican diversity.

Centro Historico - Mexico City

Centro Historico definitely displays the impact of Spanish colonialism in Mexico.  On the plus side the atmosphere created by the old buildings and cobbled streets is pretty cool...

Museo Nacional de Anthropologia

Museo Nacional de Anthropologia was by a long way the best museum display Kate or I have ever seen.  The display is a selection of artifacts from many of the civilisations which occurred in Mexico from all periods.  Of most note was the famous head dress of Moctezuma II [Montezuma] which was given as a gift of peace to Cortez.  Following this several years later Moctezuma II was likely killed or ordered killed by Cortez [the exact details are unknown].  The head dress is made from the feathers of the Quetzal, one of the most beautiful birds in Central America.

VIVA MEXICO

Hey all,
We arrived in Mexico City last Monday.  After a few quiet days recovering from the flight, we managed to settle in to Mexican life.  To our surprise the city is very well planned, with wide streets many parks and trees and good safe areas for pedestrians - you hardly notice that there are 25 million people living here.  During our short stay (18-24 July) we visited Centro Historico, Chapultepec Park, Teotihuacan (The Pyrimids of the Sun and Moon) and a few markets, art gallerys and museums.  Mexico City took us by surprise with its very modern [western] culture with many trendy bars cafes and people.  We even stumbled into an amazing performance by a very talented classical pianist playing in accompaniment to a crazy mural by Diego Rivera [a famous Mexican artist].
A good start to the trip....off to Oaxaxa.