Dexterity Training in Mexico – Part 2 of 3

Today was Saturday and I was in Mexico City as a tourist with my hosts from Axentit, Mariano Arias and José Ramírez, as guides.

The day started with meeting outside the office before we headed to see the Aztec Pyramids at Teotihuacán.

While waiting at the office, I found one of the bike share stands that I had seen around the city yesterday. As a cyclist, I love the idea of bike share schemes as it is just such a great way to get around the city.

I also took a picture of the street as this should give you a feel for what the Condesa area is like. Lots of trees and open walkways.

Once José arrived we headed out in the car to Teotihuacán. Teotihuacán is the site of an ancient Aztec city and is known for the three large pyramids and the main street running through the middle, the Avenue of the Dead.

Just as we were parking at the car park at the main entrance to Teotihuacán we saw a group of men in costumes climbing a tall pole. Then the threw themselves off the pole while one of the men played a drum and flute.  This was my introduction to Voladores De Papantla or in English Papantla’s Flyers. Check out the video:

Voladores De Papantla (Papantla’s Flyers) at Teotihuacán in Mexico (direct link)

 

Once inside the city complex, we started with climbing the Temple of Quetzalcoatl (Feathered Serpent) and using that as a vantage point to see the huge Pyramid of the Sun and the smaller Pyramid of the Moon. Climbing the temple was just a taste of the much harder climb to come.

The Temple of Quetzalcoatl

View to the Pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the Moon

As we walked towards the other pyramids, the awesome scale of the Pyramid of the Sun came into play as it just got bigger and bigger.

It is getting bigger, are those little dots at the top people?

Whose idea was it to climb this monster?

Ok, Let’s get started

We made it …. and look at that view to the Pyramid of the Moon

The view of the Avenue of the Dead and The Pyramid of the Moon from here was great

And now we need to get down. A flying fox cable would be great right now!

We were really lucky with the weather as it was overcast and cool. Had the sun been out, it would have made the climb up even harder than it was. Once we made it down to the bottom again, we started walking along the Avenue of the Dead towards the Pyramid of the Moon.

The Avenue of the Dead

The Pyramid of the Moon from ground level

The Pyramid of the Moon as seen from The Pyramid of the Sun

OK, I admit it, we decided not to climb the Pyramid of the Moon as you can only go up part of the way and it is just not worth it if you cannot get all the way to the top. That, and my legs were tired and my asthma had played up enough already.

After an amazing but exhausting morning at Teotihuacán, we drove back to the city. As were travelling back the rain started and it stayed for the rest of the day. Once back in town, we parked near the Monument to the Revolution. This amazing structure was originally planned by the government to be the Federal Legislative Palace but the money ran out and it was never completed. It was later completed and serves as a mausoleum and monument to the heroes of the Mexican Revolution of 1910. There is a lift (elevator) to a viewing platform, but we did not have time to go up.

The Monument of the Revolution with water feature in the plaza

While we were walking past the Monument we saw Capoeira dancers demonstrating their skills and having a lot of fun at the same time.

Capoeira dancers under the Monumento a la Revolución in Mexico City (direct link)

 

We then continued to the nearest Metro station and caught the Metro to the Plaza de la Constitución. That was an experience in itself. We caught the third train to come through the station as the first two were so full it was not possible to even attempt to get on.

The third Metro train was relatively empty

Once that the Plaza de la Constitución we could see the Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral (Catedral Metropolitana de la Asunción de la Santísima Virgen María a los cielos). We could also see lots of people attending a protest about the 2014 deaths of 43 students that remains unexplained by the authorities.

Cathedral and Plaza

The protest was very noisy while we had a late lunch at a hotel restaurant which bordered the plaza.

View from the Restaurant across the Plaza

After eating we walked back to the car and took in a number of sights along the way, including some Aztec dancers.

Aztec Dancers near Plaza de la Constitución in Mexico City (direct link)

 

We also past by the Museum of Fine Arts and a memorial to Benito Juarez.

Museum of Fine Arts

Memorial for Benito Juarez

Once back at the car, we had a short drive to drop me at the hotel and a very full day of sightseeing came to an end. I was exhausted and slept very well.

Still more to come….

David

This article was originally posted on http://www.winthropdc.com/blog.