For a week in October (October 16 - 21) I spent some time in the central highlands of Mexico. The trip started with a flight on Volaris Airlines out of Juarez to Mexico City and ended with a long wait to recross the border at El Paso.
On our first day we rode a double decker tourist bus, in the rain, on the top level, to the Museo Nacional de Antropología where we spent a good part of the day, seeing only a small portion of their extensive and wonderful collection. This is the largest and most visited museum in Mexico. On day of our visit (on a rainy weekday) the mass of people did not materialize and it was an enjoyable experience. This museum is reason enough to return to Mexico City.
Museo Nacional de Antropología (MNA), Mexico City, Mexico
Following the early people theme we also spent a day at Teotihuacán in the state of Mexico and a day a Choula in the state of Puebla.
Photographs from the Museo Nacional de Antropología and Teotihuacán have been posted to galleries at the www.earlypeople.org website.
Pyramid of the Moon, Teotihuacán, Mexico
Street vendor offerings at Choula, the grasshoppers are
quite good - crunch and spice.
Choula’s entrance is via a 800 meter tunnel which runs through the bottom of the pyramid (which has the largest footprint of any pyramid in the world). Other than that, the earth hill which is most of the remains of the pyramid is topped by a Spanish chapel, in the manner of religions asserting their dominance.
In Mexico City, we spent most of one day visiting two folk art (popular art) venues. One, the Museo de Arte Popular, is a dedicated to exhibiting and preserving the various folk art traditions of the nation.
Museo de Arte Popular, Mexico City
The other, a special exhibit entitled Grandes Maestros - Arte Popular Mexicano, was equally excellent. Both were simply great, especially if you enjoy this type of art.
Grandes Maestros - Arte Popular Mexicano
Mexico is justly famous for its muralists and we spent quite a bit of time absorbing murals by two of the greatest, Diego Rivera and José Clemente Orozco.
"The Aristocrats”, Jose Clemente Orozco's Mural Series
in the Escuela Nacional Preparatoria
History of Mexico, Diego Rivera Murals, National Palace, Mexico City
We spent the rest of our time visiting smaller museums and taking in the activity along the streets. Mexico City was much cleaner and greener than I had expected. A thoroughly enjoyable city and well worth a return trip. Photographs from Mexico City have been posted to the Ciudad de México galleries on this site.
