Right now I am eating a cold croissant and drinking Nespresso I made in a machine that required me to keep my finger on the button in order for it to work. I don't know who is at fault, the machine or me. The croissant is cold because today I am walking to a pick up spot to join a tour group going to Teotihuacan, the pyramids outside Mexico City (hold onto your hats folks, I'm going to do some learning!) Anyway, the pick up is 7:45, before the places I know around here are open. So I got some baked goods last night and planned to utilize the Nespresso machine. The pastries went into the mini fridge because I was not sure how they would do overnight. It's not ideal but it's a hell of a lot better than me going through the entire morning without food or caffeine.
This has been a very carb-heavy trip.
Yesterday, Thursday, I took the train/subway. As promised, it was inexpensive, fast and easy. While I did not do this on purpose, the first train I got in was just for women and children. I had heard about these cars where women could go to avoid harassment. It was almost empty which was nice, although this might have been due to the time of day.
I had passed the Palacio de Bellas Artes on Monday but did not go in, because at the time, I didn't realize one could go in to see the art without seeing a performance. The art was great, the murals were incredible:
A lot of them centered around struggle and revolution. A man named Arturo decided to take me over to a Diego Rivera mural which is impossible to get a good picture of due to the size and the structure of the building. But here it is:
He went into quite a bit of detail of the depiction of capitalism on the left and communism on the right, different historical figures, what the expressions of the people meant, and the imagery in the atom shape in the middle.
(I must tell you I just got a text from the tour operator with the link to the map the meet up spot and a picture of the building so I know I'm in the right place.)
Anyway, Arturo told me there are a few Diego Riveras in SF and I am embarrassed to say I don't think I have seen them. I should look that up.
This is what the building looks like:
Literally around the corner is the Palacio Postal. It's a post office built in the early 20th century, designed by an Italian architect, built by a Mexican engineer, as a way to symbolize the time period Mexico was ruled by president Porfirio Diaz. It's a functioning post office, but also has art exhibits and a really beautiful interior. I had not planned to visit, but it was right there, and I had read about, so figured I'd go in.
It's really hard to take pictures that capture it.
From there I walked to Templo Mayor. It's a ruins in the middle of the historic Center. (Grammar police, don't come for me.) I didn't go in, but checked it out from the outside:
I ate lunch at a recommended place nearby. There are tons of great restaurants. One does not need recommendations, but it helps my decision-making neurosis to have some direction. It was pretty inside. I ate an enormous tamale.
I walked to an artisan market. It was so dense, I lost track of where I was inside.
The unfortunate thing that keeps happening is that I use navigation on my phone which uses a lot of power and then I am in danger of my phone turning off so I have to go back to my hotel to recharge. That is what happened here. So I left after having just bought my parents something they absolutely do not need.
I had dinner at a place diagonally across the street from my hotel. They are on a rooftop and I can see it from my 4th floor window.
My trainer is also here, and she had invited me to join her friend and her to Xochoimilco, which is a part of Mexico City where you can get on a boat and float down a canal while mariachi bands play and people get drunk. Unfortunately she is going today so I can't join them. But I may meet them for dinner.
Okay I have to do my sunblock ritual now so I can go meet the van about a 20 minute walk away.
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