Woke up early this morning and took the Metro out to a motorcycle shop to pick up some really nice Motul oil for the Yamaha and got to experience the Mexico City rush hour commute for the first time. On the way back the subway was so packed that I got pushed out as the doors were closing and my precious two liters of oil were still inside the subway car! I managed to pry the doors back open and get the oil back as I was not about to let that stuff go. Motul 300V Factory Line synthetic is precious stuff in any country, but especially rare down here.
After a nice breakfast we took the Metro down to the Museo Templo Mayor, on the excavated site of the main Aztec temple in Tenochitlan - what is now Mexico City. Started in the 1300's, the temple was continually rebuilt as it sank into the ground. I can relate to that. Mexico City is sinking faster than New Orleans and it started a long, long time ago. One of the photos shows how the city was built up in the middle of a lake with canals instead of roads. And they say New Orleans was a dumb spot to build a city... Actually, though, it was a highly defensible position in the middle of a lake so I guess that was pretty useful until the Spanish wrecked the place. Amazingly, the site wasn't excavated until the late 70's and several modern drainage tunnels run right through the precious ruins. I imagine the workers building the drainage pipes encountered the ruins (how could they not?) and decided not to say anything since it would delay their work. A six foot section of brick waste-water tunnel runs right through the middle. As the pyramid-shaped temple and associated patios sunk, they were continually rebuilt on top of themselves with more fill and wider, larger pyramids. The effect is like one of those nesting Russian dolls with five or six temples built right on top of each other as they sunk.
The museum was really nice and had some beautiful mint condition artifacts found in various compartments in the temples and some amazing statues, including one of a man dressed as an Eagle that was my favorite. Here are some pictures. The shock was delivered today in Cuernavaca (woo hoo!) so we're off to Cuernavaca tomorrow morning to see the city and meet up with the business associates of Marion's Dad who let us use their address. Another simple pleasure: All our laundry is clean. Amazing!
PS - as a side note, the European sovereign debt crisis has momentarily increased the appeal of the US Dollar as a safe parking place for global capital (it all has to sit down somewhere each night, after all). Even though this has next to nothing to do with Mexico, it has caused the Peso to cross 14 MXN to 1 USD - which is one hell of a rate. It's a great time to visit Mexico, friends and family!
After a nice breakfast we took the Metro down to the Museo Templo Mayor, on the excavated site of the main Aztec temple in Tenochitlan - what is now Mexico City. Started in the 1300's, the temple was continually rebuilt as it sank into the ground. I can relate to that. Mexico City is sinking faster than New Orleans and it started a long, long time ago. One of the photos shows how the city was built up in the middle of a lake with canals instead of roads. And they say New Orleans was a dumb spot to build a city... Actually, though, it was a highly defensible position in the middle of a lake so I guess that was pretty useful until the Spanish wrecked the place. Amazingly, the site wasn't excavated until the late 70's and several modern drainage tunnels run right through the precious ruins. I imagine the workers building the drainage pipes encountered the ruins (how could they not?) and decided not to say anything since it would delay their work. A six foot section of brick waste-water tunnel runs right through the middle. As the pyramid-shaped temple and associated patios sunk, they were continually rebuilt on top of themselves with more fill and wider, larger pyramids. The effect is like one of those nesting Russian dolls with five or six temples built right on top of each other as they sunk.
The museum was really nice and had some beautiful mint condition artifacts found in various compartments in the temples and some amazing statues, including one of a man dressed as an Eagle that was my favorite. Here are some pictures. The shock was delivered today in Cuernavaca (woo hoo!) so we're off to Cuernavaca tomorrow morning to see the city and meet up with the business associates of Marion's Dad who let us use their address. Another simple pleasure: All our laundry is clean. Amazing!
PS - as a side note, the European sovereign debt crisis has momentarily increased the appeal of the US Dollar as a safe parking place for global capital (it all has to sit down somewhere each night, after all). Even though this has next to nothing to do with Mexico, it has caused the Peso to cross 14 MXN to 1 USD - which is one hell of a rate. It's a great time to visit Mexico, friends and family!
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