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Mexico 2026 - Mexico City - The Museum of Anthropology

 The park lies on both sides of the busy main avenue. Crossing over we headed towards the much lauded Museum of Anthropology. A towering water feature dominates the central courtyard. The museum contains an extensive collection of artifacts divided by region allowing visitors to appreciate the many cultures of the Mexican people.  The exhibits showcase daily life, religious rituals, including the art that accompanied them as well as war traditions. The curating is outstanding. Burial plots are recreated so you can view what goods that were left with the dead for use in the afterlife. At one point a passage behind the facade of a temple recreates the trough where a number of sacrifice victims were discovered during excavation. We devoted several hours to exploration before enjoying lunch in the well priced museum restaurant and heading back to our hotel.  Today the Paseo de la Reforma is lined, for the most part, with modern highrises like those found in cities worldwide. ...
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Mexico 2026 - Mexico City - Art in the Park

 In an effort to escape the heat we had been experiencing we walked to the Bosque de Chapultpec, Mexico City's main park, via the esplanade of the Paseo de la Reforma, the main avenue of the city. Based on the Champs Elysee in Paris, the throughfare has lanes of traffic on each side with a shaded park space in the center.  We headed to the Museum of Contemporary Art. Galleries surround a central atrium with a opaque stone dome through which the sun shines through. It's a simple space of swirling steps and circular walkways. It houses an impressive collection of works by Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo and Orozco, whose murals we had seen in Guadalajara earlier in the trip. Despite the importance of it's collection in terms of Mexican artists it is small and manageable. Surrounding it is a sculpture garden which provided an opportunity for a pleasant, tree shaded stroll. 
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Mexico 2026 - Mexico City - Lunch and Dinner and More Exploring

 We went on a search for a particular restaurant set among an area of department stores. Here, blocks from the main cathedral, the architecture changes from colonial to Art Nouveau. I could imagine the city's well heeled strolling through the beautifully appointed stores at the turn of the 20th century.  We enjoyed a languid lunch before getting back on the Metro and returning to our hotel. On the way back from the station we purchased 2 one and a half liter bottles of water. They are gone within 24 hours.  We took an early evening walk through an area close to our hotel dotted with gay bars and shops selling near lurid swim and club wear. There is construction on the streets in this small area. Dust and noise blended with the bright lights, dance music and glittery spandex. It was early, the clubs and bars were open but empty awaiting the onslaught that would occur later.  We headed off to dinner and returned back to our room with a view. 
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Mexico 2026 - Mexico City - The Centro Historico

 The next morning we hopped on the metro and headed towards the Centro Historico, there are cars on the train that are reserved for women and children. In the transfer station stands an ancient Aztec shrine. Uncovered during the construction of the subway it is a pyramid to the wind god. It is considered the smallest archeological zone in a country full of them.  The main station for the historic center of town is under intense construction. We wove our way around debris and headed up the stairs. The National Cathedral overwhelms the view. Vendors line the sidewalk which runs alongside it. We are dazzled by the opulence of the interior.  Coming out we headed down the the main street to the cathedral at the opposite end. The walk was a riot of sights and sounds. Cars, motorcycles, vendors shouting out their wares set against a backdrop of colonial buildings centuries old. The domes and spires of the ubiquitous churches are seen peeking over rooftops, strands of brightly co...
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Mexico 2026 - Bus Trip to Mexico City - Thunder and Lightening Very Very Frightening

 All went well, we got to the bus station and the bus left on time. We passed field after field of crops. I was astounded by the amount of agriculture in this part of Mexico.  I began to see a few dark clouds in the sky. They quickly thickened and soon the bus was hurtling down the road in near darkness which quickly changesd to total darkness. I saw a jagged flash of lightening , then another, then another. Rain started to dampen the windows of the bus. The roads we are on are not lit. The driver, most likely in an excess of caution, slowed the bus to a crawl.  More lightening, then thunder. Rain began to pelt at the windows more violently. I envisioned arriving in Mexico City in a full blown storm, our luggage soaking wet. Fortunately, as we neared Mexico City, the worst of the storm passes and by the time we pull into the station it has reduced itself to a mere sprinkle. The Mexico City metropolitan area has a population of over 20 million people. The station is large ...
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Mexico 20206 - San Miguel de Allende - A Last Quick Check in With the Expats

 My Travel Buddy and I pack our bags and walk a few blocks to a tiny nail salon called The Pink Lady where the two female expats are getting mani/pedis. They suggest a place for my Travel Buddy and I to have lunch which is on the way back to the hotel. It is our final meal in San Miguel de Allende before catching the bus to Mexico City. As we're eating they walk by giving us one last chance to say goodbye. We return to our hotel, bid farewell to our hosts, order an Uber and make our way to the bus station. 
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Mexico 2026 - San Miguel de Allende - I Have Been to a Marvelous Party (A Noel Coward Reference, Look it Up)

 We heard the music from our room and shortly headed up to the roof in carefully chosen outfits for the monthly party. We talk with the hosts and the other couple we met at the impromptu pool party on Friday. We are introduced to other guests. A man is dancing with flags as he has for probably over 40 years. A woman, near 70, by the looks of her, begins to dance with him. I'm confronted with a guest wearing the exact same neck chain as I . A man with long, straight black hair wearing a flowing robe carries a fan, which he flutters and snaps, weaves in and out of a conversation with us.  The music is fun, old school dance tunes. I and my Travel Buddy join the now ample dancing crowd. I dance as I haven't in years. A smile stays plastered on my face under my straw, go to, trilby hat.  I ask an attractive man in a snug black tee shirt to take a photo of me and my Travel Buddy with the city perched on the hill behind us as the sun begins to set. Everyone is open, approachable...
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