Mexico 2026 - Mexico City - Mayday, Mayday!

 It was May 1st, May Day. In Mexico May Day is not about dancing around a maypole or giving flowers to one another. It is a holiday, Mexican Labor Day, and a bit on the political side. A large rally was planned at the Zocalo, the immense public space in front of the cathedral. Offices, businesses and many shops and some restaurants are closed for the day. 

I was feeling a bit better, we struck out for the park, stopping at a bakery first for breakfast. The streets were eerily quiet, the thongs and madcap traffic we had become adjusted to absent. 

Our plan was to visit the castle in the park. We'd been told it afforded expansive views of the city. The road leading up to it certainly does. We saw a small lake with paddleboats in the park we weren't aware of previously, as well as some interesting modern architecture off in the distance. 

As we continued to ascend the steep incline the castle comes into view. It was constructed between the mid 18th to mid 19th centuries. As I watched it rise above me I imagined myself being drawn up to it in a carriage on a pilgrimage to visit the king. It is now the National History Museum. Standing in line for tickets a security guard asked, in accented English, if we were over 60. We nodded yes and he escorted us to a shorter line. I thought perhaps we would get a discount on the already modest ticket free. What we discovered was that seniors were free. I was given the ticket without question, my Travel Buddy had to show an i.d. I was a little depressed. I consoled myself by noting that he was only 60 and I 8 years older. I grasp at whatever straws I can in life.

The spaces inside were grand and possessed a quiet, dignified, stately opulence. The exhibit cards were all in Spanish so we had to surmise what it was we were looking at. A pleasant surprise was a large scale painting by Orozco, the artist first introduced to me by his murals in Guadalajara. He has, along with Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, become a personal favorite of  mine in terms of Mexican art. Benito Juarez is depicted in the center. Figures in one of the lower corners display the anger which permeates so much of his work. 

As it happened I was not as well as I thought I was earlier in the morning and after the castle had to return to the hotel. My Travel Buddy went off to explore the zoo, an attraction I had experienced on my first trip to Mexico City years before. We had a long travel day ahead of us and I wanted to conserve my energy for it. 







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