30 de mayo 2010 - National Museum of Anthropoloy - Xochimilco (so-chee-mil-ko)

I got up pretty early ready to go to the museum of anthropology in downtown Mexico City. I ate huevos rancheros for the first time, it was really good! I have been struggling still with the altitude, shortness of breath and headaches.
At breakfast I got to meet Carlos, an anthropologist, who was our tour guide extraordinaire for the Anthropology Museum. We learned that the president of Mexico, Felipe Calderon, was going to be in town today to remove the remains of the heros within the Independence Monument for analyzing. This we found was a challenge in getting to the museum as there were many streets blocked due to his arrival. We arrived, albeit, with a short walk from where the taxi dropped us off.
The museum was absolutely enormous! It has twenty-three exhibit halls encompassing twenty acres. There were so many Aztec and Mayan artifacts that it would take days to see and learn about every piece. The most interesting was the remains found within the Pyramids at Teotihuacan. They were the first discovered after scientists used x-ray machines to see inside the pyramids themselves. They were excavated and put on display the same exact way that they were found.

The remains from the pyramid exactly as they were discovered.

After that we entered the Aztec part of the museum we saw the biggest and most iconic, the Aztec calendar (really known in Mexico as the Stone of the Sun). We took a group photo in front of this artifact...you will really get a feeling of it's sheer size!

The group at the Museum of Anthropology

After the museum we headed out to Xochimilco (so-chee-mil-ko) in one of the fereal districts of Mexico City. It located about 17 miles from the center of Mexico City. It really shows the sheer size of the city when you have to drive 17 miles and you still have not left the city. Xochimilco is know for their canals which gives tourists an idea of what Mexico City looked like many moons ago. Mexico City is actually constructed on an ancient lake bed and many of the buildings are noticeably sinking. Anyways, at Xochimilco visitors are treated to a Venitian-stlye gondola ride on boats called trajineras. As you are floated down the slightly crowded canals, vendors and artisans sell their wares. I spoke with a very nice young woman named Alba on my trajinera. I spoke what little Spanish I knew and felt like I could get along better than I originally thought. We were joined by a smaller trajinera for two which was where our food was prepared. We ate, enjoyed cerveza, and soaked in the sights and sounds. There were even trajineras with mariachi bands aboard. In the picture below you will also see my new friend, Alba, seated on the right.

The trajuneras of Xochimilco

We came back from Xochimilco and walked around the downtown area looking for a place to eat, but all I really wanted to do was get a dusk picture of the Independence Monument and I did...then we ate more tacos at El Camineros...mmm!

The Independence Monument at dusk.

Tomorrow we will visit the Temple Mayor located in Plaza de la Constitución (El Zócalo)which is in the same square as the National Palace. Good night for now...