Back Home Again!

Hello!!  

Yes, we're back -- after a REALLY long day!

Up around 7 to a very fall-like day in Mexico City!  People were even wearing winter coats and sweaters!  And here we are going to the Airport about 11 am in shorts and t-shirts (with jackets). 

We had our last lovely breakfast upstairs; truly, I could get used to those wonderful breakfasts -- they certainly keep me going until dinner at night!  Checked out around 10:30 am and then down a couple of blocks to a good place to pick up our Uber.  After all the various Zocalo events -- concert on Sunday night and then some sort of political demonstration on Monday night, and we did wake up to people marching and chanting on Tuesday morning ... at any rate, quick and easy ride to the airport, and then fairly quickly through Security.  (Although there was an "older" couple ahead of us, who apparently had no idea of how to 1) pack, 2) what NOT to try and bring on an airplane, and 3) no ability whatsoever to understand instructions on how to get through the  body scanner.)  Fortunately, we had plenty of time to kill, and used our Priority Pass cards to get into a very small lounge in the International Departures area.

They provided food and beverages, although all we had was sparkling water, but had nice private bathrooms as well as comfortable seating and lots of electrical plugs.  It was nice and quiet, which was really good, because that was when a migraine decided to hit ... UGH!  Took my medication as well as some Advil, and tried to relax a bit -- I'm thinking it was probably as a result of Sunday night's concert!!  

We were able to board early and get our carry-on luggage stored.  Problem was, that even though the 2-carry-on-rule was announced in the boarding area, folks were bringing 4-5 pieces each!  And suddenly the plane was full!  Surprise!!  My favorite story is that a gal sitting right behind the exit rows, just left her suitcase right there, on the floor in front of the emergency exit -- no problem!  When the flight attendant came by, she was fairly short about it -- and the gal got to take her bag back to the front of the plane and have them check it!  Truly -- WHAT was she thinking??

The plane took off a bit late (because of having to gate check the suitcases that were brought on board as carry-on) but the flight was only about 3 hours 17 minutes, and before we knew it, we were landing at LAX.  

What really blew our minds, though, was going through Global Entry.  When we came back from Portugal, the machine took our photos and within seconds we had a print out with our photo as well as all of our information!  And we didn't even have to scan our passports!  Well, LAX did one better -- walk up to the machine, put your face between the marks, and literally, there was a man at a computer saying:  Edward, you're out!  Margaret, you're out!  Robert -- so not even paper anymore!  It took less than a second for the facial recognition to identify us.  Absolutely incredible!  [And more than a bit scary!]

LAX was its normal zoo-like place, especially at Bradley, the International Terminal.  We decided to try UBER BLACK, and quite literally, within 3 minutes, we had our driver in a lovely black Mercedes pulling over to pick us up!  It took a while to get to sister Kitty's, but we made it in under an hour and a half (rush hour on the LA freeways), so it was worth it!  (You can also take Uber-X, but then you have to take a bus to a location somewhere in the airport and call from there...considering my headache, this was the best alternative!)

Kitty had a wonderful dinner ready for us -- ham, potatoes gratin, asparagus (perfectly cooked, I might add!) and salad -- pumpkin pie (my Dad's very favorite in the entire world!) for dessert.  Everything was yummy!  I collapsed about 9 pm; not sure when R did, because I was down for the count.  However, up at 4 am this morning -- 6 am Mexico City time! -- and on the road by 5 am.  We took the Interstate 5 down through San Diego to IS-8, and made absolutely incredible time!  NO traffic jams at all (thankfully!) and got home just on 1 pm.  And SOOO nice to be here!  

So, thank you SO much for coming with us!  We're planning Egypt and Jordan in January and February, so ... until then!

Lots and lots and lots of love!

m

xxx

On to Teotihuacan!

Hola!  

 

This is our last day here, and I need to start the blog with the concert from last night.  Truly, how young people can hear anything at all, as we were, quite literally, HIDING from the noise levels last night!  Sometimes the hotel actually shook from the intensity of the sound!  We are VERY lucky that our suite is very long – we shut the double-glazed doors and proceeded down the hallway to our sitting room, which fortunately also had a door (not double glazed) that was fairly solid and helped shut out what was happening on the Zocalo right under our windows.  Added to that, I used both regular soft earplugs and then occasionally even my noise-cancelling iPods.  Again, they helped, a bit, for a while, but when the building was shaking; incredible! 

 

About 3 pm

About 4 pm

Just about time for the warm-up acts

Ballet folkloric

About 6 pm

About 6:30 pm

About 10:30 pm

It's finally over...

The “entertainment” (I refuse to dignify it as a concert) started about 5 pm with a variety of warm-up acts that included ballet folklorico.  At times, the noise wasn’t horrendous – but as we got closer to 8 pm and the main course, Grupo Firme, wow, did the noise level go up too – and I’m not talking audience levels here, I’m talking turning up the sound levels!  The Grupo played from 8 until 11 pm, but of course they “had” to do an additional set – I thought, truthfully, the crowd would NEVER disburse and go home.  Finally, it was over about 11:30 pm.  Thankfully – although something over 100,000 people don’t all leave at once – people were milling around outside for an additional 1-2 hours.  Honestly, I’ve never, ever seen that many people in one place before!  The closest I can get is at the ending of the Tom Hanks “Angels and Demons” movie when the newly elected Pope walks out onto his balcony in St. Peter’s square to meet his new audience.  It was incredible!

 

The poor clean-up crew started breaking things down and cleaning up immediately, and they were still going when the sun rose this morning.  No wonder the Zocalo always looks so nice.  My issue, though, is that after something that (so-called) stimulating, I have a difficult time getting to sleep.  And, true enough, I wasn’t able to nod off until 4 am this morning.  I was able to get about 3½ hours of sleep before we were up and getting ready to head out this morning, but boy, by about 2 pm this afternoon, my bottom was really dragging!

 

So!  Yet another lovely breakfast upstairs at the Terraza, and out about 9 to find 1) and place where an Uber could reach us, and 2) a driver to take us to Teotihuacan!  We were able to manage it fairly easily, although the first three drivers turned us down!  I think drivers just jump on jobs, and then when they realize where the party wants to go, they change their mind.  At any rate, we got a very nice driver to take us out to the archaeological site.  [Although, it seemed to us that he hadn’t been to Teotihuacan before and didn’t really know the way!  Thank goodness for Waze!]  And now, I must digress just a bit.  

 

The first time we went there, about 3-4 years ago, I had no idea what to expect.  I had no map, I had no “plan.”  Turns out, there is not just one entrance to the site – there are 5 – all spread out around the property.  Last time, we were told by a helpful person (someone probably “steering” unsuspecting tourists to their own location), that we should go to Gate 2.  This actually turned out well, as we entered at 2, and I was able to climb not only the Pyramid of the Sun, but the nearby Pyramid of the Moon as well.  We had then walked the entire walkway (Street of the Dead; charming name, yes?) and come out at Gate 1.  However, by the time we got there, we were both pretty tired, so we had lunch and didn’t spend much time at the Temple of the Feathered Serpent, which is really quite beautiful.  So, this time around, I very specifically wanted to accomplish two things – 1) Temple of the Feathered Serpent, and 2) the Site Museum.  (No way was I going to climb the Moon and Sun again, that’s for sure!)

Two upside down Indians twirling on pole

Entry gate 1

Pyramid of the Sun

Sunken courtyard with Temple in the back

Temple of the Feathered Serpent

Detail

On my way up the Pyramid

Looking at Pyramids of the Sun (right) and Moon (left)

 

Me resting half-way up

Made it to the top!

The Feathered Serpent temple was really beautiful, and not all that difficult to climb.  From there, we took it slowly and followed the signage down a road to find the museum, which is immediately on the side of the Pyramid of the Sun.  Toured the museum, which was very good, and had a nice rest in their large courtyard area.  The museum is very close to Gate 5, so we thought we’d give that one a try.  (Now part of the difficulty of getting picked up by Uber at Teotihuacan is that there is a ticket booth out near the highways, and then a large parking lot for cars with an additional close-up ticket booth.  Last time, we didn’t realize that we had to walk back out to the road, otherwise the Uber driver has to pay the entrance fee.  So…this time, we not only cleared the parking lot, but the ticket booth as well, and spotted a small museum right outside the gate.  We headed there, and actually got a pretty good cell phone signal, and I was able to call Uber.  And, believe it or not, within less than 3 MINUTES, Miguel was there to pick us up!  He was a great driver, and in less than an hour, we were back in Mexico City in time for a late lunch!

 

Love the headless pot!

Doll with articulated arms and legs!

Beautiful mural

Brazier with detail

Fresco of Tlaloc, the God of rain

Beautiful model of site looking out on Temple of the Sun

More Tlaloc, Rain God

We had him drop us off at the Hilton, and headed directly to Go Tan, our favorite Mexico City Argentinian restaurant.  Lunch was fantastic!  We both (strangely enough!) ordered the same thing – beef empanadas to start, followed by pounded boneless chicken breast cooked with garlic, a nice green salad with tomatoes and onions, and small plates of whipped potatoes (with garlic!). As R says, we didn’t DARE call another Uber to get us back to the Gran Hotel, as they probably wouldn’t let us in the car!  So, being as tired as I was, it took us awhile to get back to the Gran, but we finally made it, and, we are definitely in for the day/night!  I was able to get a nice nap, which feels great, and now I’m getting us assembled for our trek back to California tomorrow!  We were hoping for Monday Night Football on TV, but instead are inflicted by the NY Yankees vs. Toronto…UGH!  Like I said previously, for a really super hotel, their television selection STINKS!  Oh well!

 

Fabulous lunch!  Lots of garlic!

So, off tomorrow to the airport!  Take care, and sending all love and good wishes!

 

m

xxx

Talk about a crowd...

Hola!

 

Up about 7:30 am this morning to a very cool and overcast day.  And boy, what a night!  We Tucsonans are not used to rain in huge quantities, and truly, beginning about 5:30 pm last night, it rained.  In fact, it poured.  There was lightning and thunder and that, mixed with our upcoming concert’s “sound check” produced quite an effect!  Turns out that the concert we thought would be happening on Saturday night, is, in fact, happening tonight.  The entire Zocalo square is taken over with staging, lighting, special effects and SPEAKERS.  And they are definitely loud.  

 

As Diana, our mercado friend was coming for dinner last night, we were glad that she lives so close to the hotel, as it was quite a mess outside.  She was absolutely on-time, and we headed right upstairs – to see how the restaurant would manage the rain situation.  Turns out, they don’t appear to have any permanent coverings to keep out the weather (indicative, I’m assuming, of how comfortable the year-round weather must be here in Mexico City) – but they do have some protective screens that they roll down.  This definitely helped keep the actual rain out (and also, they’re not using the tables set right against the edge) but doesn’t do much about the actual temperature.  I was really glad that I had brought my jacket with me, as I kept it on all through the meal!

 

My brownie

R's steak

R's empanadas

My corn soup

Diana and me!

Dinner was very good.  While Diana had only a very interesting salad, made of some Mexican greens and other things that I had never heard of, R started with the meat empanadas and finished with a steak with veggies.  I started with their corn soup, which was good, and had a repeat of the shrimp tempura tacos which were great.  Diana had flan for dessert, and I had what they called a “brownie” – with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, which was also good.  Several times during the meal we were interrupted by the so-called “sound check”, which wasn’t too bad, although one would have to be more than a little deaf not to be able to hear this.  Can’t imagine how loud and how long it will be tonight, but we’re planning on returning to Go-Tan for a leisurely (and I accept “leisurely” here) dinner tonight.  We truly will have an excellent view of whatever goes on tonight; would love to find out how late it goes, as we’re hoping (weather permitting!) to get to Teotihuacan tomorrow, our last day in town!

 

So!  Today will be a relatively easy day, with one art museum and then Costco!  R thinks I am crazy for wanting to go there, but I think (more aimless window shopping without the windows) it will be fun.  I love seeing the products that are in other stores and comparing them to what we have in Tucson!  

 

Crowd starting to form as soon as it got light

The museum we are going to is Museo Soumaya, which is a private museum holding over 66,000 works from 30 centuries of art, including sculptures from pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica and an extensive repertoire of works by European old masters such as Rodin, Dali, and Tintoretto.  It is called “one of the most complete collections of its kind.”  The museum is named after the late wife of the founder of the museum, (and wealthiest man in Mexico), Carlos Slim.  Additionally, the building is very modern and worth seeing in and of itself!  So, looks like we picked a nice day for being inside!

 

Turns out the group that will be playing “the” concert tonight is called Grupo Firme.  The concert is set to start at 8 pm and will apparently be broadcast on not one but two television channels here!  As I say, the farther away we get, the happier I’ll be. (I’m wondering if Oaxaca would be far enough away…)  I still can remember hearing the Rolling Stones “Voodoo Lounge” concert at our house in Altadena, California, which was five MILES away from the Rose Bowl where the performance was taking place!  UGH!  (And WHY don’t they ever have CLASSICAL music concerts that loud???). Oh!  R just found that they are expecting a new concert record attendance of 140,000 people?  Could that even be possible, she asks in disbelief??

Sculpture outside of Museo

Museo Soumaya

Absolutely loved the ladies room!

Where does one even begin?

Some pre-Hispanic artifacts, but no idea of context

Interesting mural

Kitchen utensils; portraits

Asian Ivory collection

 

Do like this Renoir!

Okay … we are actually back in the hotel for the day.  And it is crazy here!  About 10:15 am we were able to get an Uber a couple blocks away from the hotel to Museo Soumaya, and in the door we went.  So … Okay … Unfortunately, honestly compels me to be the true Philistine that I am and express my feelings about the museum.  According to everything I’ve read, the collection is exceptional.  And, I suppose it is.  The museum is 6 floors high, and you start at the top and work down the wooden sloping floor to the ground floor and the exit.  The problem is that there are absolutely NO maps available, in any language, and when we started exploring, we figured out why!  Turns out, the collection – which has some exquisite pieces – are all mis-mashed together and it looks like the Barnes Museum in Philly on STEROIDS gone MAD!  Truly!  The 6^th floor has all these rafters, reminiscent of attics in days gone by, and there sculpture, paintings, photographs, letters were all lumped together.  Oh!  And there were even some pre-Hispanic artifacts, but if you could figure out where in the world they belonged and to who/what, you’d be doing something.  And each subsequent floor was the same!  There were exhibits on currency, there were stamps collected, there were books, there was furniture, there were even cooking utensils for heaven’s sake!  And absolutely nothing was really labeled except for the artist and possibly the subject matter.  We’d never seen anything like it, and we have seen some badly assembled and/or labeled museums before – i.e. Quai Branley in Paris.  But this one truly takes the cake!  (And I’m sure, if we looked hard enough, there probably WAS a cake in there somewhere!). There were murals by Rivera, and especially David Siqueiros, side by side Renoir and Degas dancers.  Absolutely NO continuity whatsoever, at least to our untrained eyes.  But, that does explain why there was no map available – who would ever want to job to try and put one together!  It could take an art historian years and years to put together!!  [I know this is Mexico, not the United States, but Mexico City is a world tourist attraction and I would think the displays warrant some multilingual descriptions.  – R]

 

Loved the juxtaposition!  Costco & Museo!

And yes, folks, they basically all lool alike!

So … after recovering (somewhat) from our shock at the display in front of us, we decided to head to Costco, which was across the street.  R opted to remain in the food court (yes, they’re the same everywhere, it seems!) and I wandered through!  Debby, you would be SOOOOO disappointed in me!  I just don’t have much of an inclination to wander anymore, and with the lines of people waiting to check out, there was NO way I was going to buy anything!  So, we recovered with Coke at the outdoor eating area, and called up Uber to get us back to the Gran Hotel.  

 

And that, folks, was when true and utter chaos took over!  Traffic in Mexico City is normally pretty bad, but today?  With something like 140,000 expected at the Zocalo (on a corner of which is our lovely hotel!) we couldn’t really get anywhere near it!  Finally, our driver got us as close as he could, and we bailed out.  Had to walk about 20 minutes, but it wasn’t too bad – and heaven knows we felt safe enough, as there are police EVERYWHERE here for the concert!  Hadn’t really thought about being included (willing or not!) in a rock concert at the tender ages of almost 82 and definitely 71, but R has declared that we are IN FOR THE NIGHT, and he AIN’T leaving.  So … he’s planning on going upstairs to the restaurant for dinner.  I’m not sure what I’m going to do.  (Actually I decided -- and took myself out to the local McDonald's and brought back through our swanky hotel a Big Mac, fries and a coke!)  He asked if we should make a reservation, but if we cannot hear one another, I mean, what is the point?  I’m thinking that if we shut our double-glazed balcony doors, then roll down the blackout curtains, and retreat farther back behind the door to our sitting room, that possibly room service would work…we’ll just have to see!  I always carry ear plugs (the soft pilot-type that are comfortable to wear) and I have my fully-charged iBuds or iPods (or whatever they’re called) – and we’ll see how it goes!  [I believe they are called iPods and they have the sound suppression feature but am not sure that will be enough to deal with what’s coming. – R]

Crowd about 2 pm

R's sandwich and fries (room service)

About 4 pm

 

So, closing for now, with the hope of a quiet Monday!

Lots of love,

m

xxx

(Have to admit that I’ve gone to hide in our sitting room, and with the door closed, it’s a bit more manageable.  How does these folks deal with hearing loss, I’d like to know!!)