Adiós Mexico City

Had breakfast in the hotel each morning. In Mexico City, it was a buffet that included some sort of meat in a sauce (today, I tried it and it was wonderful, kinda like pot roast); bacon; sausages (They were hotdogs . . . um . . .ok?); bacon; ham; scrambled eggs; fresh fruit: pinapple, papaya, cantalope & bananas; cereal; yogurt; coffee; milk; and several fresh-squeezed juices. Below, Maggie plays the role of Vana White of the buffet table:

Our first stop today was the Museum of Anthropology in Chapultapec Park. Here, we viewed the best collection in the world of pre-Columbian artifacts. The building has been remodeled and now the exhibits make it even easier to appreciate the vast wealth of items on display. To the right, Sam stands in front of the Tloloc, the rain god at the entrance. Below is a view of one of the new displays with a reconstruction of the Temple of Quetzalcuatl to help put the artifacts in context. The lighting and made the temple look stunning. Although we didn't have time to see that temple's ruins when we visited Teotihuacan this time, I have seen that temple before, and it we impressive to see this vivid reconstruction and consider how impressive it must have been to see in its prime.




















Our next stop was the Palacio Nacional, where we saw some Diego Rivera murals and the students were given a list of things to find in each mural. To the left is a picture of the OTHS group on the second floor of the building with a view of the fountain in the middle of the courtyard. As a result of the Swine Flu scare, we all had our temperature taken with an infrared gun and were given two squirts of hand sanitizer as we entered the working government building.

Our last stop in the city was the Catedral Metroplaitano. I snapped a quick shot of Rory and Maggie as we were headed in, and it turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself!
:-)
The cathedral has undergone some massive refurbishing. As a result, this was the best I've ever seen in it. All scaffolding has been removed, the interior has been cleaned and much work has been done to level the building somewhat. (It has been sinking into the ground, like many of the older buildings here in the city, which have been built on weak soil.)

Next, we got on the bus for a 7-hour drive to Oaxaca. The landscape was rugged and mountanous with some interesting cacti.

When we got to the hotel and checked in, the kids were excited about the rooms, since each were different in this old, remodeled convent with a pool!

























After unpacking, we all headed out the hotel, only to find a parade passing by directly in front of the hotel!!! We all stopped, took pictures and got showered with candy!

We ate dinner on our own that night, so after walking around the main square, our group of four decided on a restaurant and ordered. We all got something different. Sam ordered tlayuda, a local specialty, which is a 12" tortilla with beans, cheese and beef. She folded it in half and tried eating it like a taco. That didn't work too well. It was BIG, but very good, as were all our meals, helping us end our first night in Oaxaca on a good note.