Mexico City

Set off from hotel whilst there was chill in the air,  but that certainly changed later.  We visited the archaeological

 Museum, a stunning modern building, absolutely huge, showing the full history of the development of Mexico, including both Aztecs and Mayas and the effects of the Spanish invasion. This will be a good foundation to the various sites we will visit during the trip.

This tells the story of the history of life and is remarkably accurate in its representation.

We spent a fare bit of time here and were desperate for a drink as we had to leave our water outside, so we persuaded our museum guide Pepe, to have a coffee stop, to which I added a muffin. A good move as we didn't finish our tour til about 3pm by which time I had devoured my packet of nuts and fruit, and bought and eaten a banana.  

It being a Sunday there were a lot of people around, and many stalls and activities.

We then went to the Palace of Culture where we saw many murals of Diego Riviera; the main one told the complete history of Mexico and others illustrated parts of the culture.  They are quite spectacular.  I later saw more in the Palace of Arts. They generally have a strong political statement illustrating the anomalies  and contradictions of the supposed improvement of some of the ruling classes. In the gallery there were modern pieces by other artists, this genre of large-scale murals seems to be part of Mexican culture.

We next visited the cathedral, which like many I have seen here and in both central and South America, fuse the various cultures in their symbolism. 

We absorbed the culture of the city walking along the pedestrian shopping street which was packed with people shouting their wares from all directions. Commercialism is  certainly alive and well here, a real contrast to Ometepe!  There were some interesting buildings, but the lady I bought the banana and orange from was less than happy to change the only note I had! 

There were some interesting buildings, a real eclectic mix of old and new. I parted from the group here, glad to have a little time alone and visited the gallery, sat in the park and headed my way back down one of the main streets, stopping for afternoon  tea and topping up my fruit and nuts. Why do cafes put cold milk on the tea bag before the hot water, it's  just impossible to squeeze out any flavour. Think I'm now ready for a glass of wine and proper meal. And I was joined by Alison which made for a sociable meal.