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We booked a tour to Teotihuacan, some pyramids close to the city.
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We started at the Plaza de las Tres Culturas (Aztec, Spanish, Mexican) not far from downtown. It has the ruins of another temple, next to another cathedral. |
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The old sanctuary at the Basilica de Guadalupe — a tasteful old church. |
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Juan Diego, who saw the Virgin of Guadalupe. |
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I can never look at these rapturous scenes without remembering what Mr. Natural revealed to Flakey Foont:
"A VIRGIN SHALL BURST FORTH FROM THE SKY, STANDING IN A GOLDEN FLAMING CHARIOT! IN HER RIGHT HAND SHE WILL HOLD A SNAKE AND IN HER LEFT A CRESCENT MOON! A PURE WHITE STAR FROM BETWEEN HER BREASTS SHALL DESCEND UPON YOU, ENCIRCLED BY BLACK STALLIONS WITH THE WINGS OF EAGLES, EACH WITH A BOLD OF LIGHTNING BETWEEN IT'S TEETH! MEANWHILE, A MULTITUDE OF CELESTIAL VOICES WILL SING ROUND ABOUT YOU AND THE EARTH SHALL SMELL OF ROSES EVERMORE! GOOD DAY!!" —Mr. Natural in Death Valley, Zap No. 0, ©1967 Robert Crumb |
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The new, less tasteful, sanctuary at the Basilica de Guadalupe — a modern building more like a stadium. The Virgin of Guadalupe is Mexico's patron saint. This place gets 15 million visitors a year. |
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A service was going on. |
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Understated decor, as usual. |
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The original painting of the Virgin of Guadalupe was on exhibit in the new sanctuary, but you can only see it from moving sidewalks going sideways in front of it. If it were not for this crowd control, nobody would ever get to see it. |
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The Virgin of Guadalupe. |
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Concrete houses covering a hillside on the outskirts of the city. |
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We arrived at Teotihuacan, and began to explore. This is a room in the Palace of the Quetzal Butterfly. At first I thought the dotted-line mortar was an interesting historic artistic choice, but our guide said it actually indicates a restoration rather than original construction. |
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Original paint inside the palace. |
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There are two large pyramids at the site. Of course, we went to the top of both of them. This is the smaller, the Pyramid of the Moon. |
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Pyramid of the Sun, as seen from Pyramid of the Moon. |
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A modern butterfly. |
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A view up the Avenue of the Dead, from the top of the Pyramid of the Moon. |
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Some Korean tourists who wanted their picture taken with us. |
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An ancient painting of a panther. |
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Pyramid of the Sun. |
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Argentinian tourists near the top who wanted their picture taken with us. |
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View from the top of Pyramid of the Sun. |
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More excavation in progress. |
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Descending. |
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These dancers entertained us at the included lunch stop. Tours always come with inclusions. The dancers were freshly back from a tour of Germany. Germans have liked Indians for a long time. |
