Female Mariachi Band in Tlaquepaque

On our way home from Mexico City, we stopped for a meal in Tlaquepaque, a suburb of Guadalajara.  The restaurant El Patio features an all female Mariachi band every day at 3 pm.

This band was the best mariachi band we have ever heard.  Their voices were superb.  They sang Mexican tunes as well as some Sinatra tunes.

It was a long day of traveling.  We left Mexico City at 5:30 am and arrived back at our park in Lo de Marcos at 10 pm.  But we all enjoyed the trip.

Pyramids at Tenochtitlan

We left the ruins of Tlatelolco and drove about an hour to the Pyramids at Tenochtitlan.

THE OBSIDIAN CO-OP

Before entering the pyramid area, we stopped at a co-op store to see demonstrations of the making of Pulque (a beer-like drink made from Agave) and the making and polishing of obsidian statues.

The long leaves of the cactus are cut off and the centre of the plant is mashed up in the base of the plant. This is left to naturally ferment. Nothing is wasted. The leaves can be separated into sheets for use as paper. The spiny tip can be broken off and pulled out with threads of the vegetation to be used in sewing.

paper peeled off the leaf

learning about obsidian and how it is polished

This is a co-operative of local artisans that make their artwork and sell it through the co-op. Much of it is hand made and expensive and some is made with machines and more affordable.

Some very beautiful pieces with silver overlay

Mask with silver overlay

This magnificent piece is several thousand dollars...not pesos!

We decided to pick up one small piece of hand-carved obsidian which included a certificate of authenticity and paid only $120. That is dollars...not pesos. It shines with golden flakes in the direct light.

THE RUINS OF TEOTIHUACAN

pronounced tayo-ti-wah-can

The largest pyramid is the Sun Pyramid

View of some of the uncovered and un-restored ruins

Bev climbs the Sun Pyramid...248 steps

Bev and Vic at the top

The Moon Pyramid in the background over Vic's right shoulder.

Sergio, Ester's daughter and granddaughter, and Ester

An inlay of silver has been inserted in the stone at the top and it "emits energy ". All one has to do is touch it and gather it up. Hmmm...fact or fiction?

Bev gets energized the traditional way.

Sergio energizes with his nose.

Ester energizes while pointing to the sun. Maybe it is the original native way?

Some ruins were spotted with these small black stones. These indicated restoration had been done at one point.

Original mural discovered in 1963

The Moon Pyramid is not a tall as the Sun, and only partially restored.

VIEW OF THE CITY

 We left the ruins and returned for some free time in the city. Some went shopping and some went for the view from the Latin America Tower office building. This building was one of the early eath-quake proof buildings in Mexico City and survived the big earthquake in 1983. The top floors are used as an observation area.

The beautiful theatre

Bev and Birgit (part of our group from Germany)

Artwork of the original city.

The tower had a display of artwork and photos. In the painting above, the city is shown in its ancient form surrounded by a lake, with the pyramid in the centre. The centre is now the location of the city square (zocolo) with palace etc. and our hotel. The location of the Latin America Tower gives some perspective on the size and location..

Visiting the ruins of Tlatelolco

On Day 8, we started the day with breakfast at Sanborns La Casa de los Azulejos (The House of Blue Tiles).  The building was constructed in the 16th century.  The facade is blue tiles.

The restaurant was situated in the original courtyard of the building.

Walls covered in murals

Waitress hauls a cart of fresh juices

Looking down on the diners from the gallery above

The waitresses wore very pretty and unique outfits.

Our first tour of the day was the ruins of Tlatelolco within Mexico City. Tlatelolco is the twin capital of Mexico-Tenochtitlan.

The ruins were discovered when the excavation started for construction of a business tower.  The entire ruins have not been uncovered as they go under one of the city's main streets.  The site had been built on 7 times between 1337 and 1515 AD  The layers were discovered when the archeologist tunnel at the bottom towards the centre of one of the buildings.  Part of one building is exposed and the rest is under the main street.  This site was the main market place that we saw in model at the Aztec gallery in the museum. 

In the background is the oldest church in Mexico City dated at 1521

you'll notice modern buildings surround this site in the background of some of our photos

The outer layer of the building appear to be lava rock

The next layer below the lava rock appears to be limestone

There were 151 petroglyphs carved in the one building

These buildings were original covered with stucco painted with mural paintings when they were discovered.  Unfortunately the years of exposure to acid rain, etc have eroded the original facade.

Some of the altars have been dated between 1427 AD and 1467 AD

the marketplace area where 30,000 people traded on market days