México D.F.

México, D.F. – I will probably always call it that even though the name of the city officially changed just this year to Ciudad de México – or Mexico City as it has always been called in English. This was where I spent my last day in Mexico, back in the city where I spent my very first day in Mexico twenty-five years ago.

México, D.F. – probablemente siempre lo llamaré así, aunque cambió el nombre de la ciudad oficialmente este año a la Ciudad de México. Allí pasé mi último día en el país, en la misma ciudad justo donde había pasado mi primer día en México hace veinticinco años.

Mexico CityMexico CityMexico City

In the morning I went to work with Luis, and on the way we passed by the Angel of Independence – a famous landmark in Mexico City. I have fond memories of this place as a high school student on my first visit. I was happy to see him again.

Por la mañana fui al trabajo de Luis y en camino pasamos por el Ángel de la independencía– un lugar famoso de la capital. Tengo buenas memorias de ese sitio de mi primera visita a México cuando era alumna de colegio. Estaba feliz de verlo otra vez.

The Angel of IndependenceThe Angel of Independence

Luis is a French teacher at a school for kids studying to go into the tourist industry. It was fascinating to visit the school and interesting to watch how he conducts class. He is a very good teacher, and I can tell that he really cares about his students.

Luis es profesor de francés en un instituto para jóvenes estudiando para trabajar en el turismo. Fue fascinante visitar el instituto e interesante ver cómo da clases él. Es un profesor muy bueno y se nota que tiene mucho cariño por sus estudiantes.

French class in Mexico CityFrench class in Mexico City

After his last class we went to the Cathedral of the Virgin of Guadalupe.

Después de la última clase fuimos a la cathedral de la Virgin de Guadalupe.

The Virgin of GuadalupeThe Virgin of GuadalupeThe Virgin of Guadalupe

It did not seem to have changed much from my memories of it, but I paid a lot more attention to the details this time around.

No parece haber cambiado mucho de mis memorias de ella, pero esta vez presté más atención a los detalles.

The Virgin of GuadalupeThe Virgin of GuadalupeThe Virgin of Guadalupe

This statue of Pope John Paul II was new.

Esta estatua del Papa Juan Pablo II es nueva.

Statue of Pope John Paul II

From there we took a bus downtown. Just by chance we happened upon this archaeological dig. This was covered by buildings last time I was in the city. The ruins were discovered a few years ago. It is heartbreaking to me to think that there are even more ruins under all of the buildings in the center of the city. Why did the Spanish think that it was necessary to destroy those marvels of engineering?

De allí tomamos un autobús al centro. Por casualidad llegamos a una excavación arqueológicoo. Esto estaba cubierto por edificios la última vez que yo estaba en la ciudad. Las ruinas se encontraron hace unos años. Me entristece pensar que debajo de todos los edificios alrededor del centro hay más ruinas así. ¿Por qué pensaban los españoles que era bueno destruir esas maravillas de ingeniería?

Archeological Dig Mexico CIty

While we were there a man stopped us to explain what we were looking at. He was very knowledgeable, and I enjoyed listening to him for a while, but as time went on and he kept talking, I got distracted by this little lizard. Can you see him?

Mientras estábamos allí un señor nos paró para explicar lo que estábamos viendo. Era muy sabio y me gustó su discurso por un rato, pero después de mucho tiempo de escucharle hablar, me distrajo este lagartito ¿Lo ves?.

Archeological Dig Mexico CIty

Unfortunately, the National Palace was closed. The Zocalo, or main plaza, was also fenced off. I really wanted to see Diego Rivera’s murals in the Palace again and take a 360⁰ photo from the center of the plaza.

Desafortunadamente, el Palacio Nacional estaba cerrado. También había una cerca alrededor del Zócalo, o la plaza principal. Yo tenía muchas ganas de ver los murales de Diego Rivera en el Palacio otra vez y sacar una foto de 360⁰ del centro del Zócalo.

Zocalo, Mexico CityZocalo, Mexico CityZocalo, Mexico City

We did get some nice pictures from a restaurant at the top of one of the buildings across from the Palace.

Al menos pudimos sacar unas fotos buenas de un restaurante en la cima de uno de los edificios enfrente del Palacio Nacional.

Zocalo, Mexico CityZocalo, Mexico CityZocalo, Mexico City

 

They were filming a television show a couple of tables over from us. From what I could tell, it was a bout a five-minute segment that took them almost an hour to film because they kept doing take after take of the same lines. After they finished almost all of the other patrons went up to the actors to ask for pictures with them. They were very good natured about it and took pictures with every person that asked. Luis and I did not care to have our pictures taken with them.

Estaban filmando un episodio de un programa de televisión unas mesas de dónde nos sentábamos. Parecía que duraron más de una hora en filmar unos cinco minutos de televisión porque repetían los mismos versos una y otra vez. Después de terminar casi todas las personas en el restaurante pidieron fotos con ellos. Eran de buen humor y sacaron fotos con todos. Ni a Luis ni a mí nos interesaba una foto con ellos.

Filming in Mexico City

Unfortunately, due to a confusion about the dates, that was my last day in Mexico. I thought that I had purchased my ticket for Tuesday night, but I bought it for Monday night instead. I took the red eye flight at 12:15 and arrived in NYC at about 6:00 the following morning. It was nice to have the extra day at home with Douglas and the animals before leaving for Argentina that Friday… at least that was when I was supposed to leave, but that is a story for another day.

Desafortunadamente, por una confusión de fechas, el lunes fue mi último día en México. Pensaba que estaba comprando un pasaje para la noche de martes y lo compré para el lunes. Salí en un vuelo que salió a las 12:15 y llegué en Nueva York a eso de las seis de la mañana. Me gustó tener otro día en casa con Douglas antes de irme para Argentina el viernes… o al menos eso era el día que pensaba viajar, pero eso es cuento por otro día.

Zocalo, Mexico City

If you would like to catch up on my other posts from Mexico – Arrival, Chichén Itzá, Tulum, Coyoacán, or you can visit links to all of my travels of the past four years.

Si te gustaría leer los otros artículos de mi viaje a México – La llegada, Chichén Itzá, Tulum, Coyoacán o puedes ver los vínculos a los relatos de todos mis viajes de los últimos cuatro años.

Happy Travels!

¡Feliz viaje!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
About

I am a teacher, traveler, artist, writer, homemaker and a whole lot more. In January 2009, I bought the Cape of Dreams. It was the second house that I had ever owned, but it was the first that I bought by myself. I now live in the house with my husband Douglas, our dog Kahlua, and Crème de Menthe, the cat. Because, what life is complete without a little Kahlua and Cream? I love arts and crafts of all kinds, and I refinish furniture as well. We are slowly redoing our entire house. You can read about my projects on my blog www.CapeofDreams.com

3 Comments on “México D.F.

  1. Probably a good thing that you had an extra day at home to rest. Travel is fun and interesting but after about 10 days I’m ready to be home for a while. I was just told the other day that the people of Argentina are warm and loving and the country is beautiful. I won’t go into the negatives in this forum. Hopefully you wont have any. Jo @ Let’s Face the Music

    • Douglas and the furry ones were glad to have me for that extra day. This has been a traveling summer for me. I have spent more days away than I have at home. My experience in Argentina was positive. I have also heard a lot of negatives about the country – from Argentinians and foreigners that have lived there, but I certainly do not have anything bad to say about the country. I am excited to start writing about it and sharing my stories.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.