Day 2- Casa de los Azulejos, Tower, Temple and Museum of Anthropology

We started Friday morning with breakfast at Sanborns in the Casa de los Azulejos (house of tiles). This was a really cool building. It was built in the 1500s, and it is covered with blue and white tiles. Here's a shot from the front, the corner, and inside, where it has the traditional Spanish courtyard. This is where you sit to eat, although today the courtyard is covered. That morning Rick got to have chilaquiles , one of his favorites from his mission, and I had some huevos mexicanos, along with some yummy juice. Again, I thought the juice cart was so colorful and beautiful I had Rick take a picture of it. I loved how everything was so colorful in Mexico!!

Next we went to the Torre Latinoamericano, Mexico City's tallest building from 1956, when it was built, until 1984. There is an observation deck at the top, and it was very impressive to look out over the city that seemed to never end. This first photo is of the Belles Artes, you might remember it from yesterday. You can see the shadow of the tower in this picture. The next three pictures are from different directions, looking out over the city. Rick could tell you which direction each one is looking (I'm not sure why we don't have a 4th), and I could make a guess, but I think I won't. It's really a very large city.... Have I said that yet?

Next we travelled up to the temple, on the Northeast side of the city, to pick up our tickets for the rededication and the cultural celebration. It was amazing how quiet and peaceful it was on the temple grounds, with the bustling city just outside the gates. We looked around the Visitor's Center, walked around the grounds and marvelled at the fact that when Rick was in Mexico, this was the only temple there. Now, there are 12. Wow!!

Next stop, the Museum of Anthropolgy, and was there ever a lot to see there. It's an amazing museum with actual pieces, and replicas of pieces from all over Mexico, from many different civilizations. The link also tells about the next picture, the Aztec calendar, or sun stone. This is the actual piece that was uncovered at Zocalo, the city square I told you about yesterday. It was initially believed to be a calendar.

This is a replica of Moctezuma's headdress. The original, which was given to Cortez, is in Vienna. This is very large. If Rick stood with his head in the center (where the head goes), the feathers extended just beyond his armspan.

They had several very cool replicas built outside of some of the ruins you can find in other parts of Mexico. I'm almost sure this one is Mayan and can be found somewhere on the Yucatan Peninsula. We were at the museum until it closed and still could have seen more. We were pretty tired by the time we left, though. Amazing cultures to learn about and wonder what life was like for them. It was also nice to get an introduction to the things we would see the next day. Day 3 included our trip to Teotihuacan, and we were able to read up about, and see pieces from the people there.

Hope you enjoyed Day 2, stay tuned for Day 3!!

P.S. Yes, Utah won, and BYU lost. Sad for the Cougs, but happy for the MWC to have an undefeated team.