My turn

I know Maria usually does the sunsets, but I decided to take this one as it is the much rarer Atlantic sunset, or at least a Gulf of Mexico sunset....

We crossed the continent from the Pacific in 2 days driving with a few nights in Oaxaca, came out at Veracruz and have spent the past 2 days driving round the gulf so we are now heading north and facing west-ish in Ciudad del Carmen, on our way to meet Yvonne and Tony in Playa Del Carmen. They are coming out a little earlier than we expected and we have a few Mayan and Olmec sites we need to visit on route so we won't actually catch up to them until the proper east coast....

Volcanoes, a pyramid and UNESCO sites

From Mexico City we headed to the volcanoes national park of Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl, the second and third highest mountains in Mexico. Along the way we past farms and saw some old-style cultivation with the farmer guiding his plough which was being pulled by a horse. As we drove up the mountains and into clouds, it didn't bode well. As expected, both mountains were shrouded in clouds so we couldn't see very much :-( . The road through the park was interesting and at one point Mark did wonder whether or not we were on the right track. With enough ruts and potholes to shake your fillings loose, it put a massage chair to shame and we certainly felt invigorated by the time we got back onto tarmac.

We stopped for a few hours to visit the Great Pyramid of Cholula, also known a Tichihualtepetl, which is the largest pyramid (not tallest) known to exist in the world and dedicated to the god Quetzalcoatl.

So where is it? By the time the Spanish arrived, the pyramid was overgrown and the Catholic church had a practice of building on top of local religious sites. The Church of Our Lady of Remedies was built in 1594 and is a major pilgrimage destination. The site is also used for the celebration of indigenous rites. Due to the historic and religious significance of the church, the pyramid has not been excavated and restored although 8km (5m) of tunnels have been dug by archaeologists.

 Next stop, Puebla City and in 1987 the historic centre was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO (yes I know, yet another one).This city is very important to Mexicans as a number of battles have started and ended here. 

Evidence of the September 2017 earthquake could be seen everywhere, especially near our hotel with buildings being shored up and churches closed due to unstable walls, etc. 

The next day we stopped at the town of Atlixco for brunch. The town is know for its production of ornamental plants and cut flowers. In the central square, murals had been made from different flowers in pots

(The Virgin Mary - side on)

More evidence of earthquake damage done to the cathedral

As it was too far to drive to the coast in one day, we had an overnight stop in Cuernavaca. During the Spanish conquest and then later in 1523, Cortes returned and founded the Church of San Jose and constructed the first sugar plantation. The Palace of Cortes was built in 1526 and is the oldest colonial era civil structure on the continental Americas (below)

                                      

Chapel of the third order of St Francis

The cathedral was built by Cortes to double as a fortress with cannons mounted above the buttresses

Having spent over 3 weeks above 2,000m it was great getting back to sea level and spending a week in Acapulco. I found an apartment only 40m from the beach and this is where we went every day

 We went to see the cliff divers at La Quebrada. They've got some serious thrill issues. First they climb up the cliff (over 40m/135ft), which is quite impressive in itself, then they throw themselves off the top!

And now our relaxing week at the beach is done and its time to hit the road and carry on our voyage of discovery, this time heading to Oaxaca.

Mexico City (aka CDMX - Ciudad de Mexico)

Mark has already written about our arrival in the city so I won't say anymore here, however, the drivers are crazy. As a pedestrian you need to have eyes in the back of your head as traffic comes at you from all directions, even if you have the right of way at a crossing. The best thing we saw was at the huge roundabout around the Angel of Independence. If traffic wants to turn left, instead of going all the way around the roundabout and taking the last exit as would be the norm, it pulls into the inside lane facing oncoming traffic! Only in Mexico.

Mexico's capital city is both the oldest and one of only two founded by indigenous natives. It was originally built on an island by the Aztecs in 1325 and was known as Tenochtitlan. It was almost completely destroyed by the Spanish in 1521 and rebuilt. Even though the Spanish preserved the basic layout of Tenochtitlan, they built Catholic churches over the old Aztec Temples and claimed the imperial palaces for themselves. The Metropolitan Cathedral is a perfect example.

The archaeological site next to the cathedral 

The city (renamed 'Mexico' because the Spanish found the word easier to pronounce) was built on what was Lake Texcoco and drainage started in the 17th century as it is surrounded by mountains and volcanoes and has no natural drainage outlet. None of the lake water remains, however, the city sits on the lake bed's heavily saturated clay which is collapsing and since the beginning of the 20th century, the city has sunk by as much as 9m (30ft) in places.

We walked most of the city and were a little footsore after our week here, but it meant we were able to explore the many open areas, monuments and churches.

There was an exhibition of Salvador Dali's work in one of the courtyards. Here are just a couple of photos of his work on display

The Latin-America Tower (Torre Latinoamericana) at a height of 188m (597ft) and 44 stories is widely recognised as an engineering landmark as it was the world's first tall building built on active seismic land and withstood the 1985 earthquake of 8.1 magnitude without damage. 

To the north of the city is the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The old Basilica is officially known as the Templo Expiatorio a Cristo Rey and was begun in 1695 and completed in 1709.

The old Basilica was sinking so a new one was built next to it between 1974 and 1976 and can hold up to 10,000 people  

That's it for the capital. Next we head to Cholula to see the Great Pyramid, Puebla City then back down to the coast for some time on the beach in Acapulco.