Goin' Spelunking

For the final post from this cannonball run, I'll leave it light on the text.

....

OK, OK, I admit it, at this point in the trip I wasn't totally into seeking a translation for everything our guide said. Besides, the visual experience seemed much more important.

I did have one thing translated and that was the formation in the final image has been dubbed "The Largest Champagne Bottle."

Santa Prisca At Night

Here's Santa Prisca at night from the mountain that overlooks the city of Taxco. Taxco has it's own version of Christ the Redeemer at the top of the mountain, and we drove up there at night to see the city from high above.

I need to actually visit Rio de Janeiro now to see the real thing. After visiting Cuzco in Peru and now Taxco in Mexico, each with their own very large Jesus statue, I have to go see the real McCoy and visit my second Seven Wonders of the World.

Zócalo Square, Mexico City

These are a collection of shots from the first couple of days in the city. Zócalo is where the National Palace is located and thus has a lot of members of the military around all day. We stayed at the Hotel Catedral tucked away a couple of blocks behind the Cathedral.

During the afternoon on the second day in the area, we climbed to the top of the bell tower (the one of the left). And I think I need to start admitting to myself that I'm somewhat uncomfortable with heights. We climbed some ridiculous spiral staircase once we were on the roof and I just felt entirely uneasy. Quite a moment to arrive at this realization considering I've been skydiving.

The flag is gigantic. While we were there, and still now in the images, I can't quite get used to how big the flag is. It just strikes me. There was another one on the other side of the city, also at a location frequented by the military.

We should really put up monstrous versions of our stars and stripes at more locations in the U.S., but I digress.

Every morning at 8 a.m. a group of MPs (or in this case, PMs) would stream out of the National Palace and form a large, square perimeter around the bare flagpole about 15 minutes before the top of the hour. Ten minutes after that, three groups of soldiers would march out with their weapons, followed by about ten soldiers carrying the rolled up flag.

It was really neat to witness. We don't do military parades in the United States and this was the closest thing to that I'd seen in person. The sound of hundreds of combat boots striking the pavement in unison, echoing off the stone walls of the buildings in the square only added to the experience. I felt like I could begin to understand what a Soviet military parade might have been like at the height of the Cold War. It was loud.
Once the soldiers finished parading around to the far side, they began to raise the flag. Everyone held a crisp salute.

The Square was also kind of interesting at night. It was pretty safe to go out and about, at least that was my impression with the National Palace as a backdrop in the area. There were plenty of people wandering around the shops on the outside of the square and mingling around the flagpole too. The large sign that's blown out in the picture is a countdown to the day of the revolution and the day of independence - if I remember correctly. Either way, there were two countdowns. Allegedly, the word on the street has people wondering if there will be another revolution when one of the countdowns hits. I was told that no matter what it will be quite a chaotic party/moment/event.

Travel notes

Just some random observations and thoughts that occurred to me throughout the week.

• After only a couple of days in Mexico, even though I'm linguistically challenged, I really feel as if I could hold a decent, basic conversation if I stayed here for a month. I think I could pick up Spanish.


• I had my very own Mexican nightmare the first night I was here in the country. I went to buy a cup of ice cream and the cashier kept telling me it was only 1400 pesos. Then when I would reach in my wallet I'd realize that was actually about 100 USD. This happened over and over and over again until my brain broke the cycle and all I wanted to do was return the ice cream. Thankfully, I woke up before I got stuck on trying to return food.


• I really miss ice. We came across a restaurant in Taxco that purified their water for tourists so it was alright to drink their water. More importantly, it was OK to drink their Sangria with ice. I think this is easily the one thing I miss the most when I travel outside the states.


• International travel is changing for me. I remember my first couple of trips away from the U.S., I remember being so struck by stupid things like air quality, traffic congestion or driving habits. The more I branch out the easier it is to look past these minor differences and make other more important cultural and historical observations. I realize just how unique the U.S. is because I see a lot of similarities between the handful of other countries I've been to - even though they're spread across different continents.


• This was an intensely personal trip for me, and I found myself distracted - I didn't have my head in the game and, unfortunately, it shows in the images I brought back. Everything worked out as well as could be expected, I think, in the end, but I know I missed some shots. There's no excuse for that.


• This was also a ridiculously fast trip; I want to go back. There's also so much to see too - this country is huge. I'd love to go to the Yucatan.

Taxco, MX

Postcard Taxco (Pronounced Tahs-ko, not Tax Co. - Yes, I needed help with this at the beginning of the trip).
This is a beautiful town right out of a movie.

It was pretty easy to see James Bond or Jason Borne chasing someone through the narrow, cobblestone streets or shooting down a steep alleyway on a dirt bike. So I've got a pretty warped mind, sue me.

The town of about 100,000 people is nestled on a mountainside in central Mexico, about two and a half hours South by Southwest of Mexico City. The central square is unmistakable: the world-renowned Santa Prisca Cathedral overlooks a gazeebo in a small park, and the area is lined with quaint shops and restaurants.


It's OK to call it a world famous Cathedral because it landed itself on the top 100 list of most endangered monuments in the world by some New York society sponsored in part by American Express.

Incidentally, they weren't going to grant the Cathedral this status, protection and grant money for restoration if they didn't post the plaque from the organization. Some local historians lobbied to have it put on a stand just outside the front door, but they ended up screwing it into one of the outer walls, much to the chagrin of those involved in the restoration process. Go figure. Restoration is scheduled to be completed later in 2009.

Out and About in Mexico City

What's a visit to a foreign country without going on one of the standard tours through one of the countless nondescript tour companies (even if you do have your own personal tour guide who could lead the tour herself)? Still quite an enjoyable experience when you can balance it out with getting to see other parts of the country on your own.

After hitting up some Aztec ruins inside Mexico City, we paid a visit to the Basilica de Guadalupe. This is a huge church, as evidenced by the on-duty priest under the tent outside performing mass blessings. It's a popular stop for tourists and locals alike. Many people come from all over to have something blessed - so there's always a priest out there to serve the countless modern-day pilgrims.

Across the street from the Basilica, at the obligatory "bathroom stop" that just happened to be inside a souvenir shop, I saw the biggest Rosary ever.



If religious paraphernalia wasn't your thing, the street vendors just outside the shop could usually fill the void.

As an aside, I really regret not getting a detail shot of the marionettes or doing a quick portrait of this man with his puppets because they were an interesting slice of life, but that begins to get into my overall general disappointment with my photography that came out of this trip. More on that later.