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.
