Mexico City!

Sorry it has been so long since I last updated. Sean was here visiting me last week and then we visited D.F. for an awesome adventure in the big city (Mexico city=Distrito Federal.. think Washington D.C. but for Mexico). Since we packed as much stuff into 2.5 days as possible, I will give you the highlights. However, I am slowly uploading all of my photos to my flickr account if you want to see more. Overall, Mexico city was hot, congested, a little dirty, interesting, exciting, and beautiful.

Thursday night- 5.5 hr bus ride to Mexico city. Lots of old Mexican movies were played. We also were served a sandwich and Juice (take that Delta). We checked into our hostel around 11pm.

Friday-
Teotihuacan
(which is about an hour outside of D.F.) We got to climb the pyramid of the Sun and Moon. (The pyramid of the Sun is the third highest pyramid in the world!) Although the Aztecs inhabited this area, the original builders of the pyramids and city are still not fully known. But the two main pyramids and the "street of the dead" are one of the most visited and most breathtaking archeological sites in Mexico.
Virgin of Guadalupe Sack cloth-
A must see for any Mexican Catholic. If you don't know the story, check out this link. Fun fact: the Basillica of Guadalupe is the most visited Catholic shrine IN THE WORLD! (Be impressed). The Virgin of Guadalupe has come to represent Mexicans and is very important religiously as well as culturally.
Dinner- Argentinian food = lots of meat.

Saturday- Sean was visiting his ex-boyfriend who lives in D.F. so I explored the city with two guys we met at our hostel (less scary than it sounds, I promise).
Zocalo - the main city center surrounded by the National Cathedral and Palace. It was also the city center for the original Aztec City of Tenochtitlán.
Templo Mayor- This area was a parking lot until 1978 when the main Aztec temple was discovered to be buried underneath. They removed the parking lot and you can see significant remains of the temple today (there is also a good museum).
National Palace- Full of LOTS of Diego Rivera Murals
Church where Cortez is buried
Frida Kahlo Museum- Located in her blue house in Coyocan.. definitely vale la pena.
Dinner- Meatballs stuffed with hard boiled egg- strange but delicious!

Sunday-
Chapultepec - GIANT park full of museums, ice cream, lagoons, and picnics.
National History Museum- Located in a "Castle" within the park. The highlights included Napoleon's death mask, Guadalupe flag used in the revolution, and learning about things that aren't taught in American history books.
National Anthropology Museum- An amazing new building also found in the park, it was so big we had to focus our time so... we explored the "top three" civilizations in my opinion- Aztec, Mayan and Purepecha!
Modern Art Museum - Gotta see some more Frida before we leave!

So.. I think that is about it.
Also, I met a really friendly woman on my bus ride back to Patzcuaro who is moving to Morelia from Mexico City to open an "events hall". She was great and so friendly- She even offered to share her torta with me!


Also a quick note about the metra- It costs 2 pesos (<20 cents) AND it was clean AND I never had to wait more than 5 minutes for train AND it went everywhere! Sigh. If only Chicago could be like that...