Time Travels

Photo by Geoff Carter

By Geoff Carter

My wife and I just returned from a six-week stay in beautiful Mexico. We spent the bulk of that time in Puerto Vallarta, enjoying our time at the public beaches, lounging by the condo pool, soaking up the local culture, and attending the numerous church and Día de Los Muertos festivals. It’s a beautiful seaside city, rich in history and tradition, and we love it, but when we traveled to Mexico City, we were charmed and amazed at the grandeur, the beauty, the sophistication, and the endless layers of history embodied in monuments, memorials, and parks throughout this thriving city, and the faces of the people who inhabit it.

La Ciudad de Mexico, CDMX, is a sprawling metropolis populated by over twenty-three million people. It is situated in the Valley of Mexico, ringed by the Sierra Nevadas—punctuated by El Popocatepetl, an active volcano. We flew directly over El Popo on the way in, and although he was sleeping, it was still an awesome site. Mexico City is built on the site of Tenochtitlan, the ancient Aztec capital that was conquered by the ruthless Spanish conquistadors. It is a city literally built on layer upon layer upon layer of history.

The wide sidewalks are crowded with businessmen, students, tourists, and office workers bustling about their business while bicycles weaved in and out of traffic and transit police regulated the seemingly random traffic patterns swinging around the gargantuan roundabouts. It was controlled chaos. I was very much reminded of a New York City type of vibe—maybe NYC on steroids. 

We stayed close to the El Angel district. On the first day, we walked down Reforma to the Bosque de Chapultepec, (Chapultepec Forest), a huge, wooded park centered on Chapultepec Hill. Historically, this was originally the home of ancient Aztec royalty, then to the colonial rulers. This neighborhood, named for the Angel of Independence monument dedicated to the Mexican War for Independence, pulses with a dynamic urban feel, pulsating with life and vitality. This victory column is topped with a gold-plated statue of Nike, the Goddess of Victory. Dozens of skyscrapers line the tree-lined Paseo de la Reforma, the main artery coursing through the heart of the city, 

As we walked through the older section of the Bosque, past the Modern Art Museum, Museum of Anthropology, the Zoo, various monuments, and Chapultepec Castle, I was struck with the size of everything. The bosque itself was huge, the monuments were—well, monumental, the tall architecturally innovative buildings, and the vastness of green in our part of the city was breathtaking.

Unfortunately, as we were only going to be in the city for a few days, we only had time to get a cursory look at these sites. The seven white marble columns of the Monumento de Los Ninos Heroes, the beautiful Castle of Chapultepec, and the massive El Sargento—the remnants of a cypress tree planted in 1460 by Netzahualcoyotl, scholar and ruler of the city-state of Taxcoco, were just short stops in our walking tour. I did linger at El Sargento for a moment, trying to fathom its existence. It had been planted in 1460, before the conquistadors, before Mexico became part of Europe’s New World and its remnants still stood. After the tree died in 1969, its fifty-foot trunk has been carefully preserved and memorialized, becoming yet another layer of the past.

History was all around us. The dense woods seemed full of the ghosts and remnants of the past. As we walked through the park, the years peeled away, revealing the rich heritage of the Mexican people. From Netzahualcoyotl’s indigenous Pre-Colombian Mexico to the Spanish Colonial Period to the sacrifices memorialized during the Mexican War for Independence, the art, architecture, and memorials dedicated to the great people of this country seemed to be everywhere.

The next morning, we decided to walk to the Metropolitan Catedral, a sixteenth-century cathedral, the largest in Latin America, and the Zocalo, the adjoining the main plaza of the city, historically a gathering place going back to ancient Aztec times. This immense space is over 57,000 square meters. 

During our lengthy walk down, we passed by the magnificent Palacio de Bellas Artes into the Juarez Park, and then into the Centro district, walking through block upon block of beautiful older buildings just north of the Zocalo. Because we approached the Catedral on its west side, we weren’t able to see the full length and breadth of the main plaza. As we turned the corner, the sight was simply breathtaking.

The east side of El Zocalo is bordered by the National Palace, home to the National Archive and Treasury Offices as well as the residence of the president. During our visit, El Zocalo was hosting the 23^rd Feria Internacional del Libro del Zocalo—a huge book fair. Seven massive tents, carpas, held two hundred eighty-seven vendors selling everything from children’s books, the classics, graphic novels, educational materials, and more. Two large venues, the Foro Pancho Villa and the Foro Salvador Allende, hosted talks by such luminaries as Tania Tinjero, Mel Zhuo, and Ruperta Batista.

After exploring the fair, we headed into the Catedral. Once again, the sheer size of the structure was amazing. Over twenty-one chapels, many of them fenced off, populated the interior. Its size, beauty, and absolute grandeur were a tribute to the power and influence—as well as its knack for acquiring Mexican gold—at the time. Rumor has it that the main altar was built over an altar dedicated to human sacrifice—which was not outside the realm of possibility. 

Directly to the east of the Catedral Metropolitan is the Templo Mayor, ancient ruins that were accidentally discovered during an underground construction project in the 1970s. These strututres have been carefully preserved and a museum dedicated to the site is situated next door. The overlapping palimpsests of history were no more evident than when gazing over the Templo ruins to Metropolitan Catedral just next door. One civilization had been conquered by the other, but never completely subjugated. While Mexico is now a predominantly Catholic country, indigenous religious beliefs have managed to survive. Dia de Los Muertos is a case in point. As much as the Church tried to subsume the idea that dead souls return to their loved ones once a year, the belief has survived and thrived.

On our way back to the hotel, we started through the bustling blocks of shops, homes, and street vendors. Street musicians played, vendors hawked, and people ate at the ubiquitous taquerias. Somehow, we took a wrong turn and found ourselves walking along blocks that were run-down. Garbage was piled in some corners and the buildings sported graffiti. Even though we were only a few blocks from the heart of the city, these poorer sections of town were grim reminders that some constants live through every layer of history. 

In Mexico, as in every civilization, there are the haves and have nots. We were lucky enough to enjoy the beautiful and eclectic Polanco, Roma Norte, and La Condesa neighborhoods. Many don’t get there. Like New York City, Chicago, London, or any of the world’s other great cities, Mexico City has its problems, but, still, without a doubt, it is one of the world’s modern wonders. There are not many places where a two-mile walk can transport you five thousand years. Evidence of the pride, dedication, elegance, honor, and determination of the Mexican people throughout the ages is everywhere.

Two and a half days was not nearly long enough for a comprehensive visit. We didn’t get a chance to see the ancient city of Teotihuacan, where the Pyramid of the Sun still rules, or Xochimilco, Mexico’s little Venice, the Frida Kahlo Museum, or dozens of other attractions.

Sitting on the hotel terrace the afternoon before our departure, our waiter pointed out the volcano El Popocatepetl in the distance. A faint plume of smoke hung over it. It seemed to me as if the ancient volcano, named and revered by the Aztecs, was still watching over this ancient land.

El Popo: Photo by Geoff Carter