Boxing Day

Dawned bright and it was good to be wandering around in short sleeves and sandals. Spent most of the day at the Museo Nacional de Antropologia – a vast collection of pre-Conquest Mexican culture. A very well organised collection with each major culture that contributed to the evolution of Mesoamerican civilisation well represented in its own room. We thought we should try and get as good an understanding as we can before we venture off to the sights where these people built their civilisations. The museum also had what in England would have been called a ‘Blockbuster Exhibition’ of Pompeii – but we gave it a miss. We had a lovely lunch at the museum cafe which included a salad with cactus leaves and flowers.

The Aztec 'Sun Disc'




Outside the museum we watched voladores first dancing then climbing a very high pole before spiralling downwards attached to ropes. By mid afternoon is was getting a bit humid and smoggy so we wandered through Chapultepec Park, with its thousands of ahuehuete trees (sacred to the Aztecs) and camellias, azaleas and poinsettias all in flower. The park was full of families wandering around wearing very colourful clothes and eating even more colourful sweets – including purple candy-floss. One thing we have already discovered is the Mexican liking for sweet foods.