Olmecs, Aztecs and Toltecs…Oh My!
Day 15
Today was a day to learn about the great ancient peoples of Mexico. We plan to visit the Aztec Ruins of Teotihucan tomorrow, so a trip to the anthropology museum was in order. All I really know about the Aztecs is they liked to sacrifice people and rip out their hearts as offerings for the gods. See, Mexico used to be way more dangerous than today!
First we had a fabulous breakfast of huevos rancheros and a cafe americano. The coffee in this country is fantastic. I`ve rarely had a bad cup and it`s so strong, just the way I like it. No need for cream or milk. Today was also our first stab at Mexico City`s massive metro system. 175 stations, 177km of track on 11 lines. At about 20 cents U.S. it`s also one of the worlds cheapest. We made our way the the station and easlily borded a train, it was busy but not the horror stories of packed sardines I had heard about. We went 4 stops and had to transfer, the transfer was about a 15 minute walk through tunnels and I have never seen as many people in a metro before, even more than the tube in London. This train was pretty packed but we noticed people love to stand right in front of the doors and the centre of the trains is virtually empty. 20 minutes later we were a 5 minute walk from the museum and the metro may be busy here be it`s easy to use and unbelievably cheap.
The museum was one of the best I have ever seen anywhere. Tons of information and artifacts on the Olmecs, Aztecs, Toltecs, Mayans. Plus information on the unique cultures of current day Mexico. With so much information in english it was one of the few times we have visited an ancient city and were able to learn about the people before hand. In the Aztec hall we saw the famous sun stone, it was unearthed under the Zocolo in 1790. It was quite interesting to note that as each of the ancient empires fell the suceeding ones seem to take on some of the beleifs and even gods of past cultures. Even when the Spanish showed up and began to destroy the cities and cultures of the indigenous peoples. Certain aspects of the ancient cultures remain right up until today.
Besides all the history, in the centre of the museum is a giant stone umbrella like water fountain with water raining down on the courtyard below. Very beautiful fountain and the building was yet another fantastic modern building in Mexico City. Even though the amount of information was overwhelming I left the museum with a greater knowledge of the Aztecs and was exicted to see the ancient capital in the morning. Although they did do a heck of a lot of sacrificing.
Tags: Aztecs, Mayans, Mexico, mexico city
Michael Coroneos
Today was the coldest day of the year in Toronto. -11. That should give you a nice thought whilst enjoying the warm weather in Mexico 😀