6 things you did not know about Mexico city (special guest: Gonzalo, the best guide in town!)

Crossing the road in Mexico city: when instinct is a matter of survival! Things you should know to improve your chance to survive in a Mexican crosswalk:

A) the colors of the traffic lights are merely decorative. Green, yellow, red... doesn't really matter. Actually, the light could have also been blue or purple for what it matters: only, it wouldn't fit with the colors of the leaves in autumn;

B) when more than 5 people are crossing the same way you are supposed to, go with them: you will be enough to protect each other and have higher chance to reach the other side alive;

C) eye contact with car drivers is useless: they don't see you, and don't want to. You are a mere pedestrian piece of human with basically no rights to be on their way.

Gonzalo and me, at the top of the castle!

Birds here and there in the trees. Many of them. You don't see them, but you clearly hear them, way more than in Europe. Sometime also a squirrel just runs from one tree to the next. They are not scared at all: once one climbed on me looking for food. Literally on me. Overall the wood of Chapultepec  can be summarized in few words: singing birds, brave squirrels and cars.

Fun fact from the Anthropologic Museum : Indigenous people of Gran Nayak still veneherate Christ mainly as the creator of cattle, metal tools and money (new Gods for new ideas/words).

 

                                                                                                         Antropologic museum: scaaary stuff!






Calendar.. quite sure is Aztec!

stone snake heads, at the museum 

The main Cathedral of the city is a piece of art. Fun fact (thanks Gonzalo..!): the cathedral was supposed to be built in Perù, and the one now in Perù was supposed to be built in Mexico. Unfortunately, few centuries ago, they swapped the plans. Stuff that happens at the no-internet (and phone, and telegraph, and...) time. The other interesting thing is that.. the Cathedral is actually sinking, since it has been built over a swamp. Centimeter after centimeter, they are fighting to hold it at the right level. Maybe, it's just the previous Aztec temple which is trying to win its place back...

The cathedral and 4 particularly beautiful persons.

The castle looks more like a Palace, and thanks to the amazing Gonzalo (who guided me to the castle, telling me all the anecdotes in a super interesting way!). In it the carriage of the Austrian queen (Carlotta) who lived there, while Mexico was still under European influence, even though she was kind of obliged to live there.. she would have preferred European courts and lounges... When Mexico asked Austria to give back the majestic crown of Montezuma (the one at the Anthropologic museum is a replica), Austria asked back for the carriage. Of course, no one did anything else, yet. From the castle the view is amazing, and the inside of the room is kept as it was 2 centuries ago. Very European!

That should be the castle part of the castle. It's more a palace, but let's call it castle!

When I asked Gonzalo what he would change of Mexico, his replied hit me: he would change the feeling of the Mexicans about their past. It means, he would erase the idea that they were conquered by the Spanish, and that they were defeated: they were not. The Mexican are a melange of people, new people who should have a new language and a new identity more free from a difficult past. "We (the Mexican) blame and criticize the Spanish, but we do that in Spanish! We should do that in Mexican, however it could sound!" 

  

At a very famous hotel in the center of the city: Gonzalo knows any corner (and if you look like you know what you are doing, you can go everywhere. For free).

At the museum: you can throw stones to the head of that guy. For real. I have a video. Was fun.