Bob & Lynne

Xochicalco Pyramids

Wednesday morning we decided to take one last side trip to the Xochicalco Pyramids before starting back to Mexico City. The site was first occupied by 200 BC, but did not develop into an urban center until the Epiclassic period (A.D. 700 – 900). Nearly all the standing architecture at the site was built at this time. At its peak, the city may have had a population of up to 20,000 people.

Bird’s eye view of the site (found on the internet).

We checked out the museum first and then went to the ruins.

View from the museum patio.  We drove up close to the site and then walked all over the area.

An interesting path up to one of the pyramids.

Part of the Acropolis.

The ever present “ball court”.

This was the most interesting pyramid with its carved walls.

Cuernavaca & Las Mañanitas

Today we took the van and drove from the Hacienda to the nearby town of Cuernavaca.  We visited the Palacio de Cortez and then had lunch at Las Mananitas.

There is an interesting museum inside the palace with displays of ancient cultures as well as colonial  and revolutionary times.

Bob is reading about the games that were played in the ancient ball courts.

We did some shopping across the street and then headed for Las Mañanitas,  a small and elegant hotel with a wonderful restaurant and landscaped grounds.  As you drive down the street, you would not suspect that behind the walls and plain entrance there is an enchanted environment.

There are beautiful peacocks and other tropical birds wandering around the grounds.

When we arrived we were escorted to a wonderful shady area where we relaxed, had appetizers and checked out the parrots.

Then I wandered around taking pictures until it was time to be seated for lunch.

This is the group of missionaries that were on this adventure.

This is the Mexican food sampler that Bob ordered.  It tasted as good as it looked.

I had this delicious salmon with a great sauce and steamed veggies.

This was my Creme Brulee.  Amazing!

How about this Lava Cake?  Absolutely sinful.

After lunch we took a walk inside to check out one of the rooms.

We were escorted to this one.  Here are a few photos of this room with a balcony

that gives you another view of the pool.

This would be a wonderful place to visit again and spend the night.  The food was the best we’ve tried yet.

We really enjoyed our visit to Cuernavaca.

Grutas de Cacahuamilpas

We left Taxco and drove to the Grutas (grottos) de Cacahuamilpas. We walked along a short trail to the entrance.  A few of the group decided to take a zip line short cut.  These grottoes are gigantic.  We have never been in caves as tall and wide and extensive.

That’s all folks!

Taxco

Our group of 18 plus a driver piled into the van and 4 more followed in their car.  We

went to Taxco.

Taxco is a charming little town and we had a good time wandering around, checking out the plaza and shops.  Most of the group picked someplace to have lunch, but we didn’t want to take time for that, so we kept wandering.

Of course, Taxco is famous for it’s silver.  The silver shops were too numerous for us to bother counting them.  It was amazing to see the volume and variety of silver items.  No wonder it’s famous.

Cuernavaca

We left Mexico City and traveled with some other English Speaking Missionaries to Cuernavaca for three nights.  We stayed at the Hacienda de San Antonio el Puente.  It was an 18th century sugar cane plantation th.at has been converted to a very nice hotel.

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Reception desk; beautiful hand carving.

Various views around the property.

And a sample of the food

Palacio de Bellas Artes, National Palace, Metropolitan Cathedral, Templo Mayor

We went here on a Thursday and found out that it was a free admission day.  Then we discovered that you can only visit the main room where the Diego Rivera murals are.  They were very interesting, but we plan to go again some time to see the rest of the Palace.  The building is gorgeous.  It was built between 1900 and 1034 at great expense and  is made of marble.  By the time it was finished, it had already sunk  more than 13 feet into the ground.

This is the ceiling in the main area where the mural are displayed.

A close-up of the center part of the ceiling.

One of the Diego Rivera murals.

The National Palace is located on the entire east side of the Zocalo (plaza).  This plaza is the second largest public square in the world.  Moscow’s Red Square is the largest, Beijing’s Tienanmen Square is the third largest. This government building is most famous for housing several Diego Rivera murals.

One of the Diego Rivera murals inside the National Palace.

Two views of the Metropolitan Cathedral which contains several architectural styles as it was b uilt over a period of about 250 years.  Many of the materials used to construct the cathedral came from the destroyed Aztec temple that stood on the same site.

There are many historical buildings in the center of town.  This is across the street from Sandborn’s first restaurant where we had lunch.  It’s called The House of Tile for obvious reasons.  Great lunch and atmosphere.

Sanborn’s House of Tile.

A few photos of the Templo Mayor located on one side of the Zocalo . This was the primary temple and focal point of the great center of the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan.

Mexico’s Fabulous National Institute of Anthropology

We had the first two weeks in June off.  The Temple closed for cleaning and repairs.  On June 2nd, we spent eight hours here with another missionary couple.  We had lunch at the restaurant there.  This museum’s architecture is magnificent and it covers an area of 79,700 square meters.  It opened in 1964.  The exhibition halls surround the central courtyard which has a pond and a huge square concrete umbrella supported by a single pillar surrounded by an artificial cascade.  The halls are ringed by gardens, many of which contain outdoor exhibits of ancient ruins.

This is a view of the central courtyard from the second floor of one of the halls.

These are just a few photos of some of the ancient ruins and artifacts of Mexico.

This is the Aztec agricultural calendar stone.  It is 12 feet in diameter, 4.5 feet thick and weighs 24 tons.

And a few samples of modern works from different parts of Mexico.

Cinco de Mayo

Mexicans are truly festive; any excuse for a celebration!  The most important and exciting are the 16th of September for Mexico’s Independence Day and the 5th of May.

Cinco de Mayo commemorates an initial victory of Mexican forces led by General Ignacio Zaragoza Seguin over French forces in the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862.

In Mexico it is celebrated the most in Puebla and Mexico City.  In our neighborhood men dress up as French or Mexicans and have mock battles with home-made muskets and canons.  The noise is unbelievable.  It sounds like there really is a war going on 10 feet away.

Because of the restriction on public gatherings, people were unable to celebrate on the 5th of May this year.  But, they started shooting off their muskets and canons every day until about 11:30 at night.  Finally, on May 15, 16, & 17, they celebrated all weekend with parades and noisy battles right outside our entrance gate.

They also celebrate with carnivals, street fairs, multi-day festivals, food, and parades.

Taco Dinner at the Monte’s

On My 13 Linda was baptized for her Mother who died a year ago.  The next day she & John did the rest of the temple work for her parents and she was sealed to them.  They were very special and emotional moments and she wanted to celebrate.  She invited us and the Christensen’s and the Bluth’s over for her famous Taco Dinner.  It was delicious and great fun.  These photos make me hungry for tacos again.

Toppings!!!

70th Birthday Fun at FHE

We had a great Family Home Evening on “Service” .  I decided to take a picture of some of the quotes from the lesson.

On a building at BYU. “They enter to learn; and leave to serve”.

“And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.”  Mosiah 2:17

Alma is an extraordinary example of how the spirit of service consumes those that learn and comprehend the Plan of God.

The knowledge of the the Gospel guides us to a happiness that is only found in service and sharing.

Later we had a great meal with birthday cake to celebrate Allan Christensen’s 70th birthday.

This is an example of our potluck; a mix of Mexican and American foods with plenty of hot sauce.

Yummy!

We never eat before Family Home Evening because there is always lots of food.  We had even more than usual on this night because of the birthday.

The final dessert.