We did something today that was one of the coolest things I've ever done. For 20 pesos each (about $1.25), we got a tour of the bell towers of the Metropolitan Cathedral. We walked up an incredibly steep and narrow staircase to get into the tower. Then we got to hear as the guide rang one of the bells. He described how it was built, the age and size of the bells, etc., but it was all in Spanish, so we got a brief translations after he was done. The gist of it was that the first bell was placed in 1578 and the biggest is 15 tons and was placed in 1793. I can't imagine how they managed to get it up there without a crane. It is astounding what they were able to do. This was very impressive, but then we got to walk across the roof of the cathedral! The main cathedral's interior was finished in 1667, so it is at least that old though it was difficult to determine exact dates for anything. |
The twins missed out on the Latin-American Tower, so that was our next stop and though it is much higher and an incredible view, it couldn't match the unusual experience of walking on top of the cathedral. We topped off our day by going to El Moro. It is said to be the best churreria in México City and Luke is a churro aficionado, so he really wanted to go. It's been in business since 1935 and it didn't disappoint. The churros were fantastic and we had them with hot chocolate which is the traditional way of eating them. The hot chocolate, too, was superb. We may just have to stop there again before leaving! |
Ike has been a great translator. He can mostly understand even when they're speaking a mile a minute. Jake holds his own, but has trouble when they go too fast. He's totally unafraid though, so he'll start talking to anyone and do his best.
Additions for the "isn't that interesting" list:
Additions for the "isn't that interesting" list:
- There are many people employed in seemingly useless jobs. For example, in the Torre Latinoamericana there is a person in each elevator who just presses the button for you. They all sit on a stool looking at their phones and do nothing but press buttons.
- The policia are the guards at the museums and there are so many of them! Each room in every museum we've been in has at least one police officer and the exits have 3 or 4 who pretty much sit around and talk.
- The metal detectors and security searches we've been through are a joke. In the National Palace, the Palace of Fine Arts and a few other buildings we went into there were metal detectors which went off constantly and they didn't pay any attention, so we can't really see the point of having them or of having several security guards manning them.
- In many areas there are police with riot gear lining the streets. They aren't wearing the helmets and they're just leaning against the shields, but there will be 20-30 lined up in certain areas (we're guessing popular protest areas) and they're there all day. It was a bit disconcerting the first time we saw them, but now we're used to it.
- Our condo has a deadbolt that requires a key to lock from the inside. The lobby door also requires a key to get out. Definitely wouldn't pass fire inspectors in the US.