Got up early to take a cab to Zocolo (the Historic District)
before catching my plane today. I shared
a cab with another member of our conference group. The ride was very quick and took us through a
very high class residential area with gated mansions on both sides of a
beautiful tree lined street with a park-like green space in the median. We
passed through La Zona Rosa which appeared to be the business and high
end retail district. Many of the
intersections were roundabouts with beautiful fountains in the centers. The historic district is a bit less flashy,
but still attractive.
Our cab driver had to stop to ask directions twice, I guess he is either a new driver or doesn’t drive people to the cathedral
frequently. We eventually made it to the
cathedral and discovered that the central plaza was being transformed into a
major party zone for the celebration of Dia de los Muertos tonight. Large tents were set up, really fancy Dia de
los Muertos displays were laid out in smaller tents, a stage with lighting, and
a ton of police all outfitted with riot gear (helmets, shields, etc.)
Giant skeleton sculpture riding a skeleton horse.
I noticed a bunch of plastic containers full of water along
the back side of one of the tents. I
think this is likely for emergency fire control. I also walked past many piles of plastic
wrapped items on pallets that were in front of one of the beautiful historic
buildings. Upon closer inspection I
discovered that among the different items were packs of toilet paper…supplies
for the party tonight I guess!
On one side of the square was the National Palace, other
impressive old buildings were on the other sides (I don’t know what they were,
there was an absence of signage and it was kind of difficult to move around
because things were blocked off.)
National Palace
Unknown building on Central Plaza (which I found more attractive than the National Palace)
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