Saturday, June 30, 2012
Father's Day festival at school
Matt when to school to attend the Father's Day festival for Dylan's class.
The children got to to share with their Father's some of the activities they do at school (in what I would consider to be physical education) - pretending to drive cars with mini hoops, catching mice with funnels (the mice were balls rolling along the ground), and stopping the ball and hitting it with small tennis rackets. Here they are at the beginning - they had to come in and sit on the colored shapes.
The children got to to share with their Father's some of the activities they do at school (in what I would consider to be physical education) - pretending to drive cars with mini hoops, catching mice with funnels (the mice were balls rolling along the ground), and stopping the ball and hitting it with small tennis rackets. Here they are at the beginning - they had to come in and sit on the colored shapes.
The Zocalo and Templo Mayor
We took advantage of the city being quiet at Easter to go downtown to see the Zocalo (also known as Plaza de la Constitucion), the Templo Mayor and anything else that we could fit in.
Our first stop after parking the car was Correo Central, the City's main post office. This has to be one of my favorite buildings in downtown Mexico City.
Once we got to the square it was time for a drink and a snack before taking on the line for the Templo Mayor. There was plenty of good people watching.
~We watched some people getting snacks from this vendor.
We wandered through the Templo Mayor site, the ruins of the Aztec city of Tenochititlan. There is a museum which is also part of the ticket entry but Dylan wasn't too interested.
After the Templo Mayor we walked through the Cathedral Metropolitana which has a serious lean on due to the soft wet ground it stands on.
On the way back to the car we walked past the Palacio de Bellas Artes. Hopefully we will get to a show there sometime so we can see inside the main theatre. Part of the inside can be seen for free, part by going to the museum. To see the rest you need to go to a show.
I poked my head out the window on the way home for a quick pic of El Angel, also known as the Independence monument. Apparently you can take an elevator to the top during the weekend.
The jacaranda trees flowering on our street.
Once we got to the square it was time for a drink and a snack before taking on the line for the Templo Mayor. There was plenty of good people watching.
~We watched some people getting snacks from this vendor.
We wandered through the Templo Mayor site, the ruins of the Aztec city of Tenochititlan. There is a museum which is also part of the ticket entry but Dylan wasn't too interested.
After the Templo Mayor we walked through the Cathedral Metropolitana which has a serious lean on due to the soft wet ground it stands on.
On the way back to the car we walked past the Palacio de Bellas Artes. Hopefully we will get to a show there sometime so we can see inside the main theatre. Part of the inside can be seen for free, part by going to the museum. To see the rest you need to go to a show.
I poked my head out the window on the way home for a quick pic of El Angel, also known as the Independence monument. Apparently you can take an elevator to the top during the weekend.
The jacaranda trees flowering on our street.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Queretaro
One Friday night in May we decided we would go to Queretaro for the weekend. I booked a hotel for Saturday night, printed directions, and packed.
The next morning as we left we had the GPS on (hoping it would work out what we were doing) but were going with the Google directions (so many new roads in Mexico our GPS can't keep up!) and after a really short detour we finally got on the road we wanted.
The highlight of the trip for Dylan was the hotel pool. I think he now thinks that whenever we go away for the weekend there will be a pool. Hopefully he will not be too disappointed when he finds out this is not the case.
Queretaro is about two and a half hours drive from Mexico City (it was longer on the return trip). It is a really pretty colonial city with lots of squares with fountains and beautiful old buildings. Dylan liked to zoom his car or tractor around the edge of the fountains.
We got to Queretaro just in time for the start of lunch. We were the first people in the restaurant I chose, people were really starting to arrive as we were leaving (about an hour later). I was a little skeptical about my choice initially, the decor was pretty loud (and I found it in the guidebook), but the food was really good. After lunch we had a wander around part of the center of the city before heading back to the hotel for a swim and a nap.
The plaza de la constitution was packed with people on Saturday night for a rock concert. It made for interesting viewing while we waited for our Trolley Bus. The trolley bus tour was narrated in Spanish but it got us out to the Aqueduct and back to town without us having to navigate the one way streets ourselves. We enjoyed dinner at a restaurant on a smaller quieter square. We spent Sunday morning wandering around the streets before joining the crowd at a restaurant on Plaza de la Independencia for brunch. After brunch we wandered through the market stalls looking at the arts and crafts before hitting the road and heading back to the D.F.
~Walking into the City center from our hotel.
~Plaza de la Independencia. You could smell the lavender in the air in this square. It was amazing.
~The aqueduct
The next morning as we left we had the GPS on (hoping it would work out what we were doing) but were going with the Google directions (so many new roads in Mexico our GPS can't keep up!) and after a really short detour we finally got on the road we wanted.
The highlight of the trip for Dylan was the hotel pool. I think he now thinks that whenever we go away for the weekend there will be a pool. Hopefully he will not be too disappointed when he finds out this is not the case.
Queretaro is about two and a half hours drive from Mexico City (it was longer on the return trip). It is a really pretty colonial city with lots of squares with fountains and beautiful old buildings. Dylan liked to zoom his car or tractor around the edge of the fountains.
We got to Queretaro just in time for the start of lunch. We were the first people in the restaurant I chose, people were really starting to arrive as we were leaving (about an hour later). I was a little skeptical about my choice initially, the decor was pretty loud (and I found it in the guidebook), but the food was really good. After lunch we had a wander around part of the center of the city before heading back to the hotel for a swim and a nap.
The plaza de la constitution was packed with people on Saturday night for a rock concert. It made for interesting viewing while we waited for our Trolley Bus. The trolley bus tour was narrated in Spanish but it got us out to the Aqueduct and back to town without us having to navigate the one way streets ourselves. We enjoyed dinner at a restaurant on a smaller quieter square. We spent Sunday morning wandering around the streets before joining the crowd at a restaurant on Plaza de la Independencia for brunch. After brunch we wandered through the market stalls looking at the arts and crafts before hitting the road and heading back to the D.F.
~Walking into the City center from our hotel.
~Plaza de la Independencia. You could smell the lavender in the air in this square. It was amazing.
~The aqueduct
Buzz Buzz Buzz
A little buzzing around with Mr Buzzy Bee.
Still to come..Queretaro (May), Puebla (June), and our April visit to the Zocalo.
Still to come..Queretaro (May), Puebla (June), and our April visit to the Zocalo.
April visit to La Granja Tio Pepe
~Patting the baby chicken.
~Looking at the big turkey.
~Feeding the hens.
~Patting the baby bunny.
~Feeding the rabbits.
~Looking at the baby pig.
~Feeding the sheep.
~Feeding the cow.
~Looking at the baby duck.
~Feeding the ducks
~Feeling the different grains.
~Holding the turtle
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