Templo Mayor in Mexico City is one of my favorite archeological sites.  The reason?  Partly because it is still being excavated. It is wonderful to lean on a railing and watch the workers with brushes cleaning away debris, and partly also because it is right in the center of the city, just a few steps from the zocalo.

Of course, the reason it is a few steps from the zocalo is because the ruins are part of the great Aztec city of Tenochitlan, and Templo Mayor was one of the city’s main temples. Templo Mayor was built on the exact site that indicated the Mexica people had arrived at the promised land – when they saw an eagle on a nopal cactus with a snake in its mouth.  (You’ll see this symbolized today on the Mexican flag.)

When the Spanish arrived in 1519 they found a city here of around 200,000 people.  They destroyed the city of Tenochitlan, including the Templo Mayor in 1521 and looted it of all its treasures and gold.

Walking along the street today you’ll see the familiar chain link fencing with barriers to obstruct the view.  Behind them you’ll hear voices and rhythmic tapping. This is some of the evidence of continuing excavation work taking place.  Pay a nominal fee (I think it was 50 pesos or approximately $3.58 US) and you can take a self guided tour.  There are wooden walkways throughout the site and plenty of signage explaining things along the way.

But during your visit take a minute here and there to look up and out.  Seeing the familiar city just on the other side of these ancient ruins is quite startling.  In the picture below, you see the Metropolitan Cathedral of Mexico in the background and the ruins of Templo Mayor in the foreground.

One of the things you’ll notice here, too is that there is still quite a bit of original paint.  I love the chac-mool at the top of the post, and the serpent’s head below.

There are many beautiful and interesting things to see here.  I loved the huge House of the Eagles, which is roofed to protect the painted areas beneath from further damage.  I think you’ll also like the Wall of Skulls right outside the entrance of this building.

There is much more inside the adjacent museum. When you walk out, you might want to visit one of the Mexica shamans in the zocalo for a ritual cleansing.  Why not?  It might be the perfect ending to your visit to Templo Mayor.

Disclosure:   I am being compensated for my work in creating content as a Contributor for the México Today Program.    All stories, opinions and passion for all things México shared in my blog are completely my own.

I have been reading a lot of “best of” lists for the last week or so and thought I might share my favorite books of the year, too.  I hope you’ll take a minute and enter your top book of the year in the form at the end of the post which should give us all more great reading suggestions!

My list is not in any particular order – follow the link if you want to see the book list I’ve been keeping for years.

1.  The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown – I love books about sisters, and especially educated, quirky, and interesting ones.

2.  Fingersmith by Sarah Waters – I don’t want to say too much about this but it is a very fun and surprising read.

3.  An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro – Partly about postwar Japan and partly about the decisions made by painter Masuji Ono earlier in his life.  A very moody story by one of my favorite authors.

4. The Dirty Life by Kristen Kimball – I love books like this, as I am a farmer at heart.  When Paul and I moved to the country our plans weren’t as ambitious as theirs but we had just as much fun and ate just as well, too.

5. The Optimist’s Daughter by Eudora Welty – I have a soft spot for Southern authors and family and this book takes its time winding back and forth in the Judge McKelva family.

6. Blood, Bones & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef by Gabrielle Hamilton – This book, by the owner of the New York restaurant Prune, shares her love of food and cooking and all the kitchens and inspirations that brought her to where she is today.

7.  Three Stages of Amazement by Carol Edgarian – I had enjoyed her previous book Rise The Ephrates and bought this as soon as it came out.  The story is a complicated family story that is very beautifully told.

8.  Ordinary Love and Goodwill by Jane Smiley – These two short novels are powerful and wonderful.  She is an incredibly talented writer.

9.  Started Early, Took My Dog by Kate Atkinson – Here is another talented author and a very memorable (although a tad confusing at times) intertwined story.  You’ll remember it for a long time, I promise.

10.  State of Wonder by Ann Patchett – Patchett is another of my favorite authors and I was patiently waiting for this book to be released, too.  The – almost a love – story takes you from Minnesota to the Amazon jungle and you learn a thing or two about the pharmaceutical industry, too.

11. The Cat’s Table by Michael Ondaatje – What a delightful book!  A fictionalized memoir of Ondaatje’s early years, starting with a voyage from Colombo to England.  The story, the voice, the characters are all interesting and surprising.

12. 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami – I know Murakami is not for everyone as sometimes he is a bit too surreal but he is one of my favorite authors and I was thrilled to have a new book this year.  This long book weaves its way back and forth as the two main characters (Tengo and Aomame) gradually become aware of their strong early connection.  Part mystery and part fantasy, it is a wonderful read.  And even more amazing is that it had to be translated from the Japanese.

Here’s your chance to share your favorite! To just see the responses so far, click here.

Adam in a plaza in Colima, Christmas 1994. The decorations are in the style of Alejandro Rangel Hidalgo, a Colima artist.

My first Mexican Christmas was in 1994.  My son was attending college in Colima and had just moved into an unfurnished house.  We spent the first week or so of my visit traveling and buying things that he needed for his house.  If you remember, in December of 1994 there was an economic crisis in México, and the peso rapidly devalued.  While this was a terrible time for those with their funds tied up in pesos, it made my funds stretch further for travel and when buying articles for the house.

We traveled by bus to Uruapan, Pátzcuaro and Morelia.  It was a wonderful trip.  I remember being freezing cold in Pátzcuaro, and getting up in the morning to buy sweet rolls from a cart. We ate our sweets and drank atole sitting in a patch of sun nearby.  In Morelia I took thousands of pictures of lovely old door hardware as we walked around Centro and one day we went to a fantastic Morelia – Mexico City soccer game.

(Left) Kids dancing late at night in the kitchen, (Right) Martha, her mom, and me, (Front) and a family group at a mine somewhere near Guanajuato (I think)

At some point we connected up with his girlfriend’s family and traveled with them from Leon to Guanajuato. We endied up spending Christmas at her uncle’s home in Irapuato.  Everyone made me feel very welcome, and I especially enjoyed learning about their Christmas traditions.  One that I loved was when we all held hands while standing near the Christmas tree, each of us speaking a few words having to do with thankfulness and our hope for the future. There weren’t piles of presents underneath the tree, just one for each child. Christmas eve was filled with food preparation and eating a late dinner that lasted into the wee hours of the morning.  Everyone was laughing, drinking, roasting peanuts on a comal, and dancing in the kitchen all night long.

It was wonderful to be included so warmly in their Christmas trip and festivities, as I was only the mother of their daughter’s boyfriend.  On that trip I learned how important family is to the Mexican people, and that means all family.  I felt a bit like royalty, partly because I was Adam’s mother and partly because I was a guest.  All these years later I still think about the hospitality that was extended to me then and try my best to practice what I learned.

That Christmas was a wonderful introduction into what it means to be family in México.  It means everything.

December 2011

Disclosure:   I am being compensated for my work in creating content as a Contributor for the México Today Program.    All stories, opinions and passion for all things México shared in my blog are completely my own.