Zocalo and the National Cathedral

One of my favorite TV channels in the US for those of you who don't know is the history channel. (Pawn Stars, Modern Marvels, and Axe Men... whats not to love!) Still I really do find history exciting and love exploring places like Philadelphia's historical district (with Jordan Malenke) or even the little Mercer County Historical Society (with Abbey Jones).

Well Mexico City takes it to a whole new level. Founded in 1325 it contains ancient pyramids, pre-revolutionary buildings, and modern skyscrapers.

Torre Latinoamericana - Built in 1956 it stands as the "Mexican Empire State building"
However only topping off at about 600 ft.

The first place you need to visit in DF is the Zocalo. This is the center of Mexico City housing the National Cathedral, National Palace, Federal District buildings and the Templo Mayor.

The Zocalo

Fun facts

• The Mexican Zocalo is the largest city square at 57,600 square meters
• The word "Zocalo" means plinth or base of a monument. This is because original plans for the square were to build a large monument to commemorate the Mexican Independence but plans fell through.
• Many cities around mexico use the term zocalo for a town square but the one in Mexico has a capital z Zócalo. (note the special o... it is too difficult to type this but go back and read my post again and pretend you see them)

Me and the consuelos went to the Zocalo on a Sunday and it was packed! The first building we went into was the National cathedral. 

A view from the left side 

Like I said... It was a Sunday so we were slightly rushed and I did not get to take as many pics inside as I wanted.

Here is the back alter.

The organ chamber this church had 2 organs!

Outside the church there were all these Plexiglass windows in the courtyard that people were gathered around. I looked over in one and could see ferns growing on what looked to be an Aztec temple buried right under my feet!! 

Aztec temple... you know, just under your feet.

So the funny thing that happened as I was staring at the ground is a Mexican came up to my Mexican friend Alex and asked him (in pretty good English) if his son could talk with him in English for a homework project since he needed to speak with a genuine American.  Me and Alex both laughed a lot that the man went up to alex instead of the obvious 1.98 m Gringo standing next to him jajaj. So I proceeded to talk with the kid about where I was from, why I was in mexico, and what my favorite Mexican food was.

Oh ya, and because I was 3 feet taller than this kid and was constantly bending down (like a giraffe drinking water) to understand the kid we started to attract a crowd. Why was it exciting to hear a giant person talking in broken english with this little kid??? I dont know... but hey that's mexico for you.

So the final excitement for the day was actual Aztec decedents preforming rituals and dancing outside the cathedral.

So this was a dance they preformed. I had a brief desire to join in with them believing this to be a modified version of "Cotton eyed Joe" but was reluctant after I saw their sharp obsidian knives.

I really liked this shot because you can see the natives with the church in the background.