It was a super foggy morning at SeaTac as we waited to take off.

Foggy morning at SEA

Of course the first photo I took was the tangle of wires outside our hotel window - which was the Casa Prim Hotel in the Juárez neighborhood of Mexico City.

The view from our hotel room the first morning. This is how trash and recycling is taken care of.

Funny how the tarps are layered over a building having some work done.

Yours truly standing by a guy with a guitar.

Beth and I standing in front of the Monumento a los Niños Héroes. Also called "Altar to the Homeland". It commemorates the Niños Héroes, six mostly teenage military cadets who were killed defending Mexico City from the United States during the Battle of Chapultepec, one of the last major battles of the Mexican–American War, on 13 September 1847.

A boulevard inside the Chapultepec Park on the way to the National Museum of Anthropology. Normally there is a lot of traffic, but I caught it at a rare moment of quiet.

National Museum of Anthropology: An amazing roof over the courtyard. The whole roof is supported by the central column, which is also a waterfall.

National Museum of Anthropology

National Museum of Anthropology: The grounds around the museum are wonderful.

National Museum of Anthropology

National Museum of Anthropology: The outdoor spaces also contain artifacts.

National Museum of Anthropology: It’s amazing to realize that the “Day of the Dead” aesthetic goes back to ancient times.

National Museum of Anthropology

National Museum of Anthropology: This is just a small part of a large diorama depicting an Aztec market.

National Museum of Anthropology

National Museum of Anthropology: a very cool artifact in an outdoor space.

National Museum of Anthropology: Beth looking like an explorer in front of a massive part of a temple.

National Museum of Anthropology: amazing artifacts in the outdoor spaces.

National Museum of Anthropology

I tried to call you!

National Museum of Anthropology: there were lots of venders around the National Museum of Anthropology and throughout the park.

Suddenly, at the edge of the park, we found a super modern subway station.

We found this restaurant not far from the park. If you look in the background, there was a busy auto repair shop next door.

On the way back to our hotel we came upon this fabulous mural just around the corner from the hotel. We ended up eating here a few days later.

Anahuacalli Museum: This museum was built on the "farm" of Diego Rivera. He had collected over 60,000 pre-Columbian artifacts and built this museum to share them with the public. There are only about 2000 pieces on display at any one time. The whole building is made of volcanic stone, which is the same material that the ancient cultures built their temples. Here, the daylight is glowing through pieces of marble.

Anahuacalli Museum

Anahuacalli Museum: a security guard pointed these out to me, they are pigeon chicks on the 3rd floor ledge. I, in turn, pointed them out to other visitors before we moved on.

Anahuacalli Museum: a room on the 3rd floor. In the basement is the head of a giant serpent, and it’s body is weaved throughout the whole museum. That is what is rising in the middle of the floor.

Anahuacalli Museum: the view from the roof toward the central part of the city where our hotel is. Air pollution from cars is pretty bad in Mexico City (population 22.6 million), though we did see a lot of new Chinese electric cars. Hopefully, as electric cars slowly take over, the air quality will improve.

Anahuacalli Museum: A view of the surrounding neighborhood from the roof.

Anahuacalli Museum: Here I am standing in front of the museum.

The Fountain of the Coyotes in the center of the neighborhood of Coyoacán. This bronze statue in the middle of a fountain pays homage to the name of the neighborhood which means “The place of abundant coyotes." We hired a walking tour guide for the neighborhood and this is where we met her. Her name was Delta and she was really fabulous!

Coyoacán: This is the oldest neighborhood in Mexico City. It is where Cortez built his house and a small chapel. At that time it was on the shore of the huge lake that was here, but that lake is now completely filled in and is now Mexico City with a population of over 22.6 million people. Coyoacán has a nice feeling to it and it’s really great to walk around here.

Coyoacán: The Parroquia San Juan Bautista, one of the oldest churches in Mexico City.

Coyoacán: Parroquia San Juan Bautista.

Coyoacán: This the courtyard where Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera got married. It is near the Casa Azul, where Frida grew up and ultimately died.

Coyoacán: This is Cortez’s private chapel in the Plaza de la Conchita. It is about a block from the house where Cortez lived.

Coyoacán: This is Beth and our guide Delta in a courtyard.

Coyoacán: A detail in a courtyard.

Coyoacán: This is Trotsky’s grave in the small compound where he lived in exile. The house behind the grave is where he lived and was attacked and killed by a Russian spy.

This is Delta our walking tour guide in the neighborhood of Coyoacán. Delta was really awesome! Here we are in the Trotsky Museum where her tour ended.

Coyoacán: This is Casa Azul, where Frida Kahlo grew up and lived most of her life.

Coyoacán: Casa Azul. We are facing her painting studio which is inside the windows on the left.

Coyoacán: This is the kitchen at Casa Azul with the names Frida and Diego on the wall. Diego Rivera lived here with her for a time.

Casa Azul: This is Frida Kahlo's easel and wheelchair, and just beyond is a worktable.

Casa Azul. This is the deathbed of Frida Kahlo. She had a very rough final few months that included having one of her legs amputated. Above her on the canopy is a framed picture of butterflies, which, in traditional Mexican folklore are transitional creatures that escort souls to the afterlife when someone dies.

Casa Azul. Frida Kahlo's ashes are in the urn.

Teotihuacán: This the site of an ancient civilization that predated the Aztecs by more than 600 years. We are looking at the Pyramid of the Moon and a large plaza where people gathered for ceremonies. There would have been a brightly painted wooden temple on top of the pyramid and the walls of the plaza would have also been brightly colored. The civilization that built this was very large and there are ruins for miles around.

Teotihuacán: The Pyramid of the Moon, the smaller of two pyramids located here.

Teotihuacán: This the nearby Pyramid of the Sun. It is much larger than the Pyramid of the Moon.

Teotihuacán: This is the entrance to a side temple facing the main plaza. It was engineered to that when it rained water rushed out of the serpent head on the right.

Teotihuacán: The Pyramid of the Sun is huge, as big as the pyramids in Egypt.

Teotihuacán: Here we are standing at the base of the Pyramid of the Sun.

Teotihuacán: We went to a nearby town for lunch. This dog is a descendant of the native dogs that predated the arrival of the Europeans.

Teotihuacán: Our awesome guide Aldo. He was just great!

Mexico City. we are on our way back from the pyramids on the highway. This is way out from the central area where we were staying. I love that they are building a network of gondolas! I’ve been saying that Seattle should build gondolas for years and years. Everyone says I’m crazy, but here they are! They are cheap to build and move millions of people annually. Each car holds 10 people.

Beth and I wandered for a while in a market near our hotel. While we were there it rained. The market was a patchwork where some places the rain came in and other places it was protected.

The market near our hotel.

Near our hotel in Mexico City..

Outside the market.

Me standing in front of a mural of Frida Kahlo. This mural was just around the corner from our hotel.

The mural without me blocking it.

The entrance to a food court close to our hotel.

At the food court.

Mexico City is located where it is because of a prophecy of the Mexica people. The legend was that when the wandering tribe of Mexica saw an eagle sitting on a cactus eating a snake, the Mexica should built a permanent home on that spot. One day in 1325 they found that particular combination on an island in a huge lake. They built their city there and it became the capitol of the Aztec empire. The city was called Tenochtitlán. This statue is in the corner of the Plaza de la Constitución, also called El Zócalo, a large plaza at the heart of Mexico City, and the exact spot where the Aztec capitol once stood. An illustration of an eagle standing on a cactus eating a snake is on the Mexican flag.

Beth and Christy take it all in at the Plaza de la Constitución (El Zócalo).

This is the central plaza of Mexico City and the seat of the Mexican government. Constitution Plaza (Plaza de la Constitución) is also called El Zócalo. The Aztec capitol city of Tenochtitlan was once located right here. The population of the city when the Spanish arrived was between 200,000 - 400,000 people, making it as large as the largest European cities at the time. The Spanish conquered the Aztec civilization in 1521 and demolished their city. This cathedral, the Metropolitan Cathedral, was built with the stones from the Aztec pyramid called Templo Mayor that used to stand here. In 1978 Mexico discovered the ruins of Templo Mayor under part of the plaza.

Also, that flag is huge!

The day we were there the main buildings where barricaded and preparations were underway for a huge annual woman’s march that happens on March 8 every year. We watched the news reports a couple days later and it sounded like several hundred thousand people showed up. We are looking at a large net that is full of lightbulbs on the side of the plaza.

Priests were performing rituals in the corner of El Zócalo. The blue barricades are preparations for the upcoming annual woman's march on March 8th.

Inside the Metropolitan Cathedral.

The Metropolitan Cathedral.

The massive pipe organ in the Metropolitan Cathedral.

The Metropolitan Cathedral.

A side street near the plaza.

While we were looking at the ruins of Templo Mayor, the Aztec pyramid by the Metropolitan Cathedral, a guy came up and started talking to me. At first I wanted to brush him off, but he kept telling me really interesting things about the history of the place. Then I noticed he had a lanyard with an official tour guide certificate, which meant he was licensed by the government and knew what he was talking about. He led us to a building a block away that had very few tourists, but had 126 murals by Diego Rivera and was free and open to the public. It was the Ministry of Public Education and Diego Rivera painted the murals between 1923 and 1928, and the theme of the murals is the Mexican Revolution. We really enjoyed seeing this place and were so grateful he led us here.

Murals at the Ministry of Public Education. This one is not Diego Rivera.

Ministry of Public Education.

Christy looks out over a courtyard at the Ministry of Public Education.

A courtyard at the Ministry of Public Education.

Ministry of Public Education.

This was a cool place to see, and the Jacaranda trees were in full bloom.

Here I am!

A courtyard at the Ministry of Public Education.

Ministry of Public Education.

Ministry of Public Education. The murals along the outdoor walkways are the ones painted by Diego Rivera, and they each depict some aspect of the Mexican Revolution.

Ministry of Public Education.

Diego Rivera's murals are in these outdoor walkways all around the Ministry of Public Education. They each have themes that relate to the Mexican Revolution (1910 - 1920).

A mural by Diego Rivera.

Taking pictures. The Jacaranda trees were in full bloom.

A mural by Diego Rivera. This one is called “Death of the Capitalist.”

A mural by Diego Rivera.

A courtyard at the Ministry of Public Education.

A mural by Diego Rivera.

Courtyards at the Ministry of Public Education.

A mural by Diego Rivera.

A mural by Diego Rivera. This one is called “Wall Street Banquet.”

A mural by Diego Rivera.

A bronze statue at the Ministry of Public Education. The plaque reads "The desire to know and to enlighten is innate in the human heart."

A church in the Centro neighborhood near El Zócalo plaza.

Here we are, getting ready to have a fantastic lunch.

Mexican Empanadas! Yum!

Palace of Fine Arts in the Centro neighborhood. Most of the important buildings were barricaded in preparation for the annual woman’s march on March 8.

Palace of Fine Arts is an iconic building in Mexico City. We didn't have time to go in, but it's a must-see next time! This is also where the funeral for Frida Kahlo took place on July 13/14 1954.

A beautiful park outside the Palace of Fine Arts.

Street venders at the park outside the Palace of Fine Arts.

The Museum of Popular Art is a couple blocks from the Palace of Fine Arts. This place was fabulous! This VW was just inside the entrance.

Museum of Popular Art. There is an atrium in the middle with cool kites hanging in the space.

Museum of Popular Art. Off to the side of the atrium, a giant paper mache bug on a trailer.

Museum of Popular Art. A cool collection of dresses.

Museum of Popular Art. A huge paper mache figure in the stairway.

Museum of Popular Art

Museum of Popular Art. There were lots and lots of Day of the Dead items.

Museum of Popular Art. A large scull made of feathers.

Museum of Popular Art. I love this one!

Museum of Popular Art. This is amazing! Little skeletons all over a very ornate large skull.

Museum of Popular Art. One of the kites hanging in the atrium.

Museum of Popular Art. The Day of the Dead theme was everywhere.

Museum of Popular Art. Another one I absolutely LOVE!

Museum of Popular Art. A whole room full of bugs and dragons.

Museum of Popular Art. I’m not sure what these are made of, but I assume they are paper mache. They sure look cool!

The next day we took a 4 hour drive to San Miguel de Allende. It’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site and dates from the 1500s. It is built on the side of a volcano and the town is there because there are many natural springs, some with hot water. It was also an important stop for the silver mining in the region at the time. The town is full of American expat retirees. This is the view from the hotel room Beth and I stayed in. The large church steeple is at the main plaza in town.

San Miguel de Allende. Another picture of the town center from hour hotel room.

San Miguel de Allende. This is the front door of our hotel. All the streets in town are made of rocks. Here’s a whole family on a motorbike.

San Miguel de Allende. Here we are walking down the hill to the town center.

San Miguel de Allende

Mike wasn’t feeling well most of the time in San Miguel de Allende.

San Miguel de Allende

San Miguel de Allende. This road leads to the town center with the Parroquia de San Miguel de Allende church in the background.

San Miguel de Allende. This painting was in the lobby of a hotel. On roof of the hotel was restaurant with fabulous views, and we ate there on our first night.

San Miguel de Allende. This is the old entrance to our hotel. I guess there used to a problem with trash along here, so they painted the Our Lady of Guadeloupe to deter litter. Who would want to leave trash on the ground with the Virgin Mary watching?

Mike is looking at a plaque commemorating El Pipila who is famous for strapping a big rock to his back as a shield from bullets as he helped his fellow insurrectionists storm a building in the nearby town of Guanajuato during the Mexican War of Independence from Spain. El Pípila was from San Miguel de Allende, which is why there is a plaque here. In a couple days we'll go to Guanajuato and you can read more about El Pípila.

San Miguel de Allende. A small community park. This was during a walking tour we took with a woman named Isa, who was really great!

San Miguel de Allende. These are White Egrets who, for some reason, are all nesting in same tree.

San Miguel de Allende. On the walking tour we walked through a nice park which was full of artists that day.

San Miguel de Allende. The chances are very high that these are retired Americans.

San Miguel de Allende. We stopped in here and had some yummy juices. Mine was passion fruit and was from one of the jars in the background. It was delicious!

San Miguel de Allende. There’s a lizard climbing on her dress.

San Miguel de Allende. Approaching the main church.

San Miguel de Allende. We ran into a guy with a donkey.

The donkey was named Pepe and I think his main gig is posing with tourists. Here is Christy and our guide Isa posing with Pepe.

We stopped in a shop and there were several “paintings” made with Legos! This one is something like 5ft tall. In the next picture you can see a closeup of the Legos.

Here’s a detail of the previous picture.

In the main plaza by the church there were these super tall people walking around for the tourists. Maybe there’s some kind of tradition about these, but I don’t know what it is.

Beth and I went out to find some dinner and happened upon this place about a block from the hotel. It was just lovely. It was an open-air courtyard and the food was really good. They had some nice music and a wonderful atmosphere. We were a little early, but it didn’t take long and more people arrived. They were all Americans.

More of the courtyard where Beth and I had dinner.

San Miguel de Allende. The view of the main church at sunset from our hotel room.

Another picture from our hotel room at sunset.

San Miguel de Allende

The steeple and bell tower of the main church.

Art in one of the shops. Sure looks like a greyhound to me!

People gathering in the central plaza.

We sat outside and had coffee and a pastry next to the town square. Here is Beth with the church behind her.

The courtyard of our hotel. It was a beauttul place!

We went to a cooking class to make Rosa Molle. The pink color came from beets and rose peddles. Here’s Beth and Christy being very serious.

The church at night.

Here we are with the church behind us.

This is Guanajuato, a small town about an hour’s drive from San Miguel de Allende. We hired a driver to take us there for the day. Guanajuato was the major silver mining town in Mexico during Spanish colonialism, and by the end of the 18th century, it was the largest silver exporter in the world. Guanajuato is nestled in between steep hills, and as a result has mostly narrow alleys, passageways, and lots of stairs, and very little space for car-sized roads.

As time went on, they modified an extensive network of former mining tunnels and turned them into an underground network of roads. I didn’t get any pictures, but there are lots of tunnels. To get around town by car these days, the tunnel network is the way. The surface areas now are a mostly car-free environment.

The University of Guanajuato is there and attracts a lot of young people. Guanajuato is known for its colorful colonial buildings, its walkability, and it is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Very colorful, narrow streets.

This is the monument to El Pípila. His real name was Juan José de los Reyes Martínez Amaro, and he lived from 1782 to 1863. His nickname means "hen turkey", probably because his face was freckled and resembled a turkey egg. He also had a high-pitched laugh that sounded a bit turkey-like. This huge monument to El Pípila with the "Liberty Torch" in his hand, stands at the top of a hill and looks out over the town. He is famous because of something he did on September 28, 1810 early in the Mexican War of Independence from Spain. An insurrection against the Spanish began in a nearby town, and the Spanish in Guanajuato had barricaded themselves, along with lots of silver, in the large stone fortress of the granary. It was an impenetrable building except it had big wooden doors. El Pípila tied a large flat stone onto his back as a shield to protect him from the Spanish guns. He went up to the wooden doors with a torch and some tar and set the doors on fire. He and the other insurrectionists, who far outnumbered the Spanish, broke in and killed everyone.

The blue building in the center with the round windows is the University of Guanajuato.

A statue of a guitar player outside of a church. I’m sure there’s a very dramatic story about this guy, and why they made a bronze statue of him, but I don’t know it.

This is the University of Guanajuato.

There was a museum here which I guess is where Diego Rivera lived for a while. We didn’t have time to go into the museum.

Electrical wires, satellite dishes, TV antennas, and razor wire coils.

A couple days prior to our arrival was the annual woman’s march on March 8. I was surprised how much graffiti was left over from the march. They must have to repaint every year. This face on the wall is Benito Juárez. He was President of Mexico from 1858 until he died in 1872. He assumed the presidency of Mexico in Guanajuato on January 19, 1858.

This is up on a hill by one of the largest old silver mines. It’s a lot sleepier up here, almost like a ghost town compared to down in the town center.

This is a building at the old silver mine we visited, the Mina Valenciana.

Mina Valenciana. I don't know why, but they installed a bunch of artificial turf here. Historically, this probably wasn't a green lawn.

A small chapel by the entrance to the Mina Valenciana.

Back in San Miguel de Allende, this was up by our hotel room.

San Miguel de Allende. Walking down to the town center where we had dinner reservations.

San Miguel de Allende

This is our last dinner of the trip. The next morning we had a van and driver take us back to Mexico City and to the airport.

Seattle: Two days after we got home we had our only snow of the whole winter. This is our street.

Snow on our back deck. Such a big change from Mexico.

Mexico 2026

Copyright 2026 John R. Wells • Seattle