Well, I don't feel like writing much tonight, so I may treat the topic of what I don't like this place in a later post. I'll just say now that it reminds me a lot of Cairo, and that is not a good thing.
I decided to switch hotels to be right next to the Villa de Guadalupe in the north of the city, which is the shrine I came here primarily to visit. I've been here three days, and have been enjoying the shrine very much. The shrine itself is beautiful, and I'll write about it and post images tomorrow or the next day. I've decided that I'm leaving here and heading south to Oaxaca and the Ocean tomorrow, because I want away from this city.
I briefly got out of the city today to visit the pre-Aztec ruins at Teotihuacan, Aztec (the successor civilization that came after the one that built this place) for "birthplace of the gods," which is just to the north about an hour or so by bus. It's one of the most important pre-Columbian ruins in all Mexico, and has two of the largest pyramid structures in the world, a close second to Giza, I think. I felt it would be stupid not to make the effort to see them even though I am not really that interested in all that Lamanite stuff. Just not that compelling to me - in fact, I have to say that in it's rawest forms it rather repulses me, to think about. I'll probably write about all that too, when I write my post where I hold forth on what I dislike here..
Tonight, I'll simply give you pictures of the excavated city and its pyramids. These are very impressive, even beautiful. On par with the ruins at Ephesus, probably, in terms of their majesty.. It all just lacks cultural relevance to me, that ruins in Europe and the Mediterranean always have.
Still, a good day overall. Here are a few choice images to prove it.
First, a self portrait before the great Pyramid of the Sun, where prisoners were sacrificed to the sun, to keep it revolving in it's orbit..
This main pyramid is 222 meters square, and has 248 steps to the top. There's some impressive numerology, astrological and calendar work associated with this site, and it's a big hit with the New Age crowd around solstices and stuff.. Which is yet another reason for me to be ambivalent about it.
Anyhow, this is a view of the smaller, but more elegant 3rd Century AD Pyramid of the Moon from the side of the Pyramid of the Sun:
The main drag of the very impressive city ruins (of which there are apparently 20 square kilometers) facing away from the Pyramids:
Both the pyramids together, viewed from the south:
There you have it. A break from all those churches. Branching out down here, broadening my horizons..
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