From the Museum of Anthropology to San Miguel de Allende

From the Museum of Anthropology to San Miguel de Allende

In the morning, we went to the Cathedral and the National Palace.   The curious photo literally shows hundreds of locks, locked to a stand, in front of the image of San Ramon Nonato at the Cathedral.  San Ramon is the patron said for protections against gossip, rumors, and false testimony.  When Ramon was a captive with the muslims, he would not stop preaching, so they literally locked his mouth.  The locks signify the desire of the person to lock the mouths of those spreading gossip against them.  He is apparently a popular saint in Mexico, although I had never heard of him before.

The national palace has the monumental Diego Rivera murals, depicting the history of Mexico.  The conquistadores and the church were targets of his murals.

On our way back to the hotel Barbara decided to let a Maya shaman clean her cosmic aura, using incense and ritual. The shaman would not let me take a photo of the ceremony or the altar, but would let me take a photo of the sign.

We rode to the museum in an electric taxi.  The Voladores of Papantla were flying around a tall pole, playing a drum and a flute.  Yes, he is hanging upside down.

The National Museum of Anthropology is justly famous, for its size, breath, and for the amazing pieces that they have. We did a kind of quick visit, ducking into various sections for a short visit, not attempting to visit even 25% of the museum. We had lunch in the museum.  The small statues are of ballplayers in the ritual game.

After we got back from the museum, Richard went to visit Miguel. This involved a Metro ride and a bus ride, but was fairly easy and painless. Miguel was very happy to see Richard, and show him travel photos. Richard particularly enjoyed the photos from the 1940s, a very different Mexico. Miguel is an inveterate traveler, and still goes on bus tours of Mexico!

Saturday we checked out of our hotel, and took a bus to the north bus terminal. We bought tickets to San Miguel de Allende on ETN, a luxury line. I was surprised to realize that ETN had significantly upgraded since I had last ridden it, including internet on board and individual video on demand. The seats are three across, and are comparable to first class airline seats.

We took a taxi to our B&B, which is run by our chatty hostess, Marcia, (Mar-see-a) from New Jersey and New York. We had dinner at the nearby organic restaurant.