One of the things we all wanted to do was to tour downtown Mexico City during our stay. With Pablo gone already, we unfortunately lost our knowledgeable tour guide. But Jorge made a few calls and one of his friends came to the rescue! So while we were all getting ready to go that afternoon and making sure we had everything, we suddenly realized we had lost a certain little somebody...
"Come on guys... let's go already!"
A short drive into the most confusing, hectic, and chaotic city I've ever been to, and we had safely arrived to historic downtown!
One of the first really cool buildings we came across was the Opera House... and it was spectacular!
We quickly parked, got out on foot,
and were on our way to go explore the big city.
And as we walked up from the parking garage,
we were met with the amazing site of the Opera House!
Seven kids, six parents, and one grandma...
a circus indeed!
Nothing like touring the big city strapped to the chest of my Daddy!
Our next visit was to the Postal Palace of Mexico City! Even with such a prestigious name, it was apparently just a regular post office... but I had never seen anything like this one! It was absolutely gorgeous!
The beautiful girls...
...and the handsome boys!
Three of the prettiest ladies in Mexico City!
No, seriously... the City does not have very pretty people!
Between the people, the buildings & architecture, and everything else that moved or had lights... there was lots for Allen Jess to see!
We eventually made it all the way to "Zocalo" or Constitution Square, which is a massive public plaza in the heart of the historic center of Mexico City... where a huge Mexican flag flies high and where the President addresses his people once a year on Independence Day and yells, "Viva Mexico!"
It was definitely a really cool place to hangout at and take pictures! Behind us here is the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary... and is the largest cathedral in the Americas! Oh... and part of it is sinking!
And behind us here is the National Palace... home to some of the offices of both the Federal Treasury and the National Archives, and of course where the President makes his appearance!
The boys enjoying the great scenery and the fantastic weather!
Allen Jess just loved being carried around everywhere! He was definitely giving my back & shoulders a run for their money... but knowing that he was happy and enjoying the tour made it all worth while!
For a Monday afternoon, the square didn't seem crowded at all. Although I'm told when Independence Day comes around, it is absolutely packed with people shoulder to shoulder covering every square foot!
There were even some amazing Aztec murals
painted nearby that we checked out.
Luckily for us, we hung around the plaza long enough to see the military personnel take down the enormous flag as the sun made it's way down.
It was actually quite the process and pretty cool to see...
and the flag looked even bigger once it was being carried away!
We finally left the plaza and headed back towards where we started our little journey... as Sofia, William and I brought up the rear.
Can you say overstimulation? Allen Jess eventually had no choice but to tap out. And what better place to take a nap than in his Momma's arms!
While walking down the street... we couldn't help but feel this strange gravitational pull towards an ice-cream parlor!
Where we all stopped to get some delicious ice-cream!
Not only did we get to see some really cool buildings and architecture, but we also got to see some really creepy street performers too!
Some of us actually got to see them a little closer than they wanted to! (Gotta love Jorge... his son is being attacked by some crazy street performer and he just laughs about it!)
We even ran into 'Hagrid' of all ficticious people,
and was nice enough to take a picture with the pretty ladies.
Not impressed with the talent she saw that night on the street...
Catalina did her best to try and steal the crowds!
Our last stop of the tour took us to the incredibly big but beautiful Monument to the Revolution. It didn't look all that big from afar... but once we got up close and underneather it, we realized just how enormous and impressive it really was!
For the time we had to do it... there really wasn't much else to see. We had a great time together and thoroughly enjoyed our long hike throughout historic Mexico City! A ton of thanks to Salvador and his family for being our tour guides and joining us in all the fun! We said goodbye to the City, crammed back into the van, and headed back home.
Ice-cream certainly held us over for a while, but it was only a matter of time before the hunger bug crept right back on us again! And there was no better place to stop and eat than one of Jorge's favorite places in town.
And while everyone else stuffed their face...
Allen Jess contently played with his feet!
We all finally got home that night and although it felt super late, it really wasn't... so while all the kids turned in from an exhausting day of touring and playing, us grown ups still had some fight left in us... and couldn't think of a better way to end such a great day than to breakout the cards, some beer, and enjoy a fun but competitive game of Phase 10 together! (I still say Jei cheated somehow!)
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