i guess you could say the theme of today's explorations was catholicism in mexico. we went to the villa basilica which is where the apparition of the virgin guadalupe was seen way back when. ever since then, mexicans have been catholic essentially because now they had a version of the religion that included them in it instead of it being something that the white europeans imposed on them. that said, it's very catholic. probably the #2 site to visit after the vatican. it was my first time there and i didn't particularly want to visit since it's not a holy pilgrimage for me but how can you go to df and not visit? it's something one must.

then we went to tlatelolco where the mestizo race was born. this place is called plaza de las tres culturas. you can see 3 periods there at that site. there is the remains of the aztecs (1), the colonial spanish period (2), and modern mexico (3), hence the 3 cultures plaza. the city grew around it so it's not remote like the pyramids but these are truly ruins. there's not much ruins in tact to see, more of what you would call foundations. in history, it's kind of a sad place but the saying is that the creation of the mestizo race was neither sad or happy, it's just what it is. this is where the aztecs lost and the spanish won. all of this was blood and bodies after the mighty battle. cut to the 1960s and this is where students protesting were massacred. the neighborhood in general is not so great (lots of dog shit on the sidewalks and low income housing?) and apparently a few streets over is notorious (barrio bravo). but it's not too far from the city center and from the metro station so i'd recommend it. there's other ruins like this that one might run into in mexico city but we didn't visit them. some of them are truly in bad neighborhoods combined with possibly not enough is left to make it worth the effort. maybe next trip i'll be more brave or have more time or speak more spanish, etc. etc.

after that we went to the zocalo where el dia de los muertos was in full swing. we went inside the cathedral and last time we were here there was a lot of structural work going on because the church is old and fragile due to the constant sinking of the city (built on top of a lake). something we did this trip that we didn't do last time was go just behind and over from the cathedral to the templo mayor ruins. it's not much but it's all that's left of the mighty aztec temple. the museum is great too. you must visit these if you are interested at all in aztecs or the history of df. as we were hanging out in the area, i realized that this too could be a plaza of 3 cultures for i could see the ruins, a colonial church, and modern mexico. but i digress.

then we wandered the zocalo which was full of ofrendas and packed full of people. it was pretty intense. so many people, squished together so hard to see the ofrendas. just even walking was difficult. we had to hold hands and such as not to lose each other in the chaos. everyone but us seemed to have a brochure. we wandered and wandered trying to find the brochures after asking several people where they got it but never found out where they were being distributed. there was a huge stage and some group performing too. i had always wanted to see a concert in the zocalo so we wandered over and much to our delight, it was roco from maldita vecindad performing spoken word. what a bonus. we did not expect to actually see a musician we like. as much as we would like to stay and finish watching his performance, it's not the whole band and we have somewhere else to go tonight so we left.

at night was the victimas del dr. cerebro concert but...we are wimps! we didn't realize how hardcore late shows in mexico are. we were so tired and we couldn't stand up waiting for them to go on. it was at the bulldog cafe which is the worst venue i have ever been to. the way the stage is set and the way the venue is for the audience, it's just awful. very few places afford you a good view. there were tables but you had to buy expensive alcohol to sit and well, we're not drinkers. we stalled a bit by ordering some food so we were able to sit down. we couldn't even finish the opening band. the band was probably going to go on at 1am and that was too much for us. we took a taxi back to the hotel. we learned our mexico concert lesson: do not attempt to go to a concert when everyday your schedule is packed!