Posted May 22, 2006
Sunday was a free day for everyone. Kids went off to their various destinations and the only pictures I have are those which I took. Jerry and Mary Romero and Yolanda Nez and Michel Joe and I wandered around in the downtown area. Here are some of the pictures of various places we went and things we saw. I'm sure more will be added later.Come back and check again after we get back from Mexico.
The front view of the cathedral. This is the landmark of the city and a stylized version appears on the backs of all of the official taxis of the the city.
Another view from the South side.
The government palace, or the state capital building.
The plaza of the heros of the state of Jalisco. There are statues of these heros around the park, with about twenty, ranging from military to engineers, teachers, poets, painters, and businessmen.
A bronze mural on the back side of the the Teatro Degollado. There's a small version of the mural on the plaque between the Romeros and the girls.
Carriage rides are available from a small fleet of carriages.
This sign was on the wall of the Hotel Frances, which as you can see was built in 1610. It's still open and we even ate in their restaurant. No air conditioning and the elevator was out of order, but he place is still elegant. About three blocks from our hotel.
The fountain in the plaza. That's apparently a ram's horn. Several versions are found around the city.
The fountain that extends for about 100 feet down throught the mall between the builidngs of the Macroplaza. This area is relatively new, built about 25 years back to spruce up the downtown and provide off street parking. There's a parking garage under the Plaza de las armes.
Mary and Jerry sit in the Daliesque bronze chairs that are located in the plaza in front of Las Cabañas.
The chapel in Las Cabañas. There was an art show going on,, with art from Spain. Mostly a bunch of prints of various minor works. They wouldn't let us take pictures with flash, even though they were prints and wouldn't be bothered by the flash.
Almost everywhere we have been in Mexico they spend their time keeping everyone from using flash to take pictures or they just ban the use of cameras. I really don't understand this, since the amount of heat associated with digital cameras is so minimal that it couldn't possibly damage anything. I have pictues I took in Spain at the Prado of the orginal paintings by masters that I took with my trusty little Canon. They do ask for no flash in Spain, but I think it's just because of the nuisance to others viewing the pictures.
A view up to the dome of the chapel in Las Cabañas. The entire ceiling and most of the walls in this building were painted by Clement Orozco, one of the premier muralists in the 20th century, and one of the heros of Jalisco. They even provide big flat benches so you can lay on your back to view the ceiling paintings. No flash!
Two of the paintings found on the walls. A guide was there to tell us what they all signified, but we didn't follow him around. I did take pictures of all of the panels on the ceiling and might add an extra page for them when we get back to US and I find the time.
A panel above a door. This, according to the guide, is God in the upper right corner and the crucified Jesus below him. Who knows? It's contemporary art, which is not my cup of tea.
We then went to the Plaza La Libertad, which is supposed to be the largest open-air market in the Western Hemisphere. Over 1,200 stalls and vendors. Guys working the aisles and the entrances selling wathces, jewelry and other things, too.
An exhibit of radios, telephones, and other electronics at one stall. I bought a DVD with two movies, "Frida" and "Maria - Llena de Gracia," for three bucks. Excellent quality, too.
There's an area on the Macro Plaza that is called the Indian Market where they allow various indigenous people to set up a market and sell their wares. This is an example of a number of ceremonial dance paraphenalia. (sp?)
Back in the Plaza de Armes, they were having a sex education day. There were all sorts of posters laid out on the floor and there were inflated condoms for both sexes. There's a couple of characters to the right who were wearing costumes representing these condoms, as well. Can you imagine telling your girlfriend or boyfriend (or your kids) about your role in the event? "Yeah, I played the park of a penis."
A better view.
This was a serious effort to teach about safe sex and how AIDS and HIV are spread by unprotected sex. Notice most of the participants are women with their children. This display was right behind the catheral, by the way.
The whole event was sponsored by the State of Jalisco. That's their van.
Langston Revoda and Kimberly W. are student athletes from NMHU. He plays basketball and she runs track. Lots of kids here think he's rapper named "Jay Z".
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