We woke up at around 0900H because I was really tired from my flight yesterday. I even drank two Tylenol tablets to ease out my back pain. We fixed ourselves for the day and left the hotel at around 1000H. The traffic on the streets of Mexico City was on its peak and it was flowing too slow. I never imagine that traffic here was also like California. Good thing I was not the one driving. But the toll of the traffic also affected me.
My boyfriend had made a wrong left turn so we even circled around the vicinity until we've reached the district where the museum is being found.
Soumaya Museum: The building can be seen from the freeway and its odd cloud shape glittering from the distance is always intriguing. What in the heck the owner was been thinking? It looks like an odd hour glass from a distance looking flexible and shiny. It was really interesting to look at.
The building was owned by one of the richest man in the world. Now being supervised by the Carlos Slim Foundation. It was build by Fernando Romero, who is Carlos Slim's son-in-law. And it houses a lot of beautiful and extensive art collections, religious relics, historical documents, and coin collections. It was made as a tribute to his late wife and even named it after her. Love knows no bounds indeed.
The museum holds works by many of the best known European artists from the 15th to the 20th century. It also contains a large collection of casts of sculptures by Auguste Rodin, the works of Kahlil Gibrain, and some of the famous Mexican artists like Diego Rivera, Fernando Moreno, and Frida Kahlo. It was founded in 1994 and it opened in 2011 costing $70 million to build it. The structure appears like a shiny silver cloud-like building reminiscent of a Rodin artwork. It was thousands of hexagonal aluminum sheets all over it. A pretty masterpiece to look at.
We started touring from the 6th floor then spiraled down to the first floor. On the 6th floor there were a lot of Rodin's work especially the "Dying Lady" and "The Thinker" and various others from other artists and sculpture. The whole floor was only dedicated to sculpture and nothing else.
Spiraling the the 5th floor was another art collections ranging from the different era of arts. From classical arts to neoclassical arts. It also houses the collections of various artist during those times like Michelangelo and da Vinci. Carlos has a wide array of collections and I can see how rich he is because as I perceived of some of his collections appears very expensive. On that floor I can see a lot of Kahlil Gibran's work and some famous Italian artists as well I forgot to jot down the name. All the paintings were superbly pleasing to the eyes and I have enjoyed every minute of it.
We went down to the 4th floor which also housed some more paintings classified in Renaissance, Baroque, Gothic, Modern, and Contemporary. Works of Monet and Picasso can be seen on this floor. It was really fascinating to have perused on them. I never know it has reached until Mexico but it was an expensive collections as well. The frames appeared chic and elegant. The whole building was really fabulous.
Spiraling down on the third floor where art collections and paintings depicting surrealism, realism, impressionism, cubism, abstracts, and more contemporary arts. There were also photographs and other art forms. The whole floor was also splendid. I've also noticed a lot of people roaming around to see the artworks. And by the way, admission to this museum is free. See how rich the guy is?
Going down to the 2rd floor was about Religious arts and relics and I am happy to see a lot of art collections especially from the Renaissance. It also houses other historical documents and manifestos carefully arrange and laminated and plastered on the glass cabinets. There were also massive coin collections from different periods of time as well as from different countries and some real gold and silver coins. In my estimation the collections in the entire building cost maybe to billion dollars and I may not be surprised about it because it was really a massive collection.
Going to the 1st floor was also good to the eyes. The floors were now is white marble. On the spiraled chair the black marble Pieta was welcoming the visitors and on the right corner after the entrance greeted the famous work of Rodin which is "The Thinker" beautifully carved in black bronze and a little distance from it was the bust of "The Laocoon and His Sons" also ornately and meticulously carved in black marble. On that floor was the reception with it's metal detector doors and also the plush cafeteria where we ate succulent and tasty flautas for our lunch. We left the museum in awe at around 1330H.
Chapultepec Park and Lake: From the museum we furiously fought the traffic going to Chepultepec Park. We found a parking near the National Auditorium which is huge and pretty form the street and we ambled downwards towards the park. We entered first on the park which is so huge and filled with thick green and tall trees around. The place was teeming with people of all walks of life and there were also stalls of goodies, toys, and travel mementos. There were vendors seen lurking everywhere trying to find a living.
The park was very clean and there were not even a hint of trash can be seen because it was well maintain by the patient roaming cleaners. I guess this park was well organized as well. It was really so calm and seven and vast. I gather it was like 800 acres the same as big as Chicago as what I have read. It housed the park itself, the lake, the castle, the zoo, the anthropology museum and many others I forgot which I've known from my extensive readings.
We went also to the lake which is now teeming with people rowing the small colorful boats floating themselves with no worries. I was surprised that the park was teeming with people so I asked my boyfriend how come there's a lot of people if it is Tuesday which is a school day. He slyly told me that school was already closed and it was vacation time for the kids. No wonder why there were a lot of people here hanging out.
The lake appears murky green but serene, wide and huge. On the farther right I can see the Chapultepec Castle perched on the hill a few distance from where we are. I took pictures of the wide park and lake and just enjoyed the beautiful sceneries. At the background I can also see some of the tallest buildings of Mexico City which served as a supplemental backdrop of the beautiful scenery I am watching at that moment.
We ambled deep inside the heart of the park after we passed by the lake and stumbled inside the innards of the Chapultepec Zoowhich is also one of the part of the park.
Zoologica de Mexicana: Also known as the Chapultepec Zoo was a vast area for various animals being showcased here. This is the largest zoo among the three zoos in the country and the one which housed a lot of animals. The entrance is free and I was really puzzled why. How will they maintain this place if the entrance is free? I've gathered from my readings that the place receives a lot of donations from private sectors as well as from the Department of Agriculture.
The place was very well maintained. There was not a hint of animal odor unlike the other zoos I've been in the past. All the foliage and trees were well maintain. There were a lot of people and children when we war there and there were some places which are crowded and teeming with running kids and dating teenagers.
I find it fascinating because the zoo house an female panda named Xinxin which is a product of an artificial insemination. It is the only living panda now in the zoo. Formerly the zoo started with two female pandas but both had died long time ago. Reading the family tree of Xinxin was very interesting. I'm not gonna explain it here for I perceived that my blog was already long which might not excite my readers anymore. Please refer to Xinxin's genealogy tree attached on the picture above.
We toured the vast place and saw a lot of wild animals some in hiding and some showing off what they've got to the visitors. The aviary was also huge with a wide array of bird collections. What I did not see was the reptiles, amphibians, ichthys (fishes), and the elephants, polar bears, and lions were not even apparent because they were hiding. But all in all the zoo was excellent, clean and beautiful.
We left the place close to closing time. When we got out of the park the traffic was already congested and we have to walk for about one mile to retrieve the car near the National Auditorium. My boyfriend told me to keep going checked out the sculpture on the street while he will get the car at the parking lot and he will just pick me up at the next stop light after I am done taking pictures of the statues on the street.
Street Arts: I crossed the street right outside the gates of the park while my boyfriend went on the opposite direction to get the car. I ambled right on the middle of the paralleled island of the street and started to check the beautiful sculpture on the streets. I gathered that they were all made by Jorge Marin as was indicated on the sign there.
I started snapping pictures of the statues, almost like a dozen of them. The statues were very beautiful, flexible in their poses, and solid as bronze. It was intricately made and patiently molded by the artist himself. I was fascinated by it. It took me eight minutes to take the pictures of all 12 statues and had walked half a mile because all the statues were evenly placed on the elongated Chapultepec Avenue and when I reached the other side of the stop light I crossed the street and waited for my boyfriend to pass by and picked me up.
A little less than 3 minutes he came a stopped for a while giving me time to went in the care then we went back to the hotel.I was so beat up after that feeling the curse of our extensive walk on my sole. My feet was burning and hurting. I told my boyfriend that I might retire for the day and just rest it off for the whole night.
At night he sneaked out to hang out with his friends and I never know what time he came back because I was fast asleep in preparation for another exciting day the next morning. All in all my experience today was very rewarding, although it is very tiring but very inspiring as well. I love it to the max.
No comments:
Post a Comment