Golden Sunday...

(Text in ENG)

  I don`t know if it is only in Hungary, but we count the last 3 weekends (actually Sundays) back from Christmas: Bronze, Silver and Golden Sunday. That`s when the Christmas sales start and that`s when people start to panic what to buy for presents... usually if you haven`t bought your presents by the Bronze Sunday, you`d had to face mass, hustle, tread on your foot and total exhaustion by the end of the day. And of course, Golden Sunday is the worst: the malls and shopping centers are full with desperate people eager to buy something - anything that might go for a present.

  

 Today is Golden Sunday... I went to the mall nearby to find some presents (as my husband isn`t home, I was hoping I could buy him some surprise), and I had to admit, the last-minute present search is not a unique thing. The mall was stuffed with people looking around for perfumes, clothes, electronics, or already going home with huge boxes and bags.

  So, this is the Christmas feeling in Mexico. The crowd and the enormous (plastic) Christmas trees in or in front of the malls. Maybe it`s only in the capital (and even here there might some places where it is not), but there is no Christmas feeling in 20 degrees celsius... at least, for me.

  Anyway, there are no Christmas songs on the stores and the streets, no light-ups in the city...

  Even in Japan it was better mood (although Japan is not a Christian country)... In Japan the stores start the Christmas songs already a month before Christmas in order to urge people to shop, to buy, to spend money... then the light-ups in the cities which (especially in Tokyo) is a whole attraction and the best date spot in the year. And it`s cold (not minuses but cold enough to feel like winter) and even snows some places.

  I have the feeling (especially now, getting close to end this year) that living in a country of eternal spring, where the seasons hardly change, makes time go by fast. Every day is the same, so you don`t recognize that it`s already December! There is no need to change the clothes in your closet, to rush buying boots for the winter or a new swimming suit for the summer - the time just flows away. We`ve been talking about it with my husband and discussed that it might be a reason for the difference in the way of work and life. People in the temperate zones, where the four seasons can be distinguished clearly, have an urge to finish things by a certain time; there is a circle in the year with deadlines - the wheat has to be heaved at spring, has to be harvested in the autumn etc. But there is no such need to rush in Mexico.

  Anyway, going back to Christmas... it is just weird for me, spending the first Christmas in my life in a warm place, with not much Christmas mood in the air. Even though, I feel like Christmas - that 20 (ok, 30) something year I spent waiting for little Jesus (it`s not Santa bringing the presents in Hungary!), watching the big snow flakes falling from the sky, building snowmen and having snowball battles... all these experience seem to come out automatically this time of the year. I caught myself to croon Christmas songs, keep thinking what to cook for dinner for the 24th, and of course rack my brains what my beloved would be glad for a present...

  A word to one hundred, it seems, it doesn`t matter what part of the world you are, Christmas is not around you, it is within you.

  Merry Christmas to All!

Cacaxtla & Cholula

  (Text in ENG, JPN)

At the entrance of Cacaxtla

  Last weekend we went to Puebla (again) and explored the surroundings on the way back. There are many things to see around Puebla: the Africam Safari (see my previous letter) and there are the ruins of Cacaxtla and Cholula as well. They are both on the way from Mexico City, about 20-30kms from Puebla. Although the GPS didn`t show Cacaxtla on the map, it was written on the highway, so we went there first.
  Cacaxtla`s sightseeing spot is an ancient ruin from the 7th century. It is about 10 minutes from the highway, and it is quite easy to reach. (The road is terrible, but there are signs on the way.) After parking, it is a nice, about 15minute stroll until the ruin. As Cacaxtla is on the hill, the view is beautiful on the way to the valley and the two monstrous mountains on the way - Popocatepelt and Iztaccihuatl (both over 5000ms). Popocatepetl looks like Mt. Fuji and has still vulcanic activity (smoke comes out of the top constantly) therefore despite its height, there was no snow on it. On the contrary, Iztaccihuatl was covered with snow. The top ot Iztaccihuatl looks like a lying person, and with the snow it looked like it has a white blanket on her.
  So, you can enjoy the view of these mountains on the way to the ruins. The ruins by the way is covered with a huge roof that can even be seem from the highway. We went on Sunday and luckily the entrance was free (but anyway, it is 49pesos - not a big amount). Although the ruin is renovated, there is a small pyramid in front of it which is not - it was interesting to see one in its original condition.
  There was a sign at the entrance explaining the origins of Cacaxtla. It said, this ruin was built by the olmeca-xicalanca people who ruled the Puebla-Tlaxcala valley which was an important route between the coast and the central highlands. Its golden age was between the 7-9th century, after the decline of Teotihuacan.

The "Jaguar man"

However, its most important part are the wall paintings in the building. There are several paintings in the building that reserved its vivid colors throughout over 1000 years! The biggest painting is 22 meters long - it shows a (possibly) ritual of human sacrifice or a battle scene. The painting shows 48 persons very dynamically - the sacrificed person`s intestines are coming out... it might sound grotesque, but I think it`s rather interesting - it shows that even over 1000 years ago, people knew about the human body. There is another wall picture on two sides of a door, a "bird-man" and a "jaguar-man" - both in front of a very vivid red background.
  By the way, the replicas of all these pictures can be found in the Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City. We went to the museum on the first week I arrived, but it is so huge, that one`s brain just can`t suck in all the information. So, it was good to put these pictures in place this time.

  After Cacaxtla we went to see Cholula. It is said that the city itself is beautiful as well, although due to lack of time we only went to see the church and the prehispanic ruins. The Nuestra Senora de los Remedios church is on a hilltop after a long and steep line of stairs, but it is worth the climb, since both the church and the scenery is beautiful. But the interesting thing is that the church was actually built on the top of a pyramid. The 65meter high hill was originally a pyramid! (It was the same size as of the Pyramid of Sun in Teotihuacan.) However, during the Spanish colonization Cortes has destroyed the city and with it the pyramid and built the current church on the top by its stones. Today 8kms of the tunnels inside the pyramid are discovered and a part of it can be visited. (Unfortunately we couldn`t find the entrance so just went around on the surface.) The most astonishing was to see how small the church looks on the top of the hill compared to the hill - which was the pyramid originally.

click here for other pictures - Cholula & Cacaxtra

Can you see the shape of the pyramid?

  先週末（また）プエブラへ行ってきましたので、帰りに周辺を探検してきました。プエブラ周辺に（先日の手紙で書いた）サファリやカカストラとチョルーラの遺跡もあり、見所いっぱいです。チョルーラもカカストラもメキシコシティからプエブラへ行く途中にあって、プエブラから20～30キロぐらい離れているところにあります。ナビではカカストラを見つけられませんでしたが、高速から看板が出ていたので、先にそちらへ行きました。高速からの道路はデコボコだらけですが、看板がかなり頻繁にあって、割りと簡単に行けます。

カカストラには7世紀から残された遺跡が見れます。駐車場から遺跡までさらに10分ぐらい歩かないといけませんが、途中の景色は時間を忘れるほど奇麗です。遺跡が丘の上にあるので、下は谷が広がっています。その向こう側に5000ｍを超えるポポカテペトル山とイスタッキワトル山が聳え立っています。ポポカテペトルは優雅な富士山のような形をしており、まだ火山活動をしている山なので、火山口から常に煙が出ています。火山活動が活発な山なので、その高さにも関わらず頂上に雪が残りません。その一方、イスタッキワトル山の頂上には雪が確認できます。この山の頂上は横たわっている人に見えるので、雪が降っている姿は、寝ている人に白い毛布が掛けてあるように見えました。

Iztaccihuatl can be seen vaguely in the background

遺跡へ行く途中の景色はこのようなものでした。遺跡はちょっと離れた高速から確認できる程、巨大な屋根で覆われています。私たちは日曜日に行ったので、入場は無料でしたが、日曜以外の入場料は49ペソだそうで、さほど高くはないです。遺跡の前には修復が施されていないピラミッドがあり、旧来の状態で遺跡を見られたのは大変興味深いと思いました。

玄関にあったカカストラを物語る看板によると、カカストラの遺跡はプエブラ周辺を支配していたオルメカ＝スィカァンカ人によって建てられたそうです。カカストラの黄金時代は7～9世紀にあり、当時この周辺はメキシコ中央地域と海岸沿いを結ぶ道として重要な役割を果たしたそうです。

A part of the 22m long painting

現在この遺跡の一番の見どころは壁画です。1000年以上前に描かれた壁画ですが、描かれた人物や動物の形は今日でもはっきりと見え、色が鮮やかに残っています。一番大きな壁画は22ｍの長さで、48人の登場人物が戦い、もしくはいけにえを捧げる場面を表しています。他の所でドアの両側に「鳥人間」と「ジャガー人間」の壁画がありました。これらの背景は鮮やかな赤色で、描かれてから1000年も経っているとは信じられません。
ところで、これらの壁画のレプリカはメキシコシティの人類学博物館でも展示されています。メキシコに到着してすぐに人類学博物館へ行きました。人類学博物館には、見たり聞いたり読んだりする情報が溢れています。今回それらの壁画はカカストラのものだったと整理できたのが一番の収穫です。

The church in Cholula

カカストラの後、チョルーラを見に行きました。町自体も素敵で見るべきだそうですが、時間がなかったので、チョルーラの遺跡と教会だけ見に行きました。教会には長くて険しい階段を登ってからたどり着きますが、教会も上からの景色も美しくて、登る価値があります。しかし、びっくりすることに、登った65ｍの高さの丘は実は丘ではなく、巨大なピラミッドの跡でした！もともと、テオティワカンの太陽のピラミッドと同じサイズのピラミッドがチョルーラにも建っていたそうですが、スペイン征服の際、コルテスは町と共にピラミッドをも破壊し、その跡の上に現在の教会を建てたそうです。現在ピラミッドの内部にあるトンネルの数百メートルは一般公開されています。残念ながら私たちは入口を見つけることが出来ず、外にある遺跡だけを見ました。唖然とさせられる光景は麓から見る丘（ピラミッド）とその天辺にある教会です。従来のピラミッドに比べて今建っている教会はいかに小さいか？先住民の技術にびっくりします。

他の写真はこちらからどうぞ→Cholula & Cacaxtra

San Miguel de Allende

(text in HUN and ENG) 

Church San Miguel

  Ezen a hétvégén három napot San Miguel de Allendében töltöttünk. Ez a koloniális város kb. 3OO km-re fekszik a fővárostól, így autóval is könnyen megközelíthető. Ennek ellenére mi busszal mentünk, gondolván, hogy a városban amúgy sem lesz szükség autóra. Ez igaz is: a történelmi városnegyedet nemcsak, hogy könnyűszerrel be lehet járni gyalogosan (bár jóval nagyobb, mint Guanajuato), de érdemesebb is sétálni a sok érdekes bolt és kávézó miatt. Legközelebb viszont biztos, hogy autóval fogunk menni, mert a környék tele van érdekes helyekkel - egy idén megnyitott régészeti lelőhellyel (Canada de la Virgen), a Coyote Kanyonnal, és a többi híres koloniális város (Quéretaro és Guanajuato) is alig 1OO km-re vannak.

  Megérkezve a buszállomásra, a taxi 5Opesoért elvitt minket a szállodához, az Antigua Capillához. A szálloda, ahol szobát foglaltunk, egy domboldalon volt, ezért gyönyörű kilátás nyílt a városra, de csak 1O percnyire volt gyalog a centrumtól. Már az hangulatos volt, hogy a szállodához vezető utca annyira szűk, hogy autó nem tud bemenni rajta, ezért garantált a csend és nyugalom. A szállodáról kell pár szót szólnom, mert ez volt az ottartózkodásunk egyik fénypontja - az épületet egy család üzemelteti, úgy fogadtak, mint egy családtagot, és a kevés szobaszám miatt úgy is éreztük magunkat, mintha otthon lennénk. Bár kevés szoba van, mindegyik más-más berendezésű, és nagyon ügyesen ötvözi a modernet és a hagyományosat - az elektronikus berendezések (LCD TV, apple TV rengeteg filmmel, iPod töltő és CD lejátszó, gázkandalló stb) mind modernek és újak, a bútorok és kiegészítők azonban a hagyományos Mexikót idézik. Mi egy "csontváz" szobában voltunk (a mexikóiak valami miatt nosztalgikusan vonzódnak a csontvázakhoz és koponyákhoz), ahol az ágy fejtámlája és a tükrök gyönyörűen megművelt alumínium vázzal voltak díszítve, a fürdőszobában természetesen festett csempe volt, és a zuhanyzót kerámia csontvázak díszítették (az ember egy idő után megszokja, sőt még tetszetős is lesz.). Maga az épület is tipikusan mexikói, egy hatalmas belső kerttel (amiben nemcsak egy szép szökőkút, de egy 17.sz-i kápolna is helyet foglalt) és tágas terasszal, ahonnét gyönyörű kilátás nyílik a városra. A teraszon és a belső kertben madáretetők (vagy inkább itatók?) is vannak kolibriknek - láttunk is párat reggelente elcikázni a kertben. A szobaárban benne volt a reggeli is, ami szintén isteni volt - házi készítésű lekvárral, mexikói típusú tojással, rengeteg gyümölccsel (papaya, ananász, sárgadinnye, banán) és természetesen frissen facsart narancslével!

The inner garden in our hotel

 Egy ilyen bőséges reggeli után igazán jól esett egy séta a városban. San Miguel de Allendéről sok mindent írnak az útikönyvek, nekem viszont két benyomásom volt róla - az egyik: San Miguel de Allende az apró részletek városa (a város ugyanis tele van tündéri kis kutakkal, a házak sarkába (mint Barcelonában láttuk) szentek apró szobrai vannak vésve, az ajtók kopogtatói mindenféle alakot öltenek, de még a teraszokról kilógó vízköpők is sokszor állatokat formáznak). A másik pedig, hogy San Miguel de Allende a külföldiek városa - bár kevés turistával találkoztunk, rengeteg amerikai, kanadai volt a városban, akikről kiderült, hogy itt élnek. (Sokan nyugdíjas éveikre telepednek le, de a város történelmét olvasva, a külföldiek régebben is szerepet játszottak itt.)

Many fountains in the town

Little details on the houses

  És most hadd jöjjön egy kis száraz várostörténet: a várost a 16.században alapította egy Juan de San Miguel nevű ferences rendi szerzetes. A San Miguel de Allende nevet Ignacio Allende után kapta a város a 19. században. Ignacio Allende ugyanis a város szülöttje, és az 181O-21 között folyt spanyol hódítás elleni függetlenségi forradlom egyik alakja volt. A város elnéptelenedett a 2O század elejére, és a teljes pusztulás elkerülését külföldi művészeknek köszönheti: ebben az időben fedezték fel ugyanis ezt a barokk, neoklasszikus várost, és művésziskolák létesítésével ismét fellendült a város. Mára a művészetek és kézművesség városaként emlegetik, ezért a keskeny, kacskaringós, macskaköves utcák, a barokk templomok és a színes házak között csavarogva jó szórakozást nyújt betérni egy-egy üzletbe, mert garantáltan egyedi ajándéktárgyakat, ékszereket stb. lehet találni. Az már említésre sem méltó, hogy a város a Világörökség része...
  Mivel sok külföldi (főleg az amerikai-kontinensről) tölti itt idősebb napjait, nagy felüdülés volt, hogy nem kellett makogni spanyolul (ahogy ezt kell tenni a fővárosban), hanem majdnem mindenhol értettek angolul is.
 

  

The sightseeing trolley

  Először úgy terveztük, hogy elmegyünk lovagolni a közeli Coyote Kanyonba, de végül olyan érdekes volt a város, hogy az egész hétvégét barangolással töltöttük - bámészkodtunk a boltokban, csatangoltunk az utcákon és ha elfáradtunk, beültünk egy kávézóba. Az egyik helyen a forró csoki mellé frissen sült churros járt, ez volt az egyik kedvenc helyünk. Felültünk egy városnéző buszra is (ez szinte minden kisvárosban megtalálható), ami egy kb. másfél órás út alatt körbevitt a város nevezetességein, így eljutottunk olyan helyekre is, amik azért gyalog elég messze lettek volna. 


  Az egész hétvége nagyon jól sikerült, annak ellenére, hogy vasárnapra beköszöntött a tél - egyetlen éjszaka alatt kb. 1O fokot hűlt a levegő, ezért örültünk, hogy az utolsó nap már csak a délelőttöt kellett eltöltenünk vékonyka kabátban. (Pénteken és szombaton egyébként bár éjjel már 1O fok alá süllyedt a hőmérséklet, napközben még jóval 2O fok fölötti, gyönyörű napsütéses, pólós időjárás volt.)

 Nekem eddig a legjobban a közeli Guanajuato tetszett a girbe-görbe utcáival, a gravitációt meghazudtoló házakkal és a földalatti alagúthálózatával, de San Miguel de Allendét is ugyanolyan elbűvölőnek tartottam. Bár Guanajuato központja jóval kisebb és így talán hangulatosabb is, San Miguel de Allendét sem lehet megunni a rengeteg bolt és a házakon levő apró díszek miatt. (Én egész hétvégén kopogtatókat "vadásztam" - lett is egy kis kollekcióval a fényképek között (csak kattints a főcímre és meglátod!)

Church San Miguel at night

 This week we took a long weekend and went to San Miguel de Allende, a colonial town north to Mexico City. Although the distance from the capital is only about 300 kms, we took a bus instead of our car. We thought that (as in Guanajuato) the historical district is better to go around on foot than by car - which is true, especially because of the interesting craft shops you can find all around the city. However, next time we will definitely take a car, as there are many interesting places around the city as well - such as an archeological site just opened to the public this year (the Canada de la Virgen) or the Coyote Canyon. 

The inner garden in the hotel

  As we arrived to the bus terminal, we took a taxi to take us to our hotel. Here, I have to mention our hotel (the Antigua Capilla), because this hotel was one of the highlights of our stay in San Miguel. The hotel is located on a hillside from where the view to the city is spectacular. The hotel is in a small street - so small that a car can`t fit inside - which assures the calm and quite surrounding. The hotel is run by a family and because there are not many rooms, they really welcomed and treated us as a family member. The house itself is a typical Mexican style one with a beautiful inner garden (with a fountain and a 17th century chapel in it) and a huge roof terrace with astonishing view to the city. There are bird feeders hung around the inner garden for humming birds - we could see some in the mornings flying around like helicopters. Although there are few rooms in the hotel, each room is differently decorated and perfectly compounds modern and traditional - the electronics (the flat screen TV, apple TV with lots of movies, the iPod dock) are modern and new, but the furniture and decorations reserves the traditional Mexican style. We stayed in a room decorated with skeletons (the Mexican are somehow nostalgic about skeletons and skulls - it can be used to and even be liked after a while), where the ceiling was decorated with bricks, the bathroom tile was beautifully painted and the bed and mirrors were decorated with carved aluminum frames. The price included the breakfast as well, which was again amazing - seasonal fruits (papaya, bananas, melon, pineapple) with homemade granola, homemade jam and Mexican style eggs.


  After such a rich breakfast a stroll in the historical center feels great.The guide books write many interesting things about San Miguel de Allende, but I had two basic impressions about this town: one is that San Miguel de Allende is the town of details - the town is full of charming little fountains, small statues of saints in the corner of the houses, the knocker on the doors has every possible shapes and even the rain-water spouts from the roof terraces are animal shaped. And the other is that San Miguel de Allende is the town of foreigners - although there were only a few tourists, we met a lot of Americans, Canadians living in the city. (Many of them have moved here after retirement, but reading the history of the town, it turns out that foreigners had a big role in the development of the city in the past.)

Little details...

...everywhere

  So, let me tell you a little about the history of San Miguel de Allende. The city was founded in the 16th century by Juan de San Miguel, a fransiscan priest. The city got its present name in the 19th century after Ignacio Allende. He was born in this city and took a major role in the war of independence (1810-21). By the beginning of the 20th century the town was close to become a ghost town due to the fast desolation, but it was solved by foreign artists, who rediscovered this baroque/neoclassic town. Today San Miguel de Allende is often called the town of arts, therefore it is not only the churches, the crooked, cobbled streets and colorful houses, that are worth to see, but the unique and countless handicraft shops. And not to mention that the town is the part of the World Heritage...
  Because there are many foreigners in the town, it was refreshing not to struggle with Spanish (as you have to do in Mexico City), but almost everybody spoke English in the streets or the restaurants.

  We first planned to go maybe horseriding to Coyote Canyon as well, but finally we loved the town so much, that we were just strolling around the city all weekend - did window shopping, strolled around the streets and sit in cafes when we got tired. In one place the hot chocolate was served with fresh churros - this was our favourite place! We took a sightseeing trolley as well - it was a 1.5 hour tour for 60 pesos, and by that we could even see places a little too far to go on foot to. I would recommend these trolley tours (you can find in almost all little towns), because by sitting on the trolley, you can get to see the town from another prospective. (Not to mention that it saves a lot of walking!)


 Until now I loved the most Guanajuato with its curvy, narrow streets and underground roads, but after seeing San Miguel de Allende, I think they are both equally charming. Although Guanajuato`s center is much smaller and thus might seem to have better atmosphere, San Miguel de Allende`s colorful and cutely detailed houses and shops are charming as well. (I personally was "hunting" for door knockers all weekend - got a handful of collection at the end! You can see them in my photo album by clicking the main title above. Enjoy!)

Africam Safari in Puebla

（Text in ENG)
(*About the title: it is not misspelling - the safari park is called AfricaM)

The Puebla pottery we bought

  Last weekend we went to Puebla (again). I personally love Puebla, it`s a little town about two hour car drive from Mexico City. In Puebla pottery is very famous, so the historical center is full with houses decorated with beautifully painted tiles. It is a pleasure to walk around these houses.
  But this time we had another purpose: we went to buy our first full dining set for our new home. We bought two sets of Puebla pottery a few month ago, but we fell in love with it so much, we went back for more. Since it is hand painted, the patterns have slightly changed, but it is still beautiful, so we bought a set of six with big serving plates and coffee/tea cups.



  This was our first task. The other was to check out the safari, I heard was close to Puebla. It is the other side of Puebla (not on the way to Mexico City), but in about 15 minutes we reached it from the center. The entrance fee was considerably high (200 pesos), but the money was worth it! Although I have no much experience in safaris (I have been in Austria by bus when I was in elementary school - I don`t remember much of it), but the safari highly exceeded my expectations. Firstly, it was fun to go by car, as you can stop wherever you want as long as you want. Secondly, the animals were absolutely free to walk around, some of them came to us and let them to pet. Thirdly, the park itself is huge, very organized, good effort is being taken to seem like a real safari (there are tribe tents on the way etc.) and the animals seem to be treated well.

The entrance

  As we entered the safari, the first animals were (of course) giraffes and ostriches and antelopes. Seeing an ostrich so close was quite scary for the first time - although its head is so small compared to its body, I can easily imagine that it would hurt if it bit. Of course there were the "tradicional" animals like elephants, giraffes, lions, monkey, but we saw extremely rare animals as well, like the "Oreophasis derbianus" (sorry, I don`t know the English name), a kind of peacock that lives in a small area in the Guatemala-Mexico borders on the top of volcanoes.

Oreophasis derbianus

  Also, there was a white rhinos, which is said to be at the edge of distinction. Although the rhino was very calm and was hardly moving, it was humiliating and terrifying to see the huge size and the enormous horn it has! The black rhino, that was lying in the grass a few 100 meters further, looked like a baby next to it! The other big animal I liked was the buffalo - it was in the Yellowstone area (the safari is divided into areas like Serengeti, Yellowstone, Oasis etc.) and the surprising thing was its tame eyes! Despite its amazing size (both the body and the head!), the animal itself seems very very calm and tame!
  And of course, there were the carnivores! We saw only a few lions, as it was hot, I guess they hid somewhere below the bushes. (Anyway, it was really hot, and some the animals took funny poses - see the bottom for photos!) But the tigers (my favorites) were amazing! The carnivores are separated with high fences in which the double gates are opened and closed manually by a park staff every time a car comes - it quite felt like in Jurassic Park!

Waiting to get in the carnivore area - who is in the cage now?

White tiger

  The tigers are in a relatively close area, so they are very very close. There were 4 of them and 3 were white tigers. One of them was about 1 meter from our car, cotton up to a tree like a cat and then climbing up a rock to lie down there - so, we had quite a show there! The white tiger had beautiful blue eyes, and although we could see the good 10cm fangs, it was just too cute not to imagine it as a big cat. (Which it is!)
 

Isn`t it cute?

  The animals are divided into nine areas, and around in the middle there is a parking and resting place - there are not only lama rides and buffets and (of course) souvenir shops, but also you can get on a boat to go around the huge lake on the safari property. It takes another 180 pesos, and since we spent all our cash for the dining set in Puebla, unfortunately we had to skip it, but from the distance, I saw many many white spots (birds) on the trees around the lake, so I guess it is an adventure as well!
  At the end of the tour, we got to the "Adventure Zone", a mix of entertainment park and zoo. There are shops and restaurants as well, play houses for kids, and a zoo which is big enough to enjoy even without the safari. There are the insects, birds, smaller animals, there is a nice waterfall with a cave of bats in the back, butterfly house, and the kangaroo-land. The kangaroos are separated as well - I guess not to scatter all over the park -, but the great thing is that you can feed them! There are staff handing out special food. There are kangaroos and wallabies as well - the wallabies are much smaller and their heads look like a rabbit. Their fur felt surprisingly soft! But just until I pet the kangaroo as well!!! Kangaroos always seemed odd to me - with their small "hands", their "old man"-like faces. But the one that came to me, was quite "handsome". I took my hand up, so the kangaroo had to stand up to two legs - apparently it didn`t like it as it tried to lower my hand with its front "hands" - it was amazingly strong! I could barely hold my hand against it! But its face was well seen so, and the other visitors liked it as well: they took photos and tried as well. :) As the kangaroo was eating it let us time to pet it, and its fur was surprisingly thick and soft! Like rabbit fur, but much more dense. I wonder, if kangaroo fur in Australia is popular...?

The kangaroo eating out of my hand

  We finally spent more than 3 hours in the safari, without getting on the boat - and missing some parts as it turned out later.... even tough, we enjoyed it a lot! It is definitely a place I recommend!

The muflons are hot!

Even the camel can`t stand this weather?

This antelope is having a hard time, too

The lions were sleeping in the shades

...but the kangaroos are the kings of lazing around

There are tons of other pics as well! Just click on the title on the top.

Teotihuacan

(Text in HUN, JAP)

 

  Bár alig egy órányira van a fővárostól, mégis négy hónapba tellett, míg végre eljutottam Teotihuacánba. Mexikó híres az ősi piramisokról, és azok között is a legnagyobb kb. 6Okm-re északra a fővárostól fekszik.
  Teotihuacán a hajdan ott élő népről kapta elnevezését. Ezt a nevet azonban az aztékok adták a városnak, a hatalmas piramisok láttán - Teotihuacán jelentés ugyanis: "a hely, ahol az emberek istenekké válnak".
A várost Krisztus körül, 2OOO éve építették, és közel 5OO éven át terjeszkedett és gazdagodott, míg (pontosan, hogy miért, még ma sem tudni) i.sz kb. 65O-ben fel nem égették és le nem rombolták. Az ott élő népet, nyelvüket, életmódját, szokásait a mai napig homály fedi. Az azonban kétségtelen, hogy az Újvilágban Teotihuacán volt a legnagyobb város a korában. Aranykorában (az isz. 4. évszázadban) a város területét 2Okm2-re, lakosságát 125ezer főre teszik. Ezzel akkoriban a világ hatodik városaként tartják számon. (Összehasonlításképpen: a 19. század előtti világban Rómát tarták a világ legnagyobb városaként, 1 milliós lakosságával az i.e. 1. évszázadban.)

  A várost csak 1864-től kezdték feltárni, addig még a spanyol hódítók sem fedték fel. A mai feltárt terület a régi városnak mindössze a 1O%-át teszi ki. Aki végigsétál ezen a területen, egy kis képet kaphat arról, vajon mekkora lehetett a hajdani város. Mi nem tudtuk besétálni az egész területet - egy fél nap kell ahhoz, hogy az ember körbejárjon, mindent megcsodáljon... mivel Teotihuacán 23OO méter magasan fekszik és erős a napsugárzás, ajánlatos sok vizet (a parkolóban levő szuvenírárusoknál még lehet kapni, de bent már nem), napszemüveget és kalapot (sapkát) vinni. (Szalmakalapot 2O peso-ért árulnak, érdemes a helyszínen venni - mi is ezért vagyunk minden képen kalapban...)

Sun Pyramid

  A legimpozánsabb a városban természetesen a piramis - már az úton odfelé látható a legnagyobb, a Nap Piramisa, amint 65 méteres magasságával kiemelkedik a környezetből. Azért nevezik a Nap Piramisának, mert állítólag úgy lett megépítve, hogy a Nap pályája évente kétszer a piramis csúcsát érinti. A piramis alapterülete 225 méter, érdekes módon éppen akkora, mint az egyiptomi Nagy Piramisé. Bár az egyiptomi magassága több, mint duplája a teotihuacániénak (144m), a Nap Piramis így is a világ legnagyobb piramisainak egyike. Úgy gondoják, a piramis tetején régen templom állt, s ez volt mind a rituális szertartások, mind a város központja.
  Bár mai formájában a piramis fala göröngyös a kiálló terméskövek miatt, úgy gondolják, eredeti formájában színes gipszvakolat fedhette a falakat.
  A Nap Piramisáról tökéletes kilátás nyílik az előtte elterülő Halottak Útjára és a keletre fekvő Hold Piramisára. A Nap Piramisa egyébként az egyetlen, amit teljes magasságában meg lehet mászni  - közel 25O igen meredek lépcsőfokot kell megtenni a csúcsig... de a kilátás megéri a fáradtságot!
  Lemenve a piramisról, az ősi Teotihuacán főutcáján találjuk magunkat, a Halottak Útján. Nevét az aztékoktól kapta, akik tévedésből azt hitték, hogy az út mentén épített templomok ősi uralkodók sírjait tartalmazza. A Halottak Útja is, mint a piramisok és a város fekvése általában, precízen ki volt számolva: az út 2,5 kilométer hosszan nyúlik észak-dél irányba.

Avenue of the Dead with the Moon Pyramid in the back

  Az út északi végében van a Hold Piramisa, a Hold Terével előtérben. Bár alacsonyabb a Nap Piramisánál, a piramist úgy építették, hogy a szintkülönbség miatt egyszintben látszódjon. Bár a Hold Piramisára csak félig vezet fel az út, gyönyörű kilátás nyílik a bejárattal szemben hosszan elnyúló Halottak Útjára és a Nap Piramisára.

View from the Moon Pyramid

 Bár még rengeteg látnivaló - pl. a Quetzalpapalotl palota, a Quetzalcoatl (vagy másnéven tollas kígyó) temploma - is van az eddig feltárt területen, mi ezeket egy másik napra szalasztottuk.
  Érdemes még meglátogatni a múzeumot is, ahol a feltárások során előkerült agyagedények, figurák, obszidián eszközök, falfestmények, múmiák láthatók.
  Bár a város feltárása a 19. században kezdődött, igazán csak az utóbbi évtizedekben kezdték el igazán felderíteni Teotihuacánt: a Hold Piramisának belső ásatásai pl. csak 1998-ban kezdődtek! Ezért, a következő éveken, évtizedekben sok érdekesség várható Teotihuacánnal kapcsolatban.

  Egyébként a parkolóban és bent a piramisok között is rengeteg árus van, a tipikus mexikói szuvenírek közül nincs olyan, ami ott nem lenne megtalálható! Mivel a teotihuacán emberek obszidiánt használtak a szúró- és vágóeszközeiknek, sok obszidián tárgyat is árultak. Itt egyébként a kövek (márvány, obszidián, ónix) kb. olyan, mint a mészkő - elég olcsó és szinte mindehol megtalálható, ezért rengeteg ajándéktárgy is készül belőlük. (Mi egy gömb alakú márvány mécsestartót (kb. akkora mint egy teniszlabda) pl. 4O pesoért vettünk.)

  来墨して4ヶ月も経っていますが、メキシコシティからわずか60キロの距離にあるテオティワカンを先週やっと訪ねることができました。（夏は雨季なのでずっと晴れている日を待っていました。）首都から車で約1時間の場所にあるテオティワカンはメキシコで一番大きいピラミッドと町の遺跡です。

テオティワカンは紀元前後に建造されたと見られ、謎に包まれている7世紀の滅亡まで約600年間に渡り当時の世界の大都会だったそうです。
黄金時代だった4世紀頃には都市の面積は20km2、人口は約13万人いたと見られています。これでアメリカ大陸の最も大きな都市であり、世界でも6番目の都市だったと言われています。（比較のため：古代文明の最も大きいと言われているローマは紀元前一世紀に100万人の人口を誇っていたそうです。）
当時栄えている都市だったにも関わらず、住んでいた民族や彼らの言語、風習などについてほとんど知られていません。テオティワカンという名称さえ、都市が滅びた後に訪ねたアステカ人に名づけられました。当時のアステカ人が巨大なピラミッドを見たときに、この場所は神様に建造されたと思ったらしく、テオティワカン（「人々が神様になる場所」）と名づけたそうです。

テオティワカンが滅びてから町は1000年以上眠り、発見されたのは19世紀でした。発掘が1864に始まったが、今日まで都市の1割しか発掘されていないそうです。今のテオティワカンを歩き回るのにせめて半日は必要なので、当時の都市がどれぐらい大きかったか想像がつく事でしょう。ところで、テオティワカンは標高2300mにあり、日差しも強いので、雨季に行かない限り、サングラスに帽子と水を準備する必要があります。（水は駐車場にある露店で売っています。帽子は20ペソで売っていますから、持参より現地で買ったほうが良いでしょう。）

太陽のピラミッド（後ろから）

テオティワカンの最も大きなピラミッドである太陽のピラミッドは65mの高さです。底辺の1辺は225mで、ギザのピラミッドと同じサイズです。ギザの大ピラミッドは144mの高さで太陽のピラミッドより2倍ぐらい高いそうですが、太陽のピラミッドはエジプトのに次いで、世界で3番目に大きいです。このピラミッドは、太陽が年に2回ピラミッドの頂上に来るように建造されたことから名称されたそうです。ピラミッドは宗教儀礼の役割があると見られ、宗教中心だけではなく、都市の中心ともなっていたと見られています。
完全に上れるのはこのピラミッドです。65mの高さにある頂上まで、約250の急な段もありますが、景色は登る価値があります！頂上に着くと、前に死者の道と呼ばれる道が伸びていて、右に月のピラミッドがそびえ、周りの360度に山々が広がっています。

 　太陽のピラミッドから降りたら、当時の黄金都市のメイン道路であった死者の道に出ます。元々2.5キロも伸びていた道は南北に都市を横切り、両端にピラミッドが立っていたそうです。死者の道という名称も（テオティワカンと同様）アステカ由来です。アステカ人は、道の両脇に並んでいる神殿に王者たちの墓が眠っていると勘違いしたことから、死者の道と名づけたそうです。

死者の道と月のピラミッド

月のピラミッド

死者の道の北側に月の広場と月のピラミッドがあります。このピラミッドは太陽のピラミッドより低いものの、標高レベルの差により、太陽のピラミッドと同じ高さに見えます。月のピラミッドは半分までしか登れませんが、町全体の景色はここからが最も素晴らしいと言われています。

ピラミッド以外にもケツァルコアトルの神殿やケツァルパパロトルの神殿、見所が多いですが、標高と日差しと急な階段登りでかなり疲れます。私たちは（チケットも45ペソで安く）、他の日に残しました。帰りで出入り口の所にある博物館も見てきましたが、それもお勧めです。メキシコらしいアガベやサボテンの庭を通ると博物館に着きます。中には色が残された壁の欠片や粘土フィギュアや道具、ミイラが展示されています。

Copper Canyon

(Text in ENG, JAP)

  Since we had Dia de muerto this week, we took a long(er) vacation to the Copper Canyon. First we planned to go to Cancun, but due to Hurricane Rina, we had to cancel our trip and changed all the plans in just one day to the Copper Canyon.

The Urique Canyon

  Copper Canyon is a part of the SMO (Sierra Madre Occidental), an extensive mountain range that spreads 1500kms long from the northwestern part of Mexico (Sonora, Chihuahua, Durango, Jalisco etc) till the southwest of the U.S (Arizona). This area was formed about 30 to 22 million years ago by volcanic activities. At that time, this area was full with volcano, with glens and riverbeds around them. When a volcano erupted, its ashes and lava accumulated in the surrounded riverbeds and valleys. Since the hardened lava was much stronger than the walls of the glens, by the million of years of erosion, the walls of the glens have disappeared leaving the sometimes 500ms high volcanic walls to be seen. Erosion by wind and rain deepened the river valleys to form the present shape of the canyons.
  It is interesting that the name Copper Canyon was a misunderstanding. Actually, there are seven canyons in this area (Urique Canyon, Copper Canyon, Sinforosa Canyon, Batopilas Canyon, Candamena Canyon, Chinipas Canyon and Otero Canyon) and the deepest Urique Canyon (1880ms) was mistook by the Copper Canyon first, that`s why the naming.

 Copper Canyon is said to be at least 7 times bigger than the Grand Canyon. Its extensive size is humiliating, but there are some differences that make Grand Canyon the "Queen of Canyons": although Copper Canyon is deeper and longer than the Grand Canyon, Grand Canyon is said to represent all the 40 geological ages that existed on this planet. (While Copper Canyon consists about 4 or 5 of them.) Also, while the most famous pictures of Grand Canyon are the ones with no vegetation, just plain rocks, most of the rocks in Copper Canyon are covered with forests. Either way, both canyons are (must be) amazing formations of our planet.

The train entering the forests

  But you must wonder how to enjoy this enormous size of canyon-chain. There is a train called Chepe (one of the few passenger trains in Mexico) that runs 653kms through the canyon from Chihuahua to Los Mochis. During the ride, there are 86 tunnels and 37 bridges that makes the ride astonishing. Even more astonishing that the train climbs up from the sea level Los Mochis to 2400ms (Divisadero) in 300kms just to decline again at the second half of the road until Chihuahua. Although the ticket is expensive (2200MXN for one way on the first class (which is highly recommended)), you can make 3 stops on the way if you are not satisfied with only the view from the train.
  It is said that the best views are from Divisadero until El Fuerte, therefore many tourists start their trip from Los Mochis. However, since there was no direct flight from Mexico City to Los Mochis, we took the train from Chihuahua. There are only two trains a day (one starting from Chihuahua and one from Los Mochis), so we took an evening flight to reach the 6.am start next morning. I think it was better that we took the ride this way, because from Chihuahua there were only local people (some tourists but still Mexican), therefore we had no trouble with the window seats. (There are open windows at the end of the cars where you can take pictures and enjoy the wind.) We took the train all the way to El Fuerte (571kms) which took us 13 hours. I was a little bit worried if we would get bored in such a long ride, but after a few hours of sleep (while the train went out of the plain into the mountains), we just couldn`t get enough of the breathtaking view. The train 8 stops on the way, and at Divisadero (the highest point) it stops for 15-20 minutes to be able to get off and enjoy the amazing view of the deepest canyon, Canyon Urique. There are also local indians selling handcrafts and fast food (tacos, not hamburgers). But be resistant with the souvenirs: if you make a stopover, you will definitely find many shops and you can`t go to a tourist place without having indian children around you urging you to buy something.

The view from Divisadero

  So, we took the train until El Fuerte: it was already close to 8pm when we arrived, so we just checked in the hotel. Which turned out to be one of the towns tourist spots, because it was an old hacienda with beautiful inner gardens and a statue of Zorro. Yes, El Fuerte is the birthplace of Zorro! The other surprise was in the morning when we saw dozens of hummingbirds having breakfast at the entrance - there are special "cups" for hummingbirds sold in Mexico and these were hung from the treebranches. I`ve seen hummingbirds in Mexico City a couple of times, but never so many!!!

Me with Zorro

  El Fuerte by the way a small town where you might be able to spend a day or two. There is an old fort, the hacienda (our hotel) and the main square with the church that might be worth to see. Since we didn`t have much time, we just run through these in the morning and get on the train to go to Creel - another 5 hour ride.

Streetview in Creel

  Creel is one of the most popular tourist stops, since there are many trails from here going to the canyons and many other activities. We spent two nights here in a good atmospheric lodge hotel (the Best Western). Although we didn`t have reservation, October seems to be the low season (the best season is said to be August), so we had no problem with the rooms.
  On the first day we took a car tour of the hotel, which took us to the most popular/famous spots - the tarahumara caves, the San Ignacio church, the Valley of Frog, the Valley of Mushrooms, the Elephant stone, Lake Arareco and Cascada Cusarare.

The cave-house

  The Tarahumara Caves: Creel has the biggest population of the Tarahumara indians, who came to this area about 400 years ago, running away from the Spanish conquerors. These people have preserved their traditions - their nomad lifestyle, their language, clothing... Many people still live without gas, water or electricity in their homes and some doesn`t even live in houses! We visited such a place, where the family lived in a cave(!). They had of course beds and table inside, it was just that instead of a house, they lived in a cave.




  The San Ignacio church: a beautiful little church in the valley of frog, among where the tarahumara indians live. It is like a postcard as the stone built church stands out from the waste land, with nothing but the blue sky in the background.
  The Valley and frog and mushrooms are named of the strange shaped rocks in the area. So is the Elephant stone which looks like an elephant from a certain angle.

The valley of frog

The valley of mushrooms

  Lake Arareco: this horseshoe shaped lake surrounded by pine woods is just 5kms from the town and so a popular spot for tourists. The smell of the pine trees and the quite surroundings makes this place perfect for relaxing.

  Cascada Cusarare: this waterfall is for further 4kms from Lake Arareco. The waterfall is 30meters high, but unfortunately since October is the dry season there was hardly any water in it. Even so, the height of the waterfall and the view was spectacular.

Cusarare waterfall - with my husband in the middle

  There are many waterfalls in the surroundings, and although the biggest is 3-4 hours car ride, it is worth to see: the waterfall is called Basaseachi, which is the tallest waterfall in North-America with its 245meters. There are also hot springs around this area (in Recohuata), but it is a one day trip from Creel. The water is 35-36C.
  As we didn`t have much time to go to the hot springs and there was no much water in the waterfalls, we missed the last two attractions.

  Instead, we took a 2 hours buggy ride to another waterfall and canyon and a 3 hours horseride to Lake Arareco. It was our first buggy tour, which was fun: going through small ponds and narrow trails... The horseride was much fun as well, we galloped on the plains, which gave us a good muscular pain on the next day. The horses did amazing on the rocks and small trails, it was definitely an experience of a lifetime!

(There are many more pictures if you click on the title above.)

先週「死者の日」の連休があったので、少し遠出をして、コッパーキャニョン（銅渓谷）へ行ってきました。元々カンクンへ行く予定でしたが、ハリケーンが来たため急遽計画変更し、旅行先をコッパーキャニョンにしました。
コッパーキャニョンはSMO (Sierra Madre Occidental)という巨大な山脈の一部です。SMOはメキシコ北西（ソノラ、チワワ、ドゥランゴ、ハリスコなど）からアメリカ南西（アリゾナ）へと約1500kmに渡って広がっています。この地域は300～220万年前発生した火山活動によってできました。その当時、この地域は火山とその周りに峡谷や川がありました。火山が噴火した際、火山灰や溶岩は周りの川や峡谷を徐々に埋め始めました。固まった溶岩は周りの峡谷の壁より硬いため、何百万年の浸食の結果、500mの溶岩の壁ができました。さらに、雨と風の浸食で現在の渓谷の形ができあがったそうです。
現在のコッパーキャニョンは、実に7つの渓谷から成り立っています。それぞれは：Urique Canyon, Copper Canyon, Sinforosa Canyon, Batopilas Canyon, Candamena Canyon, Chinipas Canyon と Otero Canyon)。その中で最も深いのはUrique Canyon (1880ms)です。（最初Urique CanyonはCopper Canyonと間違えられたそうで、名称はCopper Canyonとなったそうです。）
コッパーキャニョンはグランキャニョンより少なくとも7倍大きいと言われてます。しかし、サイズの他にグランキャニョンとコッパーキャニョンには他の違いもあります。コッパーキャニョンはグランキャニョンより深くて長いそうですが、グランキャニョンには地球上存在した40の地質時代の全てが見られると言われています（コッパーキャニョンでは4～5しか見れないそうです）。さらに、グランキャニョンは植物のない岩として知られているが、コッパーキャニョンは森で覆われている。いずれにせよ、両方の渓谷は地球の素晴らしい地形で、景色です。

しかし、この巨大な渓谷はどのように楽しめるでしょうか。メキシコで有数の列車の一つ、チェペがこの渓谷を横切っています。路線の長さは653kmで、列車はチワワからロスモチスへ走ります。途中にある86つのトンネルと37つの橋が渓谷の景色の素晴らしさをさらに増します。
切符は割と高い（ファーストクラスで片道で2200ペソ）ですが、3回乗り降りができます。もっとも美しい景色はDivisaderoからLos Mochisまでだと言われているので、多くの観光客はLos Mochisより電車に乗ります。私たちは、メキシコシティからの直行便がチワワまでしかなかったので、逆方向で電車に乗りましたが、そのおかげで観光客が少なく、写真を撮ることに問題ありませんでした。（各車両の終わりに景色を楽しむため開いている窓があります。）チワワとロスモチスそれぞれの終点から1日で１台の列車しかありません。それぞれの電車は朝6時に出発するので、土曜朝の電車に間に合わせる為、メキシコシティから金曜日の夜の飛行機に乗りました。チワワからまずエルフエルテまで行きました。（571キロで13時間かかりました。）最初は、13時間の長旅は退屈じゃないかと心配しましたが、チワワから数時間後列車が森の中に入ってから景色を眺めるだけで時間があっという間に経ちました。列車は最も高所にあるDivisaderoの駅に15～20分停車します。その間、電車を降りて、最も深いUriqueキャニョンの景色を楽しめます。現地人も手作りの手芸品をたくさん売っていますが、この辺ではほとんどどこでも手芸品が売っているので、お土産を買うチャンスは十分あるので、ご心配なく。

列車でまずエルフエルテまで行きました。13時間もかかったので、駅に着いたのは夜8時ぐらいで、真っ先にホテルにチェックインしました。ホテルは古いアシエンダ（荘園）を改造したものだったので、町の観光地の一つでもあったことを後で知りました。ホテルの美しい中庭には映画マスクオブゾロで知られるゾロの彫刻がありました。なぜならエルフエルテはゾロの出身地だからだそうです。さらに、ホテルのフロントにはハチドリの群れも見れます！町自体も必ず見るべきです：アシエンダのホテル以外にヤシの木がそびえているメイン広場と教会や町の砦がお勧めです。

翌日、エルフエルテからクリールまで行きました。さらに、5時間の旅でした。クリールは沿線で最も人気のある観光地です。周りに多くのキャニョンへのハイキング道や滝などの見どころがあります。私たちはクリールで2日間を過ごしました。初日はホテルのツアーに参加し、車で周りの観光地を回りました：タラウマラ洞窟、サンイグナシオ教会、蛙の谷、茸の谷、象の石、アラレコ湖とクサラレ滝。

タラウマラ洞窟：クリールはタラウマラ先住民の人口が最も多い町だと言われています。タラウマラ人は、400年ぐらい前にスペイン人から逃げて、今のクリール周辺に定着したそうです。タラウマラ人は未だに400年前の伝統を続けています。多くの人はガス、電気、水がない家に住んでいて、服装や言語も昔のままです。私たちが訪ねた家族は家ではなく、洞窟に住んでいました。もちろん、中にベッドやテーブルがありましたが、洞窟での生活を見るのは初めてでした。
サンイグナシオ教会：蛙の谷に位置している美しい教会です。白い石で建てられた教会は青空を背景に絵葉書のようです。
蛙の谷と茸の谷：ここにキノコやカエルの形をしている岩が並んでいます。ゾウの石も同様で、ある角度から立っている象に見える岩でした。
アラレコ湖：馬蹄の形をしているこの湖は松の木で囲まれています。町からたった5キロの距離にある湖は人気のある観光地だそうです。
クサラレ滝：アラレコ湖からさらに4キロ離れているこの滝の水は30mから落ちていきます。10月は乾季なので、残念ながら水が少なかったですが、それでも素晴らしい景色でした。
クリールの周辺に他にも多くの滝があります。もっとも高いのは車で3－4時間もかかりますが、245mの高さで北米最高の滝として必見だと思います。さらに遠いですが、日帰りで温泉も訪ねられます。レコワタ温泉の温度は35－36度だそうです。
私たちはあまり時間がなかったのと、乾季だったので、滝も温泉も行きませんでした。代わりに、バギーでキャニョンを見に行きました。四駆のバギーで森道や水溜りを渡るのは楽しかったです。二日目は3時間ほど乗馬に出かけました。さらに細い山道を通りながら、アラレコ湖まで行きました。険しい道のりでしたが、馬が上手に足場を見つけることに驚きました。日本では絶対にできない体験でした！

（上のタイトルにクリックすると、さらに写真が閲覧できます）

Día de Muerto (Day of the Dead)

(Text in ENG)

  Halloween, Halottak Napja, Día de Muerto, Obon... all these holidays are for the beloved who have passed away.
  Halloween in the US is celebrated with fun (the pumpkins, masks, costumes, "trick or treat"-s) on the 31st October. And although Halloween is followed by more and more countries, each country has its own way to remember the dead.

  It is Obon in Japan, when it is thought that the dead souls are returning to their homes. Obon is celebrated in the middle of August - in Japan, it is a quite remembering when people go to the cemeteries and take flowers to the graves. Similar to the Hungarian "Halottak Napja", which is on the 1st November. I always thought that this day is perfect for this holiday, because November is the start of the winter. It was always cold and cloudy and foggy - just the atmosphere for this sad holiday. In Mexico, this remembering lasts for 2 days: on the 1st is it thought that the souls of the children come back from the other world, while the adults visiting on the 2nd. Although Mexico is a deeply christian country, día de muerto resembles for the ancient times. This holiday well shows the mix of christendom and the old religions.
  On Día de Muerto, the people prepare traditional food, flowers and most of all all kinds of skulls and skeletons. Of course, not real, mainly made of candy or chocolate, but there are objects as well, made of paper or wood. The approach of the Mexican to skulls and skeletons astonishes me all the time - in our culture, a skull should be disgusting, while here it is widely approved and even liked: the skulls are funny in Mexico: made of beads, wood, paper painted colorfully (and always smiling). There is even a mummy museum in Morelia, with hundreds of real mummies displayed....
  Going back to the Día de Muerto, the most popular food of this day is the "pan de muerto" (bread of the dead): it is a round, sweet bread with sugar on the outside and (mainly) walnut in the inside. This bread (and the skull sweets) are sold in the supermarkets and all over the city since weeks before the holiday.

  The biggest festival of these days are held at Lake-Pátzcuaro, near Morelia. However, festivals are all over the country. We were traveling at this time and arrived back on the 2nd, but on our way home, we could see huge traffic jams around the cemeteries in Mexico City. People were pouring in and out the and flower stands were lining up along the cemeteries.

Skeleton on the street made of flower petals

Altar for Dia de muerto

Morelia

Last week we went to Morelia. A friend of mine was working on the International Film Festival there, so we visited the city for that weekend. (Unfortunately, we had only a weekend to look around and finally we didn`t have time to watch a movie, but anyway, we had a great time.)
 
  Morelia is a colonial town about 300kms from Mexico City to the North. That area is the gold (or silver) mine of the colonial towns: Morelia, San Miguel del Allende, Guanajuato, Queretaro are just a few hours drive from each other. This area is rich in silver, therefore the area has been developed since the XVI. century. The richness of these colonial towns here are reflected in the houses, the clean streets, the rich ornaments of the churches...
 
  While Guanajuato was lovely with its curvy and narrow streets and colorful houses, Morelia has its charm with the simplicity of the rose-limestone houses with tiled roofs and green parks.

  This was the first time we took a long-distance bus, which has exceeded our expectations. There are many types of buses in Mexico: deluxe, first class, second class. We took a deluxe bus with the ETN busline. One way is 370MXN, which includes a soda, lunch (sandwich and snack), wi-fi, movie and a convenient, wide, reclining seat. Since we went for only a weekend, it was good to take the bus and get off fresh and relaxed.

  Fortunately, we had beautiful weather, the weekend was great to stroll around in the city. Just like Guanajuato, the historical center in Morelia is small enough to go around on foot. The main attraction without doubt is the cathedral with its 60m tall towers. There is a nice park with a fountain next to the cathedral and many restaurants and cafes are around the park. You can as well see a traditional dance performance there. Also, there is a cute old-fashioned tourist bus from the front of the cathedral going around the tourist sights.
  The other place worth to visit is the old water channel - one just like in the old Rome.

  The loveliness of the place is proved by the many brides we saw around the city - there were photo shoots all over the city. Even in our hotel, there was a wedding photo shoot as well as a commercial shoot. The hotel we stayed was a rustic style one, with hand painted walls and furniture and a real fireplace - which we had chance to use, since the night was quite chilli.

  Although for me, personally I preferred Guanajuato`s atmosphere, Morelia is a beautiful place to visit and in a good location from the capital even for just a short weekend.

(You can see more pictures if you click on the main title.)

Zoo

Múlt héten állatkertben voltunk. A legelső, amit el kell mondani a mexikóvárosi állatkertről, hogy ingyenes (!). Itt általában a múzeumok, kiállítások az itt élőknek vasárnaponként ingyenesek szoktak lenni, de az állatkert minden nap az. Ami nagyon jó, mert az embernek nem kell számolgatnia, hogy mennyibe is fog kerülni a családnak egy vasárnapi kiruccanás.

  Az állatkert egyébként (mint ahogy Budapesten is) egy hatalmas parkban van, ami hétvégén tömve van lufi, vattacukor és mindenféle szuvenírt árusító bódékkal (no, meg emberekkel).
Maga az állatkert hatalmas - mi kétszer voltunk már, lejártuk a lábunkat, de még így sem láttuk a fókák és jegesmedvék részét...
  Az állatok egy része természetesen a "standard" (oroszlán, zsiráf, elefánt), de persze nagyon sok állat van az amerikai kontinensről (no, meg Mexikóból), amit más állatkertben nem láthat talán az ember. Bennem leginkább a kígyóház hagyott emléket, mert eddig még nem realizálódott bennem, hogy Mexikóban mennyi kígyó van! A kiállított kígyók nagy része mind Mexikóban (is) honos kígyó, és persze, mind "muy peligroso (nagyon veszélyes)".
  A másik fantasztikus élmény az antilopoknál volt - ahogy mentünk volna el tőlük, arra lettünk figyelmesek, hogy az egyik antilop "hátsójából" "valami zacskószerű kiáll". Aztán egyre jobban lógott le, és pár perc múlva mintha egy pata is látszódott volna... igen, az antilop elkezdett szülni! A szülés nagyon gyorsan ment, kb. 15 perc alatt megvolt a bébi. A furcsa az volt, hogy az antilop is lefeküdt, és csak a legvégén állt fel "kipottyantani" a bébit. Megható volt, hogy az antilop barátnők (3-4) mindig körülötte volt, odamentek hozzá, mintegy bártorítani, köréfeküdtek, egyszóval védték. És sikerült megbizonyosodni arról is, hogy a dokumentumfilmek nem hazudnak - mivel a természetben ezeket az állatokat állandóan fenyegetik a ragadozók, az újszülöttnek rögtön lábra kell állnia, hogy tovább tudjon menni a csordával. És valóban, 15 perc múlva (direkt néztem az órám) a bébiantilop - bár remegő lábakkal - de három-négy próbálkozás után már állt és járt! (Nem rossz teljesítmény egy újszülöttől!)
Fantasztikus élmény és hatalmas mázlink volt, hogy épp elkaphattuk ezt a megható pillanatot!

(A képek a születésről a picasa albumban vannak - kattints a főcímre, hogy megnézhesd őket)

先週動物園へ行きました。元々パンダを見に行く予定でしたが、パンダよりも素晴らしい、感動的な経験をしました。
メキシコの動物園は、一先ず無料ということにびっくりします！子供が大好きな動物園は家族そろってみんなで行くところなので、お金のことを気にせず、週末などに気楽に家族全員のプログラムができるのは嬉しいですね。ちなみに、メキシコシティも上野のように、動物園は大きな公園の中にあって、週末に綿飴や風船などを売っている露天で賑わっています。動物園自体は巨大な大きさで、我々は2回も行きましたが、まだ全てを回りきることができませんでした。
動物園の一部にキリンやライオン、象など、「標準的」な動物がいますが、日本の動物園にはいない、この地域（アメリカ大陸）の動物も多くいました。私にとって印象的だったのは蛇館でした。行くまでは、メキシコにこんなに蛇の種類が多いとは知りませんでした。（よく考えたら南にジャングルがあり、北に砂漠があるので、蛇が多そうですが…）
しかし、最も印象的だったのはアンテロープでした。ちょうど次の動物を見に行くところで、一頭のアンテロープのお尻から何か袋らしいものがぶら下がっている事に気づきました。 その袋らしいものは段々大きくなり、そして、しばらくしてからひづめらしいものもちらっと出てきたかのような…そうです、アンテロープの出産を目撃したのです！出産は約15分で素早く済みました。面白かったのは、アンテーロプ3－4頭が常にお母さんアンテロープと一緒にいて、励ますかのように近づいたり、隣で寝転んだりしていました。そして、出産のほとんどが横たわった状態で行われるのも驚きでした。アンテロープママは、赤ちゃんのほとんどが出るまで横になっていて、最後だけ立ち上がりました。そして、ドキュメンタリーで言われることも本当だとわかりました：自然の中でこのような動物は常にライオンなどの肉食動物に危険にさらされているので、赤ちゃんは生まれてすぐに立ち上がって、群れに追いついて歩かないといけないと言われています。今回生まれた赤ちゃんも、生まれてから数分後に震える足で立ち上がろうとして、3－4回のトライの結果、15分ぐらいで歩くようになりました。（わざと時間を計りました。）大したもんです！
偶然にも自然にでも稀に見れないことが目撃できた、本当にラッキーでした。とても感動的な経験でした。

（出産の写真はピカサのアルバムに載っています　－　メインタイトルにクリックすると見ることができます。）