San Ángel

It was a steamy day in Mexico City. The sun was blazing down on us as we disembarked the Metrobus in San Angel, a neighborhood in southwestern D.F. Our walking tour had us starting at a park. We worked our way to the huge Stalin-esque monument in the middle. After walking its circumference, we saw a staircase and entrance. There was a man at the top who ordered us impatiently in Spanish, "Enter, enter!" Once inside, we walked around and noticed the statue of former General and President Alvaro Obregon and his lack of a right arm. Apparently, he had lost his arm in battle, and this monument used to hold his actual DISMEMBERED ARM. Yikes.

The impatient man who shooed us in then approached us and said that we could climb a staircase to the top of the huge monument for 21 pesos. We decided to do it. I have no idea if this dude was a legitimate worker for this monument, but he didn't seem to have a lot of money, so we were fine with giving him a few pesos. He gave Matt a candle to hold (no lights up the spiral staircase) and off we went up the stairs. Walking that staircase was seriously one of the strangest things I've ever done. It was steep, pitch black (the candle helped barely), very spirally, and at least 100 steps. I thought I was going to die. Side note: After we descended this awkward staircase, I got the worst leg cramp ever and am still sore (the next day).

This is the view from the top. It's a rare opportunity to see the mountains surrounding the city (i.e. buildings everywhere), so it was cool to have a 360 view of that.











Anyway. San Angel. It is a rich neighborhood. Not nouveau-riche like Polanco, oh no. We're talking old, old money. It is Spanish-colonial in style and has charming cobblestone streets.



















This door, to what is presumed to be a very grandiose mansion, declares that it was built in 1786. Like a lot of the homes here, the mansion has cement walls around it, so you can't really see the actual estate.














San Angel seems to be a very religious part of town. We stumbled (and literally stumbled--I don't do well with cobblestone) across weddings and baptisms when we entered the courtyards of the churches
































I enjoyed particularly the beautiful Catholic imagery and shrines throughout the city.

























































































At the end of the tour, we visited one of Diego Rivera's homes. Although I'm not a huge fan of Diego's painting style, the home contained a lot knickknacks and whims that he collected.
















This was the wicked cactus fence around his home.







San Angel was pretty and had a great artisan market. Lots of wealthy European expats (snooze) roaming about. It was not a place that we will be spending a lot of time, but it made for a nice day trip.