The longer I stayed in Mexico the longer I realized that the Spanish cultural influence is just a thin patina over the persistent Aztec culture. As a tourist I saw only the surface of that, the ubiquitous muertes in the art, the pleasure boats at Xochimilco, the clothing and the faces of the people. The Mexicans may be a mestizo people blending Spanish and Indian roots, but those Indian roots go deep and strong, much moreso than the recent overlays introduced by the conquistadores and their followers.
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Once the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan sat on an island in the middle of a great lake,
now mostly filled in.
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Now in Xochmilco Park pleasure barges offer a relaxing afternoon in imitaion of the flowered boats that used to travel through canals of Tenochtitlan. Musicians and vendors row through with their offerings to the family parties and tourists.
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Of course the musicians at Xochmilco use more contempory instruments than these remnants from an Aztec orchestra!
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Teotihuacan, with the famous Pyramid of the Sun actually pre-dates the Aztecs.
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The Cathedral bordering Mexico City's central square.
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| Urban excavations keep turning up Aztec ruins. |
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