A few days ago I finished another book.  This one was "The Valley of Amazement" by Chinese-American writer Amy Tan. Tan gained fame for her first novel, "The Joy Luck Club", which was published in 1989.  I enjoyed that book as well as the movie that was based on it.  Tan has written a number of novels since then, but "The Valley of Amazement" (her most recent, published in 2013) is only the second book that I have read by her. The novel begins in Shanghai in the early 20th century.  The main character is Violet, the daughter of an American woman who owns a first-class cou ..read more

This morning I wrote about the Churches of Santa Veracruz and San Juan de Dios which are both settling unevenly into Mexico City's soft soil. Today I was downtown again, and I took another photo of Santa Veracruz. This one gives you a better idea of how the entire church is tilted.  And yes, even the pavement in front of the church is also sinking unevenly. Pisa has its leaning tower, but Mexico City has numerous buildings which are leaning ..read more

Due to Mexico City's spongy soil, many buildings in the Historic Center have settled unevenly.  That is the case with two colonial churches located across the street from the Alameda Park, the Church of Santa Veracruz and the Church of San Juan de Dios.  Both churches had been closed for repairs and restoration work. Last week after visiting the Museo Kaluz, I walked down the street just a block to see how work was progressing on the two of them. The Church of Santa Veracruz is still closed.  In these photos you cannot really appreciate the uneven angles at which the building is ..read more

 The third exhibit at the Museo Kaluz was not an art exhibit, but a look at a Mexico City neighborhood... "colonia" Guerrero, which is highlighted on this aerial map of the city The museum itself is actually located on the southern edge of Colonia Guerrero, just across the street from the Alameda Park.  Although Guerrero is just steps away from some of the city's major tourist attractions, the neighborhood is a working class district with a fair share of poverty and crime. The exhibit tells the story of Guerrero through artifacts and photographs. Before the Spanish conquest it was ..read more

Between 1939 and 1942 more than 25,000 refugees fleeing the fascist regime of Francisco Franco came to Mexico at the end of the Spanish Civil War.  The Museo Kaluz currently has a special exhibit of the artwork created by some of those refugees. The pieces in the first section of the exhibit depict the exodus of the refugees across the border from Spain into France and the inhumane conditions in which they were forced to live in concentration camps in France.  I found this section especially interesting.  You may remember that I recently read a novel by Isabel Allende which deal ..read more

 Continuing with the exhibit "Bajo el Mismo México" at the Museo Kaluz... The next gallery of the exhibit featured surrealistic art. Rafael Muñoz López "Surrealistic Nude" 1939 Jesús Guerrero Galván "Dream and Vigil" 1950 José García Narezo "The Great Shell" 1949 Raúl Uribe Castillo "The House of Life Savers" 1943 Ricardo Martínez "The Dream" 1944 Roberto Montenegro "Golden Sphere" date unknown Fanny Rabel "The Nuns and the Sea" 1945 The last gallery of the exhibit was actually rather anti-climactic... a small room of still lifes. Olga Costa "The Flow ..read more

Here are more of the Mexican paintings from the exhibit "Bajo el Mismo México" at the Kaluz Museum... The third gallery focused on landscapes and cityscapes. Arturo Estrada "Landscape of Angangueo" 1964 Ramón Cano Manilla no title 1922 Concha Toussaint "Church Domes" 1977 Juan O'Gorman "Souvenir of Cuernavaca" date unknown Pedro Galarza "Courtyard of the Convent of El Carmen" 1928 Eloy Cerecero Sandoval "The Kite" 1956 Francisco Romano Guillermín "Houses in Taxco" date unknown Nicolás Moreno "View of the Lagoon at Jiquilpan" 1973 Luis Covarrubias "Pah ..read more

 Last week we received a notice that on Wednesday the street would be closed and the electricity would be shut off from 10 AM until 4 PM while a work crew connected the power to two new apartment buildings just down the street.  I planned on getting out of the apartment during that time.  According to the weather forecast it was going to be too hot for one of my long walks, so instead I checked to see if there were any special exhibits at the museums downtown.  At the Palace of Fine Arts there is an exhibit of Impressionist paintings, but I want to save that for a day when ..read more

The Alameda Central, in the heart of Mexico City, is the oldest public park in the Americas.  It is also one of the best places to see the jacaranda trees blooming in the spring.  The trees are now in full bloom.  In fact some of the trees are already past their prime. The Latin American Tower in the background ..read more

Mexico City may be within the Tropics, but in this high altitude city, anything over 80 degrees Fahrenheit is considered HOT!  Normally the hot months in Mexico City are April and May, but throughout the world it seems that normal weather no longer applies.  Following a pattern that we saw last year, the 80 degree days began in February.  On February 25th the mercury hit 80, and the high temperatures have remain there or higher every day since.  As you can see from the Weather Channel's long term forecast, the heat is going to continue.  (Thank goodness, I don't live i ..read more