Monday, December 8, 2014

The Teotihuacan Pyramids with Gino

November 25th, 2014

I contacted my old friend Gino a few days before arriving in Mexico City.  We shared a dorm room with 8 other boys back in boarding school in grade 9, back in 1985-86.  He was born and raised in Mexico City and now runs the 70 year old family business, a massive pharmacy called Farmacia Paris.  By chance, the hostel I was staying at, Hostel Centro Historico Regina, was just two blocks away from the pharmacy so Gino walked down and picked me up for breakfast.

He took me to his favourite breakfast place and he must be a true regular there as we were immediately whisked up to the second floor and through a set of doors into a back room where only a couple of other men in business suits were dining.  I felt a little out of place in my backpacker clothes but it didn't seem to matter as Gino was the man according to the waiters, and I was there as his friend so I could do no wrong.

Gino in his happy morning place:

Gino gave me a brief tour of the pharmacy, a sprawling labyrinth of buildings that occupies almost an entire city block right in the centre of the historical centre of Mexico’s capital.  A few days later he’d give the full tour of the family’s massive business that employs over 600 people.  As we walked out of one of the entrances of the pharmacy I couldn’t help but notice a very tall and large man walking behind us in a suit.  I saw that he had an earpiece in one ear, the kind that you see on secret service agents.  Gino then turned to him, gave him 100 pesos and asked for him to fetch a couple of bottles of water.  I would later learn that this guy, Sergio, was one of Gino’s bodyguards/drivers.  We crossed the street to a small, fenced in parking lot with half a dozen vehicles.  Hopping into this massive white GMC Denali we began our drive out of the city to the Teotihuacan Pyramids, an hour out of the city.  I later found out that the vehicle had class 3 bulletproof glass.  Shit Gino, you live in a different world than mine!  Gino wasn’t too happy to give up his little sports car for a massive SUV but his wife Lilliana is happier that he’s safer.

One of many courtyards in the "pharmacy":

Yet another one:

The shipping department:

On our drive out to the pyramids I was mesmerized by the seemingly never ending sprawl of the nation’s capital.  Mexico City is in a valley but the surrounding hills don’t prevent houses with crazy steep streets from existing.

The urban sprawl:

The pyramids were the centrepieces of the Teotihuacan city, which is thought to have been established around 100 BC by the Toltec.  There are two main pyramids, the Pyramid of the Moon and the larger one, the Pyramid of the Sun, with the latter rising up about 64 meters.  A major thoroughfare serving as the backbone of the metropolis is called the “Calzada de los Muertos” or “Avenue of the Dead”.  The city is thought to have lasted until the 7th or 8th centuries AD but its major monuments were systematically destroyed around 550 AD.  The population could have topped out at as much as 125,000 inhabitants which made it one of the largest cities in the world at that time.

A monolithic statue at the entrance:

Gino and I wandered down the Avenue of the Dead all the way to the Pyramid of the Moon, which you are only allowed to climb about a third of the way up.   We checked out all of the ruins and their corresponding informational signs along the way and finished with ascending the Pyramid of the Sun, of which you are allowed to go up to the top.  Gino recounted that at one point the government had ceased allowing visitors to climb up the pyramids, worrying about decay of the ruins from so many trodding feet.  But then hardly anyone visited the UNESCO site and they had to reverse their decision.

Knuffle at the Pyramid of the Sun:

That's the Pyramid of the Moon way in the background:


It looks like water or fire should shoot out of his mouth...but sadly it doesn't:

Gino on the move:

Looking down from the Pyramid of the moon:

Me and Gino and the Sun Pyramid in the distance:

The stairs were pretty steep:

Love this sign...the hats, the skull...

We were lucky that there were some high clouds and some cumulus ones popping off and a slight breeze that kept the temperature bearable.  I couldn’t imagine the place in the height of the summer.  Gino was wearing a fancy Garmin watch and we had walked over 6 kilometres by the time we returned to the entrance.

The Pyramid of the Sun:

And from the top, looking back at the Pyramid of the Moon:

We were also fortunate that just as we arrived at the parking lot, a group was beginning an old ritual called “Danza de los Voladores” (Dance of the Flyers).  Four guys in brightly coloured clothing were atop a pole which must have stood about 50 feet high.  One man was playing a flute while another tapped away on a small drum.  Each of them was tied by a rope around the waist to the pole.  They all leaned back, away from the pole and began to spiral down as the ropes slowly unravelled from around the pole until they reached the ground.  It looked like a lot of fun!

And they're off:

La Danza de los Voladores:

Nice work guys!

Returning back to Mexico City, Gino drove down “la Reforma”, a major street in the capital lined with trees and fancy financial buildings and the odd hotel.  It’s supposed to be the Mexican version of the Champs Elysees in Paris.  He took me to his lovely modern home for a lovely lunch and later his lovely wife Lilliana arrived home from work.  We had met briefly some ten years ago in Victoria at the high school reunion for Gino and me.  Later on his young daughters, 8 year old Roberta and 12 year old Federica returned back from their ballet classes and it was great to get to meet them.  Lovely kids.

Gino and Lilliana:

Me with the girls:

Surprisingly Gino offered to take me out the following day, playing hooky from his chief role at the pharmacy again.  I guess it’s nice to be the boss…and I was happy to spend some more time with my good ol’ friend.

Gracias Gino!

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