One lovely Saturday, our friend J and her adorable daughter came and took us to Chapultepec Park to visit Chapultepec Castle, saving us from our eternal car-less-ness.
Chapulines are of course grasshoppers here in Mexico,
chapultepec in Nahuatl means "Grasshopper Hill." The park is the Mexico City equivalent of Central Park - a huge park right smack in the center of the city. Near the middle of the park is the huge hill on which sits the Castle.
This lovely carriage could have solved a lot of our car problems.
The most famous use of the castle was the very short period when it was an imperial palace. The French (along with the English and the Spanish) took advantage of the United State's civil war and marched on Mexico to collect some defaulted debts. Napoleon III took the oportunity to set up an Emperor in Mexico with the approval of the Mexican conservative elite, and placed Maximilian and Carlotta on the throne. The Mexican liberals refused to acknowledge Max's right to rule, and the populous, led by President Benito Juárez, fought continuously. Strangely, Max turned out to be a fairly progressive ruler who insituted many liberal policies like abolishing child labor, extending voting rights, ending serfdom, and a universal health program (Okay, I made that last part up) which should have appeased the people, but they couldn't stomach a monachy. Max lived at the castle from 1864 until 1867, when he was captured by Juárez's forces and
executed. Their apartments were pretty swanky, having a lovely European charm.
J & Baby A
One lovely Saturday, our friend J and her adorable daughter came and took us to Chapultepec Park to visit Chapultepec Castle, saving us from our eternal car-less-ness. Chapulines are of course grasshoppers here in Mexico, chapultepec in Nahuatl means "Grasshopper Hill." The park is the Mexico City equivalent of Central Park - a huge park right smack in the center of the city. Near the middle of the park is the huge hill on which sits the Castle.
This lovely carriage could have solved a lot of our car problems. 
The most famous use of the castle was the very short period when it was an imperial palace. The French (along with the English and the Spanish) took advantage of the United State's civil war and marched on Mexico to collect some defaulted debts. Napoleon III took the oportunity to set up an Emperor in Mexico with the approval of the Mexican conservative elite, and placed Maximilian and Carlotta on the throne. The Mexican liberals refused to acknowledge Max's right to rule, and the populous, led by President Benito Juárez, fought continuously. Strangely, Max turned out to be a fairly progressive ruler who insituted many liberal policies like abolishing child labor, extending voting rights, ending serfdom, and a universal health program (Okay, I made that last part up) which should have appeased the people, but they couldn't stomach a monachy. Max lived at the castle from 1864 until 1867, when he was captured by Juárez's forces and executed. Their apartments were pretty swanky, having a lovely European charm.
J & Baby A
Zorra and Nevara went lizard hunting on the grounds.
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