dumb?’
Everybody laughed, including Paco, who seemed to draw energy from the crowd. A stage actor in his younger years, he loved being the centre of attention. For him, the size of his audience didn’t matter. He wanted to put on the best show possible.
He turned his back to the north and pointed over his shoulders with both of his thumbs. ‘OK, my friends. It’s time to stop looking at me. There are better things to see. Behind me is Catedral Metropolitana de la Asunción de María. In English, that is Metropolitan Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary. It is the largest and oldest cathedral in the Americas. It is also the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mexico. The cathedral was built in sections from 1573 to 1813. Its design is a mixture of three different styles, but I do not remember what they are. If you want to find out, you can get a tour of the cathedral. But I warn you: the priests charge three times as much as me and are not nearly as funny.’
He waited for the laughter to die down before he pointed to the east. A long building, half the height of the cathedral, stretched the entire length of the plaza. Its façade was decorated with
tezontle
, a porous red stone common in Mexican construction. ‘That is Palacio Nacional, or the National Palace. Once the presidential residence of Mexico, it is now a government building with offices for the treasury and collections from the National Archives. If you have the time, I recommend the giant mural painted by Diego Rivera. He is famous Mexican painter who was married to Frida Kahlo. She was even more famous than him. Do you know Frida?’
A few people nodded tentatively.
He smiled. ‘She had eyebrows like angry caterpillars.’
The group laughed and nodded their heads in understanding. Pictures and paintings of Frida – who grew up in Coyoacán, one of the sixteen boroughs of Mexico City – and her distinctive eyebrows were displayed throughout the city.
‘Anyhow,’ he said, ‘the mural represents the entire history of Mexico. It is like the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican, except it is Mexican and on a wall, not Italian and on a ceiling. Actually, now that I think about it, it is nothing like the Sistine Chapel! Please forget I say anything.’
Everyone laughed again.
Over the next ten minutes, he talked about the Old Portal de Mercaderes to the west and the Nacional Monte de Piedad building on the northwest corner of the plaza. He also mixed in facts and figures about the surrounding side streets and mentioned some of the festivals and religious events that are held annually in Zócalo.
Tiffany, who knew very little about the region, thought the tour was coming to a close, but Paco was just getting to the good stuff. Until that point, everything he had mentioned was
modern
Mexican history. The true importance of the plaza had nothing to do with the Spanish and everything to do with the empire that had ruled the land prior to their arrival.
The Aztecs.
18
Payne and Jones straightened up Maria’s suite for twenty minutes while they discussed their plan of attack. Meanwhile, Maria called the Italian Embassy in Mexico City to find out how to get a new passport. Without one, she wouldn’t be allowed to leave the country.
‘Good news,’ she said as she emerged from her bedroom. ‘There’s an Italian consulate in Cancún, about five miles from the hotel. I can get new paperwork there.’
Jones pushed the sofa into place. ‘Great. Do you need a lift?’
‘Eventually. I’m not in a rush, though. I’m not leaving Mexico until I know why I was invited here, who trashed my suite and what happened to Hamilton.’
‘Really? Because we’re taking off today.’
She glared at him. ‘You’re leaving? Why?’
Jones sighed. ‘I miss the snow.’
She laughed, glad that he was only joking. ‘If you like, we can fill the jacuzzi with ice and you can hop in for a while. It will remind you of home.’
‘Only if you join me, you kinky
Everybody laughed, including Paco, who seemed to draw energy from the crowd. A stage actor in his younger years, he loved being the centre of attention. For him, the size of his audience didn’t matter. He wanted to put on the best show possible.
He turned his back to the north and pointed over his shoulders with both of his thumbs. ‘OK, my friends. It’s time to stop looking at me. There are better things to see. Behind me is Catedral Metropolitana de la Asunción de María. In English, that is Metropolitan Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary. It is the largest and oldest cathedral in the Americas. It is also the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mexico. The cathedral was built in sections from 1573 to 1813. Its design is a mixture of three different styles, but I do not remember what they are. If you want to find out, you can get a tour of the cathedral. But I warn you: the priests charge three times as much as me and are not nearly as funny.’
He waited for the laughter to die down before he pointed to the east. A long building, half the height of the cathedral, stretched the entire length of the plaza. Its façade was decorated with
tezontle
, a porous red stone common in Mexican construction. ‘That is Palacio Nacional, or the National Palace. Once the presidential residence of Mexico, it is now a government building with offices for the treasury and collections from the National Archives. If you have the time, I recommend the giant mural painted by Diego Rivera. He is famous Mexican painter who was married to Frida Kahlo. She was even more famous than him. Do you know Frida?’
A few people nodded tentatively.
He smiled. ‘She had eyebrows like angry caterpillars.’
The group laughed and nodded their heads in understanding. Pictures and paintings of Frida – who grew up in Coyoacán, one of the sixteen boroughs of Mexico City – and her distinctive eyebrows were displayed throughout the city.
‘Anyhow,’ he said, ‘the mural represents the entire history of Mexico. It is like the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican, except it is Mexican and on a wall, not Italian and on a ceiling. Actually, now that I think about it, it is nothing like the Sistine Chapel! Please forget I say anything.’
Everyone laughed again.
Over the next ten minutes, he talked about the Old Portal de Mercaderes to the west and the Nacional Monte de Piedad building on the northwest corner of the plaza. He also mixed in facts and figures about the surrounding side streets and mentioned some of the festivals and religious events that are held annually in Zócalo.
Tiffany, who knew very little about the region, thought the tour was coming to a close, but Paco was just getting to the good stuff. Until that point, everything he had mentioned was
modern
Mexican history. The true importance of the plaza had nothing to do with the Spanish and everything to do with the empire that had ruled the land prior to their arrival.
The Aztecs.
18
Payne and Jones straightened up Maria’s suite for twenty minutes while they discussed their plan of attack. Meanwhile, Maria called the Italian Embassy in Mexico City to find out how to get a new passport. Without one, she wouldn’t be allowed to leave the country.
‘Good news,’ she said as she emerged from her bedroom. ‘There’s an Italian consulate in Cancún, about five miles from the hotel. I can get new paperwork there.’
Jones pushed the sofa into place. ‘Great. Do you need a lift?’
‘Eventually. I’m not in a rush, though. I’m not leaving Mexico until I know why I was invited here, who trashed my suite and what happened to Hamilton.’
‘Really? Because we’re taking off today.’
She glared at him. ‘You’re leaving? Why?’
Jones sighed. ‘I miss the snow.’
She laughed, glad that he was only joking. ‘If you like, we can fill the jacuzzi with ice and you can hop in for a while. It will remind you of home.’
‘Only if you join me, you kinky
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