Mexico Day 2 - The first concert

After breakfast, we left at 9:00 am in buses to the city center to a former school that is now used as a museum. In the 'Antigua Colegio de San Ildefonso', we would have a concert in the evening. We left our concert clothing there and then split into two groups for a two-hour tour of the old town.

On our way to the National Palace, we passed by the ruins of some Aztec pyramids. These were built of lava stone, then plastered and painted red. However, there is hardly anything left except for some remains of walls and figures where you can still see the paint, as the European conquerors destroyed the pyramids to use the stone inside for new buildings.
Upon arrival at the National Palace, we had to store all sunglasses and hats and hand over our bags. Then Pablo led us into a huge courtyard that was completely empty except for a fountain. We went up a staircase to the gallery that runs all the way around the courtyard. There, Pablo showed us some paintings by the artist Diego Rivera. He had been commissioned to paint all the walls of the gallery. However, he couldn't complete this task as he died in 1959 before finishing it.

From the National Palace, we then went to the third largest square in the world, the 'Plaza de la Constutucion'. This square was already familiar to some of us from the James Bond film 'Spectre'.

Right next to the main square, we could admire the largest cathedral in Mexico. It bears the impressive name 'Catedral Metropolitan de la Asuncion de Maria de la Ciudad de Mexico'. Across from it, on the other side of the square, are the so-called twin buildings, which include the mayor's office.
From the main square, we continued towards the first skyscraper on Latin American soil, the Torre Latinoamericana. The 183m high building was completed in 1956 and strongly resembles the Empire State Building. It is known for having survived all earthquakes, including the severe ones in 1957 and 1985, unscathed.
On the way there, we made a stop at the 'Pasteleria Ideal', a huge bakery. In the upper floor, cake towers were towering, each one more beautiful and bigger than the other. In the lower floor, we looked out over a sea of small pastries. Among the tables, where the delicacies were stacked, people crowded with huge tablets in their hands, loading them up with their purchases. Of course, we couldn't resist and took some sweet pieces to try.

From the Torre Latinoamericana, we then went through the Post Office Palace to our meeting point, Santo Domingo square. There, we split into smaller groups and each went to have a snack with a local guide.
At 3:00 pm, all the groups met again at the museum for the rehearsal for the concert. The concert hall had great acoustics, which we took advantage of and set a diverse program to show the audience as many different genres as possible.

Shortly before the start of the concert, the German ambassador, Dr. Korzynski, introduced himself to us, as he had come specifically for our concert. At 5:00 pm, it began. We sang for an hour and a half for our audience and were rewarded with standing ovations.
Afterwards, accompanied by rain showers, loud thunder, and occasional bright lightning, we headed to dinner. After everyone was satiated, we returned to the hotel to quickly go to bed because we have two concerts scheduled for the next day.