Baltimore: Baby, blossoms, and basketball!

A few days after returning home from Mexico I drove to Baltimore to visit my niece and her new baby, Lucy Patricia (named after my mom).  It is an easy 8 hour drive.  When I left Kingston it was 5 degrees celsius.  By the time I got to Watertown it was 9 degrees and I hit double digits soon after.  The temperatures continued to climb as the hours ticked by and by the time I got to Baltimore it was 24 degrees.  I had to stop at one point to change into shorts and a t-shirt as I was too hot!!  Spring comes to Baltimore early and that was evidenced by all of the spring flowers in bloom.  During my visit, the temperatures were unseasonably warm and my great niece and I did not complain.

Lucy Patricia is now three months old and I like to say that she made me "great".  I am now a great aunt or as I have become known as, "Gr-Aunt Nancy".  It is a role that I embrace.  Lucy is a happy baby who sleeps well and rarely fusses.  My niece and her husband have adjusted well to parenthood and it was fun visiting this happy little household.

Andy, my nieces's husband, is a basketball fan and we were watching an ACC game one day when I noticed that there were a lot of empty seats.  Andy mentioned that the ACC was in DC this year and for some reason seats were not selling out.  I realized how close Baltimore is to DC and made the spontaneous decision to go to DC the next day to watch Duke.  It was my first live Duke game and I was totally hyped.  I treated myself to a primo seat and sat right behind centre court in the first row of stand seating.  There were two rows of family seating in front of me but I felt like I was right there with the team.  My pictures are terrible.  I just had my iPod and the players were always in motion but the memories will live on in my mind for an eternity.  It was a good game.  Unfortunately, Duke lost to Notre Dame in overtime but the boys played their hearts out!  #GoDuke!

Baby Lucy!

Ravishing in Red.

Help me Obi-Wan!

Daffodils in bloom.

Positively Pink!

Crocuses were almost done.

This magnolia tree bloomed while I was visiting.

Beautiful blossoms.

On the MARC train to DC.  Sitting with the competition.

Team pride!

Team is warming up.

Last minute advice.

Coaches confer!

Time out tips!

Consolation hug!

Xochimilco

On our last full day with Dana we took the subway and a light rail train to the outskirts of Mexico City to Xochimilco.  This site preserves the only remnant of Lake Texaco and its pre-Columbian floating gardens.  Known as "the place of the flower field", this site was once a lakeside village connected to Tenochtitlan by a causeway.  Now the city has built up around it but it is the only part of Mexico City where you can boat around the canals and semi-floating flower and vegetable gardens, or chinampas, built originally by the Aztecs.
Chinampas were created by the Aztecs as a way to extend their realm and produce food in an aquatic environment.  Each chinampas was built on a bed of aquatic roots which were covered in soil and gardens were planted here.  They still remain an important source of flowers and vegetables today.
At this location you can hire a "trajineras" or punt to transport you through the canals.  A local boatman poles the punt along the canals.  Along the way you are treated to many wonderful sights, including mariachis(who will perform for you), flower gardens or greenhouses, small boats selling meals, snacks and handicrafts.

Colourful Church Courtyard

Picturesque Punts!

Marvellous Murals!

Roasted corn for sale!

Lunch anyone?

Marion was there!

Musical Mariachis!

Celebrating Mama!

She was there!

Stopping to look at flowers!

Time to go!

Dana poles us back.

Dana makes a sleepy friend on the light rail train!

Pyramids

After breakfast we took a subway and bus out of town to the site of the third largest pyramid in the world.  It was built between 150 to 200 AD.  Before this trip I didn't even know that this site existed but it was grand in scale and beautiful to visit.  The ruins of the great city of Teotihuacan, offer wanderers a chance to explore a fascinating pre-Columbian site and a chance to climb several pyramids, including the Pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the Moon.
Teotihuacan, means "the place where men become gods" and this centre once housed up to 125,000 people.  It covered over 20 sq km and it dominated life for more than 500 years before being destroyed or abandoned around AD 650.  It was later discovered and held sacred by the Aztecs, who believed that it had been built by giants.  Little is known about its creators and inhabitants and its demise remains a mystery.  Archeologists are still working on the outer regions of the site and hopefully more hints can be discovered.

The Temple of Quetzalcoatl.  Built around AD 200, it was later covered by a pyramid, which has now been partially removed.

Dana and Pat head to the top!

View from on top looking down the towards the huge Temple of the Sun.  It is made of adobe bricks and earth, covered in gravel and stone.  It would have been originally covered in stucco which was brightly painted.  Chambers and a tunnel have been found beneath the structure.

Sunny Days!

Walking down the avenue of the dead towards the Temple of the Sun.

Getting closer.

Closer still.  We climbed to the top.

View from on top.  Temple of the Moon in the background.

Pat and the Temple of the Moon.

On top of the Temple of the Moon looking down the 3.5 mile avenue of the dead.

On top of the World!

Breakfast with friends!

The very next morning we met some friends for breakfast.  Abel and his sister Valeria are high school students who have both spent time in Canada learning English.  Valeria lived in Belleville for a year during her grade 8 year and last year Abel lived in Kingston and attended Frontenac Secondary for grade 9.  He helped Pat coach one of the basketball teams and visited our sugarbush a few times.  We had a nice time catching up.  Abel is coming to Kingston in March to stay with us for two weeks during what is his Spring Break.  He will work in the sugarbush with Pat and reconnect with some friends.  Pat and I are both looking forward to his visit.

Friends:  left to right, Abel, Nancy, Valeria, Pat

Butterfly Dreams!

On Thursday, February 25th, Pat and I went to see the monarch butterflies in their winter habitat.  Dana was supposed to join us but unfortunately he was quite sick through the night and had to cancel at the last minute.  We set the alarm for 4:15 am to catch the 5:00 am subway to the 6:00 am bus ride to Angangueo, Mexico.  This small mining town is located about a three hours drive north west of Mexico City.  The last hour of the drive involved a winding ascent on mountain roads.
Once we arrived at the town we found a driver to drive us the final 12 km to the park entrance of the El Rosario Sanctuary.  After paying a fee of $45 pesos each, we were met by a guide who accompanied us on the final climb up the hill.  The altitude made the climb quite strenuous, and at times I felt I had difficulty getting enough air.  My heart was pounding and my legs trembled from the journey.  But every step was worth it when we finally came out of the woods into a clearing where butterflies were flying and drinking water from a small stream.  The guide waited while we took in the beautiful view then motioned us with a wave and a call of, "moy bien".  After another short hike we walked into swarms of fluttering butterflies.  All around us the trees were covered with orange wings.  We took more pictures then saw the familiar wave and heard the words, "moy bien" again.  The last stop was breathtaking.  The trees all around us were covered in butterflies, millions and millions of them.  If the sights were not already enough to blow your mind, imagine for a moment the sounds that you hear when millions of butterflies fly at the same time!  Believe it or not, you can actually hear them.  A sight and sound to behold!

Entrance to the Sanctuary

One of the first butterflies.  He was rather dusty!

Zoom in and you can see the butterflies visiting this bush.

At this, our second stop, the butterflies flew all around us!

Sam, our Welsh friend, makes another friend.

This olymer fir tree trunk is covered in butterflies.

My love!

Butterfly dreams.

Pat makes a friend.

Clusters like these abound at the last stop.

Not so dusty!

When we left the park a local politician was delivering a heavily guarded speech about the importance of butterfly habitat preservation.  He was completely surrounded by guards like the one below.

Don't mess with me.

Looking down at the village of Angangueo

The butterflies are beginning to mate.  Soon they will begin their long migration north.

A poem for my mom!