A Great Travel Moment

Years ago I was in Mexico City with David House and Aaron Zweigle. We were strolling through the old colonial part of the city. We decided to go and see the recently uncovered pyramids of Tenochtitlan, the ancient Aztec capital that Cortez had conquered.

As we walked out of the Zocalo, the main plaza of Mexico City, we passed by the Catedral Nacional into a smaller plaza that fronted the Aztec Ruins.

It was then that we heard a famliar melody above the urban noise. We paused a moment, in the plaza between the huge Cathedral and the Aztec Pyramids, and tried to figure out where the music was coming from.

It was an organ grinder, and a little monkey with a cup. The organ grinder was playing "La Vie En Rose", and the little monkey was dancing with his cup.

It was so perfect: the Cathedral, the Pyramid, and Edith Piaf, all bound together in one unforgettable moment.