Flying Dreams

"Man must rise above the Earth -- to the top of the atmosphere and beyond -- for only thus will he fully understand the world in which he lives." -- Socrates

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Lines and Colors

Awakening

The year is 1909. Mexico has just been through a bloody revolution and despite all the bloodshed reverted back to a partially stable state of affairs.

In that era when the fame of two folk heroes Emiliano Zapata and Pancho Villa were spreading throughout Mexico, Ottoman Sultan Resad decided to send his compliments to the Mexican people through a valuable imperial gift.

He orders the imperial engineers to prepare an enduring gift to symbolize the friendship of Mexican and Ottoman peoples.

After a few months of work, the Sultan's engineers created this watch tower covered with precious Iznik ceramic tiles and a dial that displayed Arabic numerals.

Today the same clock tower still stands in Mexico City where it was erected almost a century ago.

The plaque on the tower reads "La Colonia Otomana a Mexico. Septiembre de 1910." (From the Ottoman Community to Mexico. September 1910)

The clock, standing on Bolivar Street, is still working without a hitch today. However the ceramic tiles are falling apart. The Mexican officials have asked for Turkey's help in renewing the historic but damaged tiles with new ones from Iznik.

Diana

Latinamerican Tower

Happy Sunday!
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Flying

Latin American Tower
(Previously posted)

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Thanks for visiting, please be sure that I read each and every one of your kind comments, I appreciate them all. Stay tuned.

Towers

World Trade Center Mexico (1994)

Latin American Tower (1956)

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New York City and Washington series continue in Sketches of Cities.
(Under construction)
Gracias por su visita. / Thanks for visiting, please be sure that I read each and every one of your kind comments and I appreciate them all. Stay tune.

East / West

Juarez Ave in downtown at Historic Center. Latin American Tower in the background of the top shot.
Have a great weekend!
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New York City and Washington series continue in Sketches of Cities.
Gracias por su visita. / Thanks for visiting, please be sure that I read each and every one of your kind comments and I appreciate them all. Stay tune.

Confetti

Torre LatinoAmericana / Latin American Tower in downtown.
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Apologies for not being very responsive lately due my work load. Please be sure that I read each and every one of your kind comments and I appreciate them all. Stay tune.

Earthquake, What next

MEXICO CITY (Dow Jones)--A 5.6 magnitude earthquake shook Mexico City early Monday afternoon, sending frightened residents into the streets and saturating phone lines, but causing no apparent significant damage.

The quake rattled nerves of Mexicans already coping with an outbreak of the swine flu that has killed an estimated 149 people.

The combination of the higher death toll from the flu and the quake weakened the peso, which had lost nearly 5% from Friday's close to MXN13.975 per U.S. dollar.

The quake briefly interrupted a press conference in which Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova was giving an update on the flu emergency situation.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the epicenter was in the Pacific coast state of Guerrero, home to the resort of Acapulco, which lies roughly 360 kilometers from Mexico City.

The earthquake's depth made serious damage less likely, said Jim Dewey, a research geophysicist with USGS.

"Certainly strong shaking could be perceived, but it wouldn't likely cause extensive damage," Dewey said. "It was 25 miles deep, so that puts some distance between it and the surface of the ground."

Telephone service in parts of Mexico City was lost briefly. A spokesman for phone company Telefonos de Mexico (TMX) said lines were temporarily saturated with call volume, as usually happens after earthquakes, and that there was no reported damage to exchanges.

Mexicans, accustomed to earthquakes, largely shrugged off the tremor, worried more about the killer flu. "Ah, we're accustomed to earthquakes around here," said Leopoldo Garcia, a 70-year-old retiree walking around the city.
The Wall Street Journal.

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Theme Day: Glass

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The Torre Latinoamericana (literally, "Latin American Tower") is a building in downtown Mexico City. Its central location, height (183 m or 597 ft; 45 stories), and history make it one of Mexico City's most important landmarks. It was also the city's tallest building from 1956, when it was built, until the 1984 completion of the Torre Ejecutiva Pemex, which is 22 m higher (although, if one subtracts the height of the TV antenna atop the Torre Latinoamericana, it was surpassed in 1972 by the 207m high Hotel de México, which was subsequently remodelled and turned into the World Trade Center Mexico).
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