We are flying back to Mexico for the second time this year, this time to Mexico City to attend a wedding. We fly from Hilton Head, Georgia (which is essentially the Savannah airport) through Dallas, to Mexico City, a total of about 5 hours flying.
We arrive late in the evening so don’t get out until next morning when we see the jacarandas are in full bloom.
We walk through Parque Mexico and see some interesting art …
We have our first torta (a Mexican sandwich from a street stall) before we meet up with the wedding crew and take a bus to Morales. The torta has egg and chorizo and it’s gorgeous… a good sign of things to come. Meeting point for the bus is the famous Angel of Independence – this is my first view but there will be many many more!
It’s a long bus journey to Morales where my friend Vania (who’s Mexican) from Deloitte is getting married to Louis. We stay for two nights at the wedding venue, which is an old hacienda and have an amazing time with a great crew at a great wedding.
On Monday we head back to Mexico City where we are staying in the Roma Norte neighbourhood. We head out for some grub and find it hard to pass these amazing sausages.
We take a walk around the neighbourhood, get some supplies in the local grocery store (Sumesa) and have a quiet evening in anticipation of clocking up a lot of miles in the coming days.
Next morning we are up and out to see this city. We walk on the Paseo De Ls Reforma road which is the main thoroughfare. Plenty of statues to check out and admire among the skyscrapers and smaller streets, packed with restaurants and food stalls.
We continue to this beautiful building which is the Palace of Fine Arts.
I’m fascinated by the traffic lights of which there are many different kinds. Some have a tall fancy looking green man, some a short man, some go from green to red with no warning, some have a countdown and the below which is my favourite by far has the little green man speeding up (ie running) as time is running out to cross the road!!
We walk down this crazy busy street in “centro” to the Zócalo or the central main square. It is noisy, hectic and overall just crazy chaotic!
Along the way we stop at the convent of San Francisco which is a real oasis as you step into its courtyard away from the masses. This complex was the headquarters of the first twelve Franciscan friars headed by Martín de Valencia who came to Mexico after receiving the first authorization from the Pope to evangelize in “New Spain”, as Mexico was called back then. The complex dates back to 1560.
The church standing today is the third to be built on the site. The first two sunk into the soft soil underneath Mexico City and had to be torn down. This church was built between 1710 and 1716 and the gold alter inside is very impressive.
Onwards to the square…. When you arrive upon it, it’s very impressive. Not only is it huge but the lava rock that the buildings are made from make it look dark. This is the cathedral which is giant and the other buildings around the square are as big, if not bigger!
It’s really hot as the sun is beating off the dark stone and yes, I’m roasting!! We walk toward the display of the old city ruins.
Exploring the surrounding streets, there are churches and impressive old buildings on every corner.
There are also plenty of peculiar looking things like this…
We stop for lunch and have a dish from Oaxaca called Tlayuda. It’s a large, thin, crunchy tortilla, partially covered with a spread of refried beans, meat and Oaxaca cheese. Then you load up on the salsa and veggies. It was really tasty.
Back at the Zócalo, we head inside the cathedral. Its full title is The Metropolitan Cathedral of the Assumption of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven. It was built in sections from 1573 to 1813 on top of a sacred Aztec site. It has a number of impressive alters, this being the most impressive.
After getting our fill of culture, we make our way through another busy street to walk toward home. On the way we pass the famous ‘Pastelería Ideal’ and have to go in for a look. It’s the biggest cake shop I’ve ever seen.
We walk through Alameda central – you don’t need to walk too far to see a monument of some sort in this town!
… and continue through Cuauhtémoc viewing more art and buildings along the way…
The impressive building of the Plaza de la Republica is surrounded by a fence and hard to get a good view….
By the time we get back to our very spacious apartment, we are close to 30,000 on the ole Fitbit!
Tonight we have a really tasty meal at a casual restaurant close by. The margarita is delicious and I rave about this meal for days, it’s so good!
Next day we are off for more exploring. We go to Bosque de Chapultepec, one of the biggest city parks in Mexico.
There’s a great view back, with the Angel of Independence at the far end and the Estela de Luz (Stele of Light) on the right.
The park is home to Chapultepec Castle, formerly the imperial and then presidential residence, it now houses the Museum of History. It sits on a hill and we are up too close to see the scale of this beautiful building (also the queue is ridiculously long for the museum so we’re not going in).
Walking further into the park we stop to watch a “flying pole” performance, the “Danza de los Voladores”. A group of men in traditional outfits do a ritual dance while drums are banged and music played. Then five of them climb to the top of the pole!
The pole is 30-metres in the air and four of the five participants launch themselves, tied with ropes to descend to the ground. The fifth remains on top of the pole, dancing and playing a flute and drum. It is very entertaining to watch.
It’s time for lunch and another torta… these sandwiches are giant with layers of meat so I only manage a few bites of Shane’s!
We walk to Polanco, an upmarket neighbourhood, which happens to be where Shane lived many years ago. His old apartment still stands!
Back to the park, it’s time to visit the National Museum of Anthropology. The building is amazing.
There is a huge volume of exhibits so a lot to see.
The most famous is the Aztec sun stone which has a complex set of glyphs representing a type of calendar (it gets very complicated when you read the different interpretations). Likely carved in the early 1500s, it was buried during the Spanish conquest and was discovered in 1790 during repairs to the cathedral in the Zocalo.
Next day we are off on a full day tour which I’m very excited about. We have a knowledgeable tour guide who gives us all sorts of info about Mexico while we are on the bus, e.g. the official name of Mexico is the The United Mexican States and there are 31 states plus Mexico City. Our first stop is a place called Tlatelolco and what is known as the Square of Three Cultures. From this spot we see the modern city, an Aztec archeological site and a colonial church.
Back on the bus, we see the dense volume of houses built on the hills, sprawling to the edge of the road. They are colourful and have a certain “picturesque” quality from the road, but as you look a bit closer there’s no doubt there is a significant amount of poverty in these areas.
Next stop is somewhere I have wanted to visit for many years – Guadalupe. It’s a place where Our Lady appeared in 1531 so one of the oldest accounts of an apparition of the Virgin Mary. For those of you who know me well, you know I love this stuff… Having been to Fatima, Knock, Medjugorje, and the Rue de Bac in Paris, visiting Guadalupe is a huge thrill.
There’s a lot of ground to cover as the area has become a huge complex. First we go into the new basilica, which is huge and has numerous entry points. There is currently mass going on so we quietly walk around and then head to the main attraction that’s housed in this church.
We go behind the alter to see the very famous tilmàtli (cloak) which was worn by Juan Diego (who Our Lady appeared to in 1531) and according to what was documented at the time, an image of the Virgin Mary appeared on it in the presence of the bishop of Mexico City.
I’m always on the lookout for a relic and spot one of a saint who I’ve never heard of before.
José Luis Sánchez del Río was a Mexican Cristero who was put to death by government officials because he refused to renounce his Catholic faith. He was 14 years old when he was killed in 1928.
There are a number of churches to visit including the original church that Our Lady requested Juan Diego to build.
From here we walk up the hill to the place where Our Lady appeared.
The views of the large complex with the city in the distance is impressive on this sunny (albeit grey-ish) day!
I could happily spend a whole day here but it’s time to move on, so after picking up a small statue in the gift shop, we get back on the bus and have an hour or so drive to our next spot. On the way, we see more houses on hills and our guide points out the aerial trams that are a regular form of public transport for those who live in these areas.
We reach our destination and there’s lunch (which I’m not able to have due to the ole tummy situation), a bit of a cultural show, then some local booze tasting (again not able to partake), and some display of local crafts (which I’m really not interested in) and eventually it’s time to visit the UNESCO world heritage listed, ancient site of Teotihuacan.
Teotihuacan is the site of the most architecturally significant Mesoamerican pyramids. The most famous pyramids are the Moon and Sun and in between there are lots more. It’s a vast complex and really awesome as we walk around.
We walk along the “Miccaotli”, a Nahua word meaning “avenue of the dead,” because it was mistakenly thought that the ruins on the sides and along the road were burial mounds. Partially visible today, this 50m wide and almost 5km long road also served as a backbone that structured the rest of the streets, squares and multi-family homes along it. It was the main avenue of the ancient city of Teotihuacan. The local population and visitors walked along this path; also, being a political, economic and religious center of great importance, it was possibly a pilgrimage and procession route for the surrounding towns.
The most common mistake people make is assuming these are Aztec ruins but they’re not, they were built by people earlier than the Aztec rulers (around 200 AD) and this is more than just a site for pyramids, this was a huge city in its day.
We head home for a rest after the tour and then hit a local restaurant for dinner. Shane is delighted to get his chilli rellenos and I’m taking things easy with some mini sopes. They are delicious.
Next day is our last day and we set off again on foot… we are covering a lot ground! We pass “Glorieta de las y los Desaparecidos” – the Roundabout of the Disappeared, which has been symbolically renamed and taken over by families of missing people. It’s a prominent traffic circle, that was renamed after families of missing individuals installed posters and memorials of their loved ones on the posts. It is very eerie.
We also pass the stock exchange building which has a cool display of stock prices around the circular top .
And of course more art along the main road…
I really want to see some Diego Rivera murals and we get to see his most famous “Dream of a Sunday Afternoon at Alameda Central”. It is fascinating to look at all the people depicted in the mural and try figure out who they are. Luckily there are notes to help identify them.
From here we take the metro, which by the way costs about 25 cents, to Coyacan which is where Frida Kahlo and Diego lived. Casa Azul (the blue house) is the house where they lived, now a very popular museum that needs to be booked weeks in advance. We didn’t book early enough so have to be satisfied with a view from outside.
They have really “leaned in” to the Frida phenomenon and she is everywhere around here.
It’s a really colourful area to walk around and there is a large market that has tonnes of food options so we opt for some enchiladas for lunch.
We stroll around and visit Parque Frida Kahlo where there’s a cool statue of Frida and Diego.
A short walk from the park is Museo Trotsky, where Trotsky lived from 1937 until his death in 1940 and where he is now buried. There is a lot of interesting history to read as we walk around his former home.
We take the metro back to the Zócalo. Did I mention it’s also called Plaza de la Constitución – so many names! The giant flag is getting a good gust today and you get an idea from this angle how big this square is. This important place has been a gathering place for Mexicans since Aztec times and it is always busy!
We were hoping to visit the palace where there are more Diego murals but unfortunately it’s closed so instead we visit the National Museum of Culture. Much of the displays are from around the world and they even have an Egyptian mummy!
It’s nearing the end of our time in Mexico City so we hit a Mezcalaria so I can have a final margarita and Shane can finally try some mezcal. We round it off with some guacamole, which feels very appropriate.
Next day before we fly off, we get to have a final tacos al pastor, which I think are my favourite tacos!
Mexico City has been a blast and I’m fairly confident we’ll be back again!
odohertyelaine 