“Good luck with that,” Scott replied when I told him that my next post would be about Mexico City. His comment reflects the complexity of our attitude towards this huge, chaotic city. And Mexico City is huge: 23 million people. Along with that population comes an unbelievable amount of traffic, air pollution, and noise. Combine those elements with an altitude of 7200 feet above sea level and it made for a couple of rough days for me since I get migraines above 6000 feet. Furthermore, we flew from Cabo where it was 85 degrees with fresh ocean breezes off the Pacific. When we landed in Mexico City, it was a smoggy, gray 55 degrees, and temperatures dropped to the low 40s at night. Which is okay if you have central heating. We, however, were in a hotel with no heat at all.
We had chosen to stay in the chic and trendy ( we had read) Condesa neighborhood, but to make it affordable, we had chosen a small, minimalist hotel. The staff could not have been more friendly and accommodating. The morning after we arrived, the desk clerk commiserated with me about the cold. Using my best Spanish, I politely inquired if we might have a space heater, just a little one, to take the edge off. There was a pile of wool blankets on the bed, but eventually one has to get up, use the bathroom, take a shower, and get dressed. When we returned in the evening from exploring the Centro Histórico, I was delighted to find a space heater in our room. There was a party and live band in full swing upstairs in the hotel bar, and we decided to get ready for dinner. I plugged in the heater anticipating changing my clothes in relative warmth. Three minutes later, there was complete darkness, the band upstairs was suspiciously quiet, and we could hear surprised shouts coming from our fellow guests. I had blown the electrical circuit for the entire hotel. I found the maid and confessed quickly so that the staff could fix the issue without having to try to figure out what the problem was. Needless to say, I was kindly requested to relinquish the space heater. I joined everyone else in donning layers of sweaters, scarves, and down coats, even inside. Although the cold snap was unusual, everyone seemed to take it in stride. It is common for restaurants in Mexico City to be open to the elements since the climate is generally temperate, and we all simply kept on our down coats during dinner or tried to find a table under a heat lamp.
Did I mention that Mexico City is huge? The various districts are connected by an excellent subway system and there are numerous cheap taxis that make traveling within the city easy and affordable. The Centro Histórico is the heart of history for Mexico City with the huge square called the Zocolo, the Mexico City Cathedral, Templo Mayor, Palacio Nacional, and Palacio de Bellas Artes. Besides being of historical and cultural interest, a unique feature of some of the buildings in the Centro is that they tilt at different angles and their floors slope. Mexico City is built on the bed of a lake that used to exist in The Valley of Mexico. City planners started to drain the lake beginning in 1607, but the subsoil of the lakebed is so soft and unstable that foundations sink and floors slope at disconcerting angles. Add the major earthquakes that have rattled this capital city (made more devastating by the fluidity of the soft ground) and one gets a sense of decay and impermanence in the oldest buildings. Some structures in the Centro seem about to collapse onto the sidewalks or squares around them.
The art in Mexico City is world class. From special international art exhibits like Toulouse-Loutrec and Otto Dix to the murals of Diego Rivera and other Mexican muralists, to the works by Frida Kahlo and modern artists, this city loves its art. I especially enjoyed seeing Diego Rivera’s lovely Sueño de una tarde dominical en la Alameda Central (Dream on a Sunday Afternoon in the Alameda Central — the large Central Park) and his sobering and thought provoking mural in the Palacio depicting the history of Mexico. We were disappointed that some of the museums housing Frida Kahlo works were closed or the works were on loan, so we were not able to see many of those.
The Frida Kahlo Museum, or Casa Azul, is not to be missed for Kahlo fans. This is the house she was born, raised, and lived in until her death. Although it holds little of her art, it is a moving tribute to one of the world’s great artists, to her life with Diego Rivera, and to her place in Mexican history. Nearby is the small but fascinating Trotsky Museum which is the house Trotsky fled to when expelled by Stalin. Trotsky had initially stayed with Rivera and Kahlo but, after an affair with Kahlo, he was invited to find his own place. He survived one assassination attempt by a pro-Stalinist, but three years later was stabbed to death with an ice pick in his study. Barbara Kingsolver’s book, The Lacuna, is a good book about Rivera, Kahlo, and Trotsky.
Farther from Mexico City are the beautiful and impressive ruins of Teotihuacan. We spent most of one day at the archeological site climbing up and down the Pyramids of the Sun, the Moon, and the Feathered Serpent. At its height from around 250 AD to 750 AD, it was Mesoamerica’s most powerful political and social city. As many as 200,000 people may have lived in and around the pyramids. It is now one of the largest and most impressive archeological sites in the Americas. There is clear evidence of complex civic planning, sewer and water systems, even apartment houses. The current excavation site is only a fraction of the size of the ancient city. Teotihuacan collapsed around 750 AD, probably because the city had grown too large to support itself. It was abandoned until 1200 AD when the Aztecs arrived in the area and, overwhelmed by the size of the buildings, concluded that the huge temples were evidence that the sun, moon, and the universe were created there. They named the place Teotihuacan, the “place where gods are born” and it became a pilgrimage site for the Aztecs. More details and artifacts can be seen in Mexico City at the remarkable National Museum of Anthropology, one of the greatest museums of anthropology in the world. One could spend days in that amazing museum of culture and history.
Mexico City is becoming increasingly known for its cuisine as Mexican chefs train around the world and bring back recipes and ingredients that they then incorporate into regional Mexican cuisine. The new cuisine is a fusion of traditional recipes with European and Asian influences. The abundance of fresh seafood, fish, fruit, and vegetables is reflected in the high quality of food in the restaurants of the more trendy districts like Polanco, San Angel, Condesa, and Coyoacan. Truth be told, this is what I have read. We tended to stay local because it took so long to travel between districts. The food we had was excellent, though, and I think indicated the general interest in cuisine in the city. We had an excellent lunch at Contramar of fresh seared albacore tuna, shrimp, and octopus. I wore my down coat, but so did many of the other diners and, judging from the satisfied looks on the faces of the people at neighboring tables, we all enjoyed the food very much.
The size, pollution, altitude, and traffic of Mexico City make me reluctant to consider future visits to this capital city of Mexico, but neither Scott or I regret the four days we spent there. Our visit helped us both appreciate the great cultural heritage of Mexico. It was a far cry from Cabo San Lucas. If there is a next time, perhaps I’ll save the beach scene for dessert.
The Blue True Dream of Sky 
Fantastic account of your experience visiting Mexico City and surrounding area! I laughed reading about how you blew out the electricity in the hotel–I could just see and feel how mortified you must have felt. 🙂
LikeLike
Thank you for your comment! I was mortified.
LikeLike