Mexico city trip report.

vacapinta — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 22:49:45 -0800

Four days in Mexico City. We chose to stay in the Hotel Condesa DF. It's a new design hotel packed into a colonial building. The surrounding area, Colonia Condesa, is an upscale walkable neighborhood. The hotel itself is gorgeous but may not be for everybody. For one, the rooftop bar is a nightlife destination and it can get very very loud, despite the anti-loudness screens and the supplied earplugs.

We arrived on a Thursday night and went out walking in the neighborhood. Condesa is a mix of residential with spots of bars and cafes and bookstores. We were heading for an art opening at kurimanzutto gallery but ended up happily lost instead. Tired, we headed back to the hotel.

FRIDAY
On Friday we took the metro to the Historic Center. We took the subway to Pino Suarez and walked up the street to the Zocalo. There was lots of construction going on. Later, we discovered that it was a skating rink being built. We didn't go into the Cathedral. It was closed because of a recent protest. Later, we would run across other protests or marches, each like a small parade. Police are everywhere in Mexico City, one on every corner it seemed. The sidewalks around the Center at times becoming so crowded that people spill into the streets. Illegal vendors showing their wares. Shoppers with stuffed bags. University students and professors waving their arms in exclamation. At times Mexico city felt as if it was several cities dropped on top of each other, like double-exposed film.

We entered the Palacio Nacional with its walls of Diego Rivera murals. You enter the Palace through a metal detector since it is also a working government building. The tourists snapping pics alongside the sober government workers alongside the soldiers with rifles is the perfect foreground for Rivera's murals. The Templo Mayor, the Aztec ruins next to the Palacio, were closed off but you can still see them from the street.

In this area, do not miss the Colegio de San Ildefonso. I think its where Frida met Diego. But, more than that, it's an impressive art gallery and a beautiful sanctuary from the chaos of the streets. We were awed by the Rene Burri exhibition there. He is most famous for his photographs of Che.

We spent much of the afternoon just strolling in the Historic center. The stone buildings are from the Colonial era, well preserved and colorful. We walked down Calle Donceles with is a street renowned for its booksellers. Blocks of modern and antique book dealers, vendors selling paperbacks on the streets. Donceles is like an enormous open library. I picked up an early edition of a book of Alfonso Reyes poems. C. picked up an old Mexican movie poster. There are other streets with other specialties. A street of pharmacies. A street of hardware vendors. We stopped for beers and snacks at Cafe Tacuba. A bit touristy but also worth it. We also happened to walk by the Post Office, which just might be the most beautiful post office in the world.

We returned home by taking the Metro to Cauhtemoc and then walking through Colonia Roma and then through Colonia Condesa. The metro is highly efficient. We stopped worrying about running to catch a train when we realized that they seemed to arrive every 2 minutes. And each one is packed! Roma is a fantastic walking neighborhood. We stopped at a cafe, wandered by some student parties, went into funky stores until we arrived back at our hotel.

We had dinner at Cafe El Greco, a great hole-in-the-wall where one man made juicy carne asada delivered in pita wrappers with cheese. Likely the tastiest meal we had all week.

SATURDAY
Saturday was for Coyoacan which used to be a small town outside of Mexico city but was consumed. Now, you take the subway there.

We went first to the Trotsky museum. It is the house where Trotsky lived, the house where he was assassinated and the place where he is buried. His house has been kept in a preserved state. It is as if Trotsky might return at any moment. His clothes are hanging in his closet. All of his books are in the bookshelf. You can walk into the study where he worked, with its Edison recorder and map of Mexico. Trotsky's house was one of the highlights of the Mexico city trip. I was disoriented from the sense of having traveled back half a century.

Trotsky's house is only a few blocks, down some quiet residential streets, from the house of Frida and Diego. The blue house. Unlike the Trotsky house, the blue house was more of a museum, displaying Frida's letters and drawings, books from their collections. Also the house where they lived - but with a newly restored, repainted smell. Given the proliferation of Frida objects in the world, the cult-like fascination, we both thought that the gift shop could have done a better job. Still, the garden is a pleasant place to stop and have an espresso.

After the blue house, we strolled down Calle Allende. This will lead you (at least on a Saturday) to the deceptively enormous Coyoacan indoor market. An explosion of vendors in a maze-like space, selling fruits and flowers and candy and chiles and nuts and meats and books and toys and caged birds. Also small counters where you pick your food off of plates piled with seafood. Do not miss this. We weren't hungry yet although just outside the market, C. bought a delicious tortilla/cheese creation from a woman street vendor which we shared. Continuing the walk leads you towards Plaza Hidalgo, a weekend park festival out of a children's book. A wedding was spilling out of the nearby cathedral. Men selling colorful balloons. Ice cream vendors. Nuns selling eggnog. Jewelry and food vendors.

We walked down to Calle Venustiano Carranza and walked to Plaza Santa Catarina Coyoacan is full of bright and colorful old houses. Yellows and Blues seemed to dominate. Walking among those houses, down windy stone streets we arrived at Plaza Santa Catarina and sat down to eat huitlacoche[link?] tacos and margaritas in the small leafy plaza.

We made it back to the subway station. Back to the hotel Condesa where we spent the evening on the rooftop, watching the sunset in the hazy DF sky and drinking and chatting away. And resting our feet. For dinner, we made a trip to Pujol, an acclaimed restaurant. I at least was not highly impressed. It takes a lot to rival even the street food in a place like Mexico city.

SUNDAY
This is the day we went to Chapultepec Park. Go just to see all the Mexican families.

We were heading to the Museo Antropologico but C. noticed all these signs advertising the Mariposario (Butterfly Garden) at the Zoo. We weren't planning to go to the zoo but made a detour anyways. The zoo is free. And it is a great zoo! When I say this, I am comparing it to the San Diego Zoo which I grew up with. The Mariposario was not free but not expensive either. It was a large, humid room full of tropical butterflies. We were told not to touch the butterflies but this becomes difficult when they are landing on your shirt. Afterwards we lost a lot of time wandering through the zoo. I advise getting there early, as we did. We had just walked into the zoo. When we left, lines had formed.

The Museo Antropolgico is an architectural wonder. It is also a great museum. Artifacts found at pyramid sites are brought here where they are displayed theatrically. Aztecs are fine (and they have the Calendar stone here) but equally fascinating are the Oaxacan and Veracruz cultures as well as the Mayan and earlier cultures. From figurines to stone heads and walls of intricate writing, it is easy to spend the entire day here.

Afterwards, we walked through the park to the nearby Rufino Tamayo museum. Tamayo is one of my favorite painters. He was a modernist - his work reminiscent of Miro or Picasso - not a muralist like Orozco or Rivera.

We had planned to go to Chapultepec Castle on the top of the hill, the old castle where the French emperor Maximilian had resided, but we were out of steam. We ate at Casa Merlos, which you should take a cab to because it is a bit out of the way. We had fried crickets as a starter then a Mole tasting. After choosing your favorite Mole, it is served to you with chicken smothered underneath. Delicious.

MONDAY
Besides taking long baths and reading in the tub. We spent the early afternoon at the nearby Libreria Conejo Blanco - a tiny bookstore which is nevertheless probably one of the best bookstores in the city. I bought a few art magazines as well as books by Augusto Monterroso and Goncalo Tavares. Earlier in the week, I was also introduced to Fernando del Paso - now one of my favorite authors.

We had lunch at La Rauxa, a quiet sidewalk cafe which served a 3-course prix-fix meal for 70 pesos (about $7). We caught a taxi to the airport and left. We didnt go to Teotihuacan or Xochimilco or the Basilica or a Lucha Libre match or...a hundred other things. I could have stayed for months.

Any other questions? Feel free to ask.

Traveling to Mexico City: what to do, and how to stay safe?

jbb7 — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 10:34:49 -0800

I am about to go to Mexico City for 3 days. I am a white American 19-year-old and will be staying at Hostel Catedral. I haven't taken Spanish since 6th grade, so my language skills are at phrasebook level. What should I do? And how worried should I be about safety? I would love to go see the pyramids. Can a person traveling alone safely make that trip? (Assuming I don't meet other people at the hostel to go with.)

What other places in Mexico City would you recommend? I've got no plans other than exploring the city for the next 3 days.

Also, I understand Mexico City does not have the best reputation for safety. I will keep my wits about me, but how worried should I be about traveling around? Should I only visit places that I know to be safe? In Asia, I enjoy riding public transportation to the end of the line and exploring the outer suburbs of cities. I assume I shouldn't do that in Mexico City, right?

(Found this post about moving to Mexico City, but nothing about traveling there.)

Mexico City and Puebla at Easter

mdonley — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 11:53:21 -0800

My mom and I are going to Mexico City and Puebla for the rest of this week and next and we're curious about a few (small!) things. We'd love to know, if you can spare a few kind words:

- what's open (and where to eat!) on Easter Sunday
- tips for a nice cup of coffee and a sit down after doing the museums/churches/etc in the Bosque de Chapultepec and the Zocalo
- the best times of day to hit up the Basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe and Teotihuacan, as they're a bit further out of the center

We're staying a few blocks north of Reforma in the Zona Rosa in DF and in the colonial center of Puebla. We've got a guidebook or two and we can speak some Spanish.

Gracias!

Ask MetaFilter posts tagged with df

Mexico city trip report.

Traveling to Mexico City: what to do, and how to stay safe?

Mexico City and Puebla at Easter