…and Away We Go!

We can hardly believe that we’ve been in Mexico City for two weeks. We are looking forward to returning home and to getting back to our regular routine but we’ve had a great time!

For our last day here, we took the metro to the Ciudadela (citadel) neighborhood in the southwest corner of the historic center of Mexico City. In the park across the street from the market, people were taking salsa dance classes (not shown but fun to watch).

The Ciudadela Market is a traditional Mexican market that specializes in Mexican handcrafts and folk art.  It was established just before the 1968 Summer Olympics to promote Mexico’s cultural heritage. There are about 350 vendors, mostly small business owners.  The market has an overwhelming selection of handcrafts including clothing, furniture, jewelry, ceramics, rugs, musical instruments and sombreros.

The market is large with several portals or entry points…this is just one. It’s very organized, clean, and vendors are friendly.

Nearby, we stopped by a photography gallery in a modernized and reconfigured old building previously called ‘The Citadel’. According to their website, “The Centro de la Imagen (the Center for the Image) is a Mexico City space dedicated just to research, training, analysis, and propagation of photography and photographic images.”

The museum is interesting, thought-provoking and free!

We know that not everyone would be happy here. Here are some things that visitors should know about before they come here:

Due to the size of the city, it takes time to get from one place to another. The metro is well-organized and efficient, but, as is true for any large city, it can be confusing and crowded. Ubers can get stuck in traffic so it can be frustrating getting around town. In general, the metro is the preferred alternative, when it can get you where you want to go.

We can’t drink the water from the taps but our apartment has a filtered water tap which is great so we don’t have to buy bottled water every day.

It’s a noisy city but we requested a quiet room on the interior of the building and it has worked great for us.

The air quality in January varies day by day and hour by hour. Some days our throat feels scratchy by the end of the afternoon.

We are careful with food, eating at popular food stalls and reading restaurant reviews for any potential issues. We talked with our physician before we left home and got a prescription of antibiotics in case we needed them, but we didn’t.

We have been very fortunate to have had good weather, no tummy upsets from spicy foods and a cozy place to stay in Mexico City. Each day has been a new adventure and we have walked many steps to make the most of our time in the city. Still, there are many things we missed. One advantage of travel to Mexico is the relatively short (4-hour flight) and the one-hour time difference. SO, we plan to return! We like cities and this one has many things to see and do!

We keep this blog as a way to remember where we’ve been and are happy to share it. If you’ve been following along, we appreciate that you are interested! Thank you!

Adios until next time!

Sharon and Larry

 

 

 

It took some time to get to Teotihuacán from Mexico City. We took an Uber from our apartment to the Central de Autobuses del Norte, the enormous bus station in north CDMX.  We bought our tickets, and with four minutes to spare, we boarded bus to the site of the pyramids and were on our way. Happily, the bus was air conditioned and comfortable for the hour and 15 minute trip. We didn’t do a lot of research before we arrived…here’s how ChatGPT describes this archeological site ( and I can’t think of a better way to describe it.)

“Rising from the high valley northeast of Mexico City, the pyramids of Teotihuacan feel both monumental and mysterious. Built nearly two thousand years ago by a civilization whose name we no longer know, the site is anchored by the vast Pyramid of the Sun and Pyramid of the Moon, aligned along the grand Avenue of the Dead. These structures were not tombs but ceremonial mountains—carefully planned to mirror the surrounding landscape and the movement of the cosmos. Walking the avenue today, you sense how architecture, ritual, and power converged here, making Teotihuacan one of the most influential cities in the ancient Americas and a place that still inspires awe long after its builders disappeared.”

Along the paths between the pyramids, vendors were selling trinkets…

from this persistent salesman…

we settled on a turtle-shaped ocarina that could be used on a museum tour.

The day was hot and there weren’t many shade trees…we felt the heat and the altitude, so we didn’t linger in one spot for long.  Along the way, this tree looked especially pretty standing all alone.

When we left the site, we hopped on the wrong bus for our return to the city. It delivered us to the right place back in the city but without air conditioning and with very annoyingly loud, repetitive music.

These archeological sites are absolutely fascinating and worth the trip…perhaps better enjoyed on a cooler day.

One interesting thing we saw on our bus trip was this system of cable cars. These are not tourist attractions but part of the public transportation system.

We have enjoyed many wonderful meals here…last night we took a break from tacos and went to a down-home Italian restaurant with delicious pastas and lots of charm. We enjoyed a cocktail that was a little bit Italian (Aperol) and a little bit Mexican (Mescal).

 

Coyoacán, a historic neighborhood 7 miles south of Centro Historico, was the home of many famous artists and intellectuals. It’s described as having a “bohemian spirit with artsy cafes, shady parks and plazas, and excellent museums”. We specifically went there to see Museo Frida Kaldo. It’s a trek…we took the subway stop near our apartment to the end of the line and the walked about 45 minutes to the neighborhood where the museum is located.

The Frida Kahlo Museum (Casa Azul) is very popular, so we purchased our tickets online before we left Atlanta. We had a 1:15 pm reservation but that seems to be a very popular time as the museum was extremely crowded. In spite of that, we enjoyed seeing her family home, her collection of Mexican art and artifacts, her own paintings, and the beautiful gardens.

Kahlo had a complicated life…here’s one description to summarize:  “Frida Kahlo was a Mexican artist who transformed lifelong pain—physical, emotional, and political—into fiercely personal self-portraits that explored identity, gender, and Mexican nationalism.”

Even a couple of large scoops of ice cream didn’t prepare us for an Uber ride through the chaotic streets of Mexico City in rush-hour traffic.  (we won’t try that again!)

A couple of days ago, we took the subway on our way to the city center and made a rookie mistake…there are pink signs and barriers to show that the first few cars are designated for women and children only. It didn’t take long to realize that Larry was the only male in the car…we got off at the next stop and changed. It is a nice feature of the CDMX Metro.

We went to the Palacio de Belles Artes metro stop to see the magnificent structure with an Orange-topped dome. It houses the Museum of Fine Arts, the National Architecture Museum, Ballet Folklorico,  the National Opera and many other cultural offerings.

Across the street is the Palacio Postal, Mexico City’s main Post Office. It was  designed by an Italian architect and a Mexican engineer.

A walk through Alameda Park, which sits behind the arts center…

…led us to the Museo Mural Diego Rivera to see his famous mural titled “Dreams of a Sunday Afternoon in Alameda Central Park.”  The mural painted in 1947-1948 includes images of important historical figures.

The photo from the floor above the mural shows the scope and size:

The photo below shows a closeup of just one section of the mural:

The close-up shows that Diego painted images of himself in the murals…and also Frida Kahlo (standing next to the skeleton) and Diego (boy with the umbrella.)

…and one more close-up photo of a Diego self-portrait (he’s the boy in the hat eating a sandwich).

Under some shade trees near the museum, men were playing some very serious chess matches with onlookers watching every move.

Flower stands are abundant and flowers are inexpensive. We see many people making their way home with a big bouquet. It’s a nice touch. Mexico City is full of parks, flower stalls, friendly people and good food.

 

We’ve been busy! Each day we walk five miles or more exploring neighborhoods, checking out restaurants, and visiting sights. We still have a week to go with activities penciled in for most days. One nice feature of Mexico City is the many lovely parks with meandering pathways and places to sit and relax. Plaza Uruguay is very nearby…we spent part of Sunday morning there people watching. This evening the park was brightly lit and a group people were taking a fitness class.

We are enjoying the delicious food possibilities from pastries to tacos, seafood, and even burgers.

A wildly popular event here is Lucha Libre…a theatrical and acrobatic style of wrestling. We bought tickets in advance for a Sunday match and took an Uber to Arena Mexico.  The traditions and rules are more complicated than we could comprehend at our first match but we had great fun. The arena was packed and the roar of the crowd was ear-splitting (we took ear plugs.) Competitors were dressed in brightly colored costumes and the (staged) fights were quite athletic.

It’s a wild and crazy scene but well-organized for the large crowds. We were happy we went!

We did a lot of wandering today in the Roma and Condesa neighborhoods with more parks, restaurants, and shops.  Looking for places we might like to stay for a future visit. We are weary but happy.

 

 

 

 

We started the day in one direction and ended up in another…there are so many things to do here, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. After a short bus trip in the wrong direction, we summoned an Uber and headed to Chapultepec Park (Bosque de Chapultepec).

The park stretches over 1,600 acres, making it larger than Central Park.  Below is a view of the park (and the city) from the hilltop:

We walked a steep incline (stopping along the way to catch our breath) to Chapultepec Castle, at the top of a hill.

The castle has been an Aztec palace, a military college, and the residence of emperor Maximilian and his wife Carlotta. The museum is filled with important artifacts relating to the history of Mexico.

We were especially impressed by murals by O’Gorman, Orozco, and Siqueiros. In you’re curious, copy and paste the website address below to see the murals:

https://mnh.inah.gob.mx/murals

Outside the Castle are colorful gardens and wonderful views of the city.

Back downhill, we grabbed a sandwich in the outdoor cafe of the Museum of Modern Art. There is an outdoor sculpture garden with this work titled Hombres hacia el Espacio plus many others.

Inside, wonderful works by Frida Kahlo;

And Diego Rivera.

We spent at least two hours in this wonderful museum with an excellent collection of Mexican modern art. By then, it was rush hour traffic time in Mexico City but it was an easy walk back to our apartment about 30 minutes away.

Prior to travel, we sign up for U.S. State Department alerts in case there is anything we need to be aware of while traveling. Yesterday morning we received an alert about the location of a planned protest and that some social media posts included anti-American sentiment.  We avoided the area of the protest but later in the day while we were in line at a popular taco stand a young disheveled-looking man yelled at us to “Go Home!” A bit disturbing, but that is the first time we have encountered this type of sentiment. We chalked it up to the guy being revved up after the rally and we were easy targets.

In spite of this, we had a wonderful day!