February 2020 - Off to a very early start on a cloudy Sunday morning, we boarded our flight on schedule and headed for the big city on the other side of the "Wall", a city so big they named the entire country after it. Mexico City is our first stop on this trip exploring the massive capital then on to a relaxing beach stop in Los Cabos/Cabo San Lucas.
We landed mid afternoon and took an Uber to the Hotel. As one of the oldest metropolises in the Americas, Mexico City is woven with rich histories, from the Aztec period to the Spanish conquest to the Mexican revolution to now—and it shows in the local cultural offerings. Officially México D.F. (Distrito Federal) or CDMX (Ciudad de México), this massive capital city boasts nearly 9 million residents (Chilangos) within the city and over 21 million Chilangos in the metropolitan area making it the most populous metropolis in the Western Hemisphere and the 5th largest city in the world.
It’s also one of the liveliest cities in the world, with a renowned arts and culture scene (an entire district was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site) and some of the best cuisine in the Western Hemisphere. Boasting more museums than any city in the world except London and in 2008 UNESCO added Día de los Muertos to its Cultural. Even better, Mexico City is affordable – and safer than you might expect. It promises visitors an unforgettable stay that's perfect for the culture-loving traveler who feels at home in a large, crowded place. It's gritty and beautiful at the same time.
While some of the initial development and structures can be dated back to the 4th century, The Mexica (part of the Aztec triple alliance) founded Tenochtitlán in the early 14th century. Initially built over a lake, the Lago de Texcoco, early settlers built an elaborate infrastructure of artificial island by dumping soil into the lagoon. They built their grand temples, nearby buildings, canals, farms and associated sculptures on the site of what is now Mexico City.
Despite the rise and fall of empires there was a continuity of culture in the Valley of Mexico. Agriculture and other technologies were passed down from generation to generation. A religion evolved as each dominant group absorbed the gods and rituals of their predecessors. The temples often survived the collapse of an empire. The pyramidal temples of Teotihuacán were honored and utilized by the Aztecs seven centuries after the demise of the Teotihuacán empire.
The city was colonized by the Spanish in 1521 and later dubbed "Mexico." The Spaniards erected a second Mexico City atop the ruins of Tenochtitlán with many ornate colonial style structures including a large Cathedral. Today at nearly 500 years old, its pre-colonial history is alive throughout much of the modern-day capital. The city is overflowing with opportunities to study the country's rich and conflicted past. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, and although it does grapple with common urban problems like crime and pollution, many neighborhoods – including Condesa and Polanco – are as safe as any city in the United States or Europe.
We’re staying at the new Sofitel Mexico City Reforma on Av. Paseo de la Reforma adjacent to the El Ángel de la Independencia. A new modern hotel that was centrally located to the sites we intended to explore on this short trip. The views from the upper floors were amazing, offering a panoramic views greater Mexico City.
Once settled in the hotel we headed out to the nearby Roma district for a quick exploration. Several clubs, cafes and neighborhood restaurants around we walked through neighborhoods of rough sidewalks and poorly maintained buildings mixed with amazing architecture. Stopped into small colorful café attached to the Museo Soumaya-Casa Guillermo Tovar de Teresa for a snack and drink before a quick tour of the small museum.
From here we’re off to our dinner reservation @ Carmela y Sal. I booked this one in advance since there are not many options for Sunday night dinner nearby. In a trendy upscale Polanco neighborhood bordered by Reforma and Chapultepec park its set at the base of a modern corporate high rise. Influenced by the Tabasco region you’ll find many modern dishes that are based on traditional Mexican preparations with influences of tropical fruits and flavors of the Tabasco region. Unique flavor combinations, presentations and curated cocktail selections we were very happy with our experience here.
Returning to the hotel we stopped into the “Freehouse” cocktail lounge which is housed on the second floor of the historic front façade of the building. Nice clubby lounge with a broad array of finer whiskey, tequila, and Mezcal. We decided to do a little Mezcal tasting, our first experience with this Mexican treat. Selected the Pierde Almas Espadin and the Monte Lobos Ensamble, both displayed the typical smokiness of Mezcal in addition to the unique characteristics. Good stuff!
An early start for day two we grabbed a quick breakfast in the hotel and headed out for our tour. We chose the “Original Markets & Street Food” tour for today with urban adventures since most of the museums and other sites are closed on Mondays. Our guide Evelyn walked us through the streets of the historic center providing insight and history of the area and some interesting facts about modern life in Mexico City. Our first stop was Mercado Presidente Abelardo Rodriquez, also known as the murals market due to its collection of preserved murals. The market walls hold one of Mexico City’s best mural collections from the 1930's by students of Diego Rivera that are viewed in mellow market serenity away from the tourist crowds. The murals tell a story of the era surrounding repression and insurgency. The murals are hidden in areas of the market building not easily accessed unless you know where they are but well worth the hunt. Set apart from the tourist throngs behind everyday juice counters, through tiny vestibules, spread across ceilings and winding up massive staircases. These enormous and astonishingly gorgeous works of Mexican and American masters remain absurdly neglected, especially given that their value is ranked fourth after the murals of the Bellas Artes Palace, the Secretariat of Education and the National Palace.
As we were exiting this section of the market, we sampled tamales from a busy market stall “Tamales Atole”. We entered the main market section and stopped at another stall that specializes in Barbacoa. We sampled excellent lamb broth made from the drippings of the slow-cooked Barbacoa and some pork, beef and lamb barbacoa tacos.
We boarded a public bus heading to our next stop at Mercado Sonora also known as the witchcraft market. There several sections of this market but the two most popular are the areas for witchcraft and the area filled with party supplies. The largest esoteric market in Mexico and a must-see for those interested in mysticism. Local vendors have an answer to any of life’s daily troubles in the form of a magic soap, a holy water spray, or a love potion that uses toloache, a plant with hallucinogenic properties. A large array of vernacular religions are represented in Sonora, from Voodoo to la Santa Muerte via Brujeria, the Mexican term for sorcery which comes with its own bizarre recipe. A number of these beliefs are practiced by people alongside their Catholic faith. Our guide told us that most Mexicans are very dedicated to their Catholic faith but will seek any means to influence the spirits to achieve results.
We hopped on the metro for our next destination, Mercado Jamaica also known as the flower market. Opened in the 50’s it’s a massive thriving 24-hour flower market with over 1150 stalls and more than 5000 types of flowers. They’ve even added small apartments above some of the stalls where the vendors live in order to operate round the clock. The selection of cut flowers, arrangements, and live plants are endless, mostly grown within the country are priced very reasonably and are bought by many street vendors and flower shops from all over the city. It was amazing to see the array of flowers, mostly grown in Mexico, at such bargain prices. I said to Mary that at these prices our house would be filled with fresh flowers every week! A colorful, fragrant and visually appealing stop in the heart of a gritty city. Were visiting right before Valentines day so you'll see more roses and hearts than usual.
Our last stop was just outside the flower market and technically part of it, the Mercado Comida. An old school food court designed out of a need to feed the vendors and customers of the flower market. Several small individually operated open-air restaurants (when I say small, maybe 10 seats each) Our guide's family owns the “Huarache Ramirez” restaurant. We sampled yummy huaraches (masa filled with beans, cheese, and meat, fried and topped with nopales and salsa).
After the tour, we headed back to the hotel to take an afternoon dip in the 38th floor pool and enjoyed a great view overlooking the city and Chapultepec park in the distance. We discovered “Cityzen” a bar adjacent to the pool on the 38th-floor and stopped in for a cocktail and view. Cityzen has unobstructed views of the city through the massive floor to ceiling glass walls and out on the wrap-around terrace. Looking down on the Paseo de la Reforma, Angel of Independence and Chapultepec Castle, Cityzen has a relaxed atmosphere, inventive cocktails and boasts that they are the highest bar in the heart of Mexico City. We could have spent hours watching the traffic move around the round-about at the Angel of Independence, wondering how the unique traffic pattern was developed and how people could possibly determine their way through it. Once again I’m grateful for the abundance of cheap Uber rides available to help us navigate the city.
After our swim and cocktail, we took a walk through Roma Norte to Mercado Roma for dinner. The streets were filled with locals making their way home or strolling through the street vendors and sidewalk cafes. The three-story market is more upscale than its surroundings, but it's the perfect place for sipping Spanish wines, eating tapas, shopping for expensive cheeses, and nibbling snacks. You'll find satellite puestos from restaurants around town, a coffee counter, vegan tacos, and cured meats. There's also a rooftop beer garden, complete with a foosball table, and a ground-floor patio filled with herb boxes. It's not really a Mercado in the traditional sense but more hipster food court of food and drink stalls that range from traditional to modern world cuisines (American, Italian, Spanish, Canadian, etc…). If you go here don’t skip the churros from the small outlet of El Moro.
Day three's plan is a tour of the historic center, “Hidden Mexico” with Urban Adventures. We met our guide in the historic center near Templo Major, an archeological site that has and continues to unearth temples and grounds of the Mexicas/Aztecs built from the early 14th to 16th centuries.
A large part of Mexico City and especially the historic center was built over a former lake. This has created problems evident today by several leaning buildings and sloping streets and sidewalks. Attempts have been made to shore up the historic structures, but they continue to sink and bend over time. A few structures including several that were over the currently exposed ruins of Templo Mayor did indeed suffer to the extent that they were removed. The good news is that their removal allowed portions of the Teotihuacan city and temples to be uncovered.
In the early 16th century, the Spaniards arrived and proceeded to build a cathedral and colonial structures over the temples and grounds built by the Mexicas. In modern times the underground ruins of Tenochtitlán were discovered during infrastructure upgrades and are slowly being unearthed and preserved. While sounding a bit cruel to simply build new structures over the previous culture’s homeland, it was common for new rulers to do so. The main temple structure shows evidence that over time the Aztecs did the same, building seven different temple structures here one over the other, sealing off the previous structures as they built new ones to show their strength as their population grew. The history and methods used to build these structures are an inspiration to the skills and techniques employed by the early settlers. There is a vast area of structures and grounds that remain below the surface of the historic center, under the cathedral and other structures built after the arrival of the Spaniards.
After viewing the ruins and museum of Templo Major, we walked to the nearby Metropolitan Cathedral. Its massive size dominates the area with two bell towers (containing 25 bells total), a central dome, and three main portals. The tabernacle, adjacent to the cathedral, contains the baptistery. Inside you can see the leaning walls and columns and the slanting marble floor as the Cathedral is not immune to sinking as are most other structures in this area. There are five large, ornate altars, a sacristy, an ornate choir area in the center with massive organ pipes along each side (The cathedral is home to two of the largest 18th-century organs in the Americas). Sixteen chapels around the perimeter, each dedicated to a different saint or saints. There is a crypt below the cathedral that holds the remains of many former archbishops.
Leaving the Cathedral, we walked up the busy pedestrian-only Avenida Madero filled with visitors and locals lined with a mix of colonial and modern architecture occupied with modern shops and restaurants. We stopped in the coffee shop on the sixth floor of the Sears building which provided a perfect vantage point to view the Palacio de Bellas Artes. Porfirio Díaz ordered the building of the Palace of Fine Arts to commemorate the Centenary of the Beginning of Mexico's Independence. Construction began on what was supposed to be a four-year project in 1904, following delays by the revolution and necessary re-design do to the building sinking, 30 years later it was completed in 1934. Sinking continues to be an issue (as with most of the historic center of Mexico City) and reports suggest that the theatre has sunk around four meters since 1904. The ornate buildings' design is Art Nouveau outside and Art Déco in the interior. The Palacio De Bellas Artes is also particularly well known for its murals by artists such as Diego Rivera, David Siqueiros, Rufino Tamayo, and José Clemente Orozco. Although we didn't get a chance this trip to see a performance here, were told it's an amazing venue to attend one. There are regularly scheduled folklorico shows and concerts to see, maybe on our next trip.
Following our visit to the Palacio de Bellas Artes, we walked through the adjacent Alameda park. With its design, fountains, and sculptures this park could be in any European city.
At the other end of the park, we stopped in to view one of Diego Rivera’s most famous murals at the Diego Rivera Mural Museum. The museum was built in 1986 to house the mural, after its original location, the Hotel del Prado, was wrecked by the 1985 earthquake. Sueño de una tarde dominical en la Alameda Central (Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in the Alameda Central), a 15m-long mural painted in 1947. Rivera imagined in this mural, many of the figures who walked in the city from colonial times onward, among them Hernán Cortés, Benito Juárez, Porfirio Díaz, and Francisco Madero. Charts in the exhibit identify all the characters depicted.
Rivera himself appears as a pug-faced child, standing in front of Frida Kahlo, holding hands with “La Calavera Catrina” (skeleton in pre-revolutionary women’s garb) and many of Mexico’s most notable figures. Catrina is a quintessential Mexican icon, often referred to as Mexico’s Grand Dame of Death. Her first appearance as the Lady of Death in Mexico dates back to the Aztecs although her modern image is a creation of José Guadalupe Posada created around 1910-1913. She was created as a satirical image aimed to mock the indigenous Mexicans who imitated European style. She is said to protect the bones of the dead and presides over death festivals like the modern-day Dia De Los Muertos. Her inclusion in the mural is meant to symbolize her noteworthy presence in Mexico’s culture and to reflect the comfort with which Mexicans embrace death. Rivera is famous for the many stories told in each of his murals, this one certainly upholds his reputation as symbolisms and stories abound.
Our tour finished here so we were on our own for a while until our “Tacos at night” tour so we stopped at a rooftop restaurant/bar, La Azotea located in the Barrio Alameda building, 5 floors filled with cool little shops, grab lunch or get a quick drink on the outskirts of historic Parque Alameda Central. After chilling out a bit we headed back down the busy Avenida Madero to meet our guide for the “Taco lovers + cantina frequenters who want to explore Mexico City at night” tour with clubtengohambre.com.
