Mexico City 2009

Last Friday I finally convinced Michael to take a chance and go to Mexico City with me. I know several people are thinking its very dangerous there and its a bad place to go, but I've been there before and had a great, safe time. Plus, the capital is getting better and the current mayor is still doing a great job cleaning things up.
We ended up sitting in first class leaving LAX and landed in Mexico City three hours later. The flight was smooth except some bumps at the end. Even better, the customs hall was completely empty and we breezed through immigration. I had forgotten how much Mexico loves Easter and the capital virtually shuts down for over a week. The taxi ride was quick as the streets were wide open and I began to realize that many things would be closed. I booked a room at the Sheraton on Paseo la Reforma, the main boulevard running through the financial district, and overlooking the golden angel monument. This ended up being a great spot because we could walk to lots of things and it we had a great view from the 22nd floor. It was already after six in the evening when we arrived and so we headed out for a walk. It was warm and breezy on the quiet streets and it seemed the tourists were out numbering the locals 2-to-1. If you remember my ill-fated walk on a windy day in Maputo when I lost my contact, you'll be happy to know that I found this contact on the streets of Mexico City after it flew out with dust. So it was a nice change to be able to find this one and see instead of having it lost forever on some street in Southeast Africa. I had read about a good vegetarian restaurant nearby, but it was unfortunately closing when we arrived, so we ended up at another small cafe nearby. I'm getting much better at remembering my vegetables in Spanish and am comfortable asking for modified meals to ensure they are meat-free. We ended up calling it an early night. Good thing I found "Los Simpsons" on the TV right away and watched a few episodes dubbed in Spanish.
On Saturday morning we ventured out to one of the many many Starbucks around town and then over to the same vegetarian restaurant that was closing the night before. They have regular Mexican dishes without the meat or with soy-based substitutes. If it sounds boring and bland, you would be wrong because everything was really tasty. And since I love Mexican food, this was great that I could order anything and not have to worry about the cook sneaking meat into the dish. After breakfast we hoped on the Metro, which was still running every three minutes and still pretty crowded, to the center of town. We visited the large church on the zocalo and walked around the old town. Michael commented how it reminded him of Brussels with great old buildings and people walking everywhere. I wanted to see if there was anything being performed at the Palacio de Bellas Artes, like the symphony or opera, but there was nothing to see that night. We were still treated to a tour of the building which has several large murals, including a couple by Diego Rivera. One of them was a remake of what he created for the Rockefellers in New York City 80 years ago; they claimed it was too socialist and possibly communist. I don't know what they were thinking they would get from Rivera, but they hated it and had it destroyed. Luckily, he recreated it for Mexico City and its quite a sight to see. Then it was onto the area of Condesa which is a little more affluent. We had a great fixed price lunch at a sidewalk cafe which ended up filling up with hipsters before we were finished. Nearby was a great park with dogs everywhere (clean ones, running around with their masters) and kids running around and playing in fountains of water. There were tall trees all around and families strolling around. We had a cup of coffee and lounged around for awhile. One thing I noticed is that walking around Mexico City is tiring. Its a big city and its about 7000 feet in elevation. From there, we ended up walking all the way back to the hotel through the area of Roma, which usually has some great antique shops and bookstores, but everything was closed. Earlier in the day, we had stopped by a nice antique gallery with several good things to see. Of course I didn't buy anything, but it was nice to browse anyway. We went swimming on the hotel's rooftop pool and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. From up there, we saw a huge parade pass down the boulevard. For dinner, we went back to the same vegetarian restaurant and had another good meal. There were some other places I wanted to try but seeing as how at least half the places I wanted to visit were closed, I thought it best to stay near the hotel. Walking along the boulevard (La Reforma) again at sunset, there were flowers and plants and herbs for sale in covered stalls that ran for two or three large city blocks. Also, there were police everywhere, including several on segway scooters.
Sunday morning La Reforma was closed to traffic and completely open for bicycles and joggers. It seemed despite the holiday, everyone was taking full advantage. There is also a program to offer bikes for free to people who don't have them, and there are several spots along La Reforma where you can pick one up, unfortunately the wait was at least an hour. Also, there are several stations set up wot help you fix your bike if it needs a tune-up; its all free. We walked to the main park, Chapultepec, which has grand paths and statues everywhere. There are lakes where you can rent row boats or paddle boats and it seemed everyone was out enjoying the warm holiday. Unfortunately all the museums were closed, so there wasn't much else to do and we didn't really have time to go to any other part of town. So we did some more window shopping in the nearby Zona Rosa, had some coffee and relaxed. Again, all the recommended places to buy coffee beans were closed so that was out of the question.
In the afternoon we headed to the airport because Michael had to fly home and work on Monday. I was going to catch a bus to Puebla to meet my brother Brett and sister-in-law Sarai. Conveniently, there is a bus from the airport to Puebla, or rather several buses, one leaves about every 30 minutes. I was sorry the weekend was so short but it was a real eye-opener for Michael, at least. Mexico City seems to always get a bad rap, but its getting cleaner and safer all the time. I can't so as much for the rest of Mexico and the current drug war that is going on; I don't know much about that. But Mexico City is a great big chaotic place with lots of great food and amazing museums scattered all over. I'd be happy to go back again and spend more time relaxing in its European glow. A three hour flight is much better then 11 hours to Paris, plus Paris is about five times as expensive.
So I sad good bye to Michael and wished him a free upgrade to first class as I got on my bus for the two hour ride to Puebla. I was sad he couldn't go, but glad he made it this far. And I was also excited to see my brother in another country. What a treat to combine my love of travel with the chance to share it with family.
More on that later...