Mexican Dreams and Pyramid Schemes: Mexico City

The Zocalo-view from our hotel

Mexico City. This city is so saturated with primary colors, that you feel as if you are walking through an art museum. This city is so musical that you feel as if you are at an outdoor concert. This city is so full of vendors that you feel as if you are in big outdoor mall. And this city is so historical, built right on top of an enormous Aztec center, that you feel that you are stumbling around on remains of an ancient civilization. You are. 

Mexico City requires that you pretend it’s a city, as Fran Leibowitz would say. It is a metropolis with more than 9 million people. It has all the features of a city, noise, crowds, pollution, traffic. But no problema. We loved it, the liveliness, the fast talking and walking, and the speedy service in restaurants where we regularly paid about $35 for a big dinner feast.

Tiffany-inspired ceiling Gran Hotel de Ciudad de Mexico

Gran Hotel de Ciudad de Mexico. Stay here. Classy as can be, grandly restored, deco-decor, ornate birdless bird cages in the lobby, and an elevator that was featured in two James Bond movies. The hotel staff offers you champagne upon arrival, and once you’re in the room, bring you a personalized dessert with your name spelled in chocolate. 

Plus the location is perfect. It is the epicenter of the epicenter,  the navel of Centro Historico, situated on one corner of the Zocalo, the largest "town square" in Latin America. We had breakfast every morning at the hotel’s penthouse restaurant, La Terraza overlooking the Zocalo. 

Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral

Mexico City looks a little chaotic on the drive in from the airport, but here on the Zocalo there is order, straight lines, painted streets, topiary trees carved into squares. On one side you have the Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral, on another the Palacio National (Moctezuma slept here, but you need tickets), in the middle of the square is the world's largest Mexican flag. 

Templo Mayor part of the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan

On our first afternoon we took a short walk and found ourselves at Templo Mayor, an Aztec temple built in 1325.  This museum reveals what is right under your feet as you stomp around the city.

The Mexica Gallery at the Museo National de Antroplogia

We saw this guy, Chocmool, at the museum and everywhere, 

We spent our first full day feeding our head about history at the Museo National de Antroplogia, one of the best museums in the world, a comprehensive look at early civilizations, with grand pieces from original excavations. There are 26 galleries full of wonders. Friends told us we could spend a whole day there and we did. 

The Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent

The Temple of the Moon

The next day we headed out to Teotihucan with the best tour guide we’ve ever had, Hector Balderas Iglesias. (book a tour with him directly on Tours By Locals.) This ancient city with three dazzling pyramids once had a population of 125,000 strolling around on the main street, the Avenue of the Dead, until they abandoned the city in 650 AD. Hector explained the history meticulously and yet he was devoid of BS, often reminding us that this is what we think happened, but do we know for sure? No. 

The Avenue of the Dead, Teotihucan 

We were able (with some difficulty) to climb the steps of the Pryamid of the Feathered Serpent. All other sites have been closed to public climbing since COVID. The early intellect of these early people is astounding. They understood geometry, architecture, and astronomy. And I don’t think a one of them had a college degree. The pyramids were mistaken for mountains by the Spaniards, and as a result never destroyed. They used to look like mounds of dirt and shrubbery before the archeologists came in with their little brushes and weed whackers. 

Museo Casa de Leon Trotsky

We spent a morning in the residential neighborhood of Coyoacan, quiet and beautiful. We went there with the hope of getting same day tickets to Museo Frida Kahlo, Casa Azul even though the website said they were sold out. No luck. So we walked down the street to Museo Casa de Leon Trotsky, riddled with bullet holes from various assassination attempts. Leon and Frida and Diego used to hang out. I had an interest because I worked with a National Institutes of Health director Nora Volkow who is Trotsky’s granddaughter. 

On a bar-ge in Xochimilko

From there we made perhaps a strategic mistake, deciding to take a long Uber ride on a Friday afternoon to the “must see” Xochimilko Floating Gardens, a good hour south of the city.  After 90 minutes the Uber driver dropped us off at a random garden shop in Xochimilko saying he couldn’t get us any closer. What he really meant was he couldn’t get us any farther, the gardens were two miles and another taxi ride away. We had envisioned a serene boat ride in a bucolic natural setting. Instead we found ourselves at a raucous floating happy hour. These barges are really bar-ges. Most people had brought tons of alcohol, and were doing shots and falling down, and screaming, you know the way young people do. Music everywhere, floating mariachi bands. It was great for people watching (fauna), but there was no evidence of flora. 

Castillo de Chapultepec 

Atop Bosque de Chapultepec

Sunday afternoon we went to Mexico City’s largest park, Bosque de Chapultepec with about 5,000 of our closest amigas, amigos, and ninos. (museums are free to city residents on Sunday) to see Castillo de Chapultepec where Maximillian and Carlotta had their brief reign. 

Palacio de Bellas Artes

Surprisingly, we loved the performance of the Ballet Folklorico de Mexico at the Palacio de Bellas Artes, a beautiful theater and museum with an art deco interior.  The stage curtain is made of a million pieces of Tiffany glass. We had an astounding view from the galleria as the troupe filled the stage with one dazzling Kodachrome color after another. It was beautifully choreographed, and featured the most talented musicians and dancers in the country.

Ballet Folklorico

There is lots of love on the streets of the city, some PDA with novias here and there, but also tight knit family groups; mothers and daughters nearly always held hands no matter what their age. Some families had an abuela in tow. Very few people smoke. Many wear masks. 

Comida Sidebar

Molcajete served in a boiling pestel made from volcanic rock

When we see a table set with the holy trinity of red sauce, green sauce, and pico de gallo, we experience a sort of cantina communion that lifts our spirits, soothes, and heals us. And we saw this trinity time and again from taqueria to tablecloth. 

We enjoyed a delicious, dinner at the somewhat fancy Azul Condesa in the Roma neighborhood. They presented my empanadas in a beautiful glass box with a flower. Hector recommended three places—La Casa de Tono, for mind-blowing posole, the centuries old Cafe de Tacuba, a street taqueria, Arandas, serving tacos al pastor, pork sliced from a gyro-like spit. Salon Corona had the trinity, peppy music, crispy quesadillas, and icy cold beverages. And near Teotichucan we had lunch at Rancho Azteca where we ordered the signature dish molcajete, overflowing with hot meats, cheese and vegetables served with corn tortillas.  I do not recommend dinner Sanbornes de Casa de los Azuelos despite its beautiful setting.

Friendly military presence

We never encountered street crime or a bit of hostility, we never got stomach problems, we didn't get COVID, we did however have to watch the Super Bowl in Spanish and miss all of the commercials. We finally understood that CDMX were not Roman numerals, but Cuidad de Mexico, which no matter how you add it up is a vibrant, fun, and fabulous destination.

Zocalo-largest Mexican flag on the largest town square in Latin America