Ciudad Mexico
Trip Start
Mar 13, 2005
1
4
33
Trip End
Ongoing
Mexico City,
Mexico
Saturday, March 19, 2005
As it could be expected from the biggest city in the world - Mexico City is really large, not very beautiful at first glance, nonetheless it does have hidden charms. My whole Saturday got occupied with two half-day guided tours purchased from Expedia. One was around the historic center, with visits to the Cathedral, Diego Rivera murals and other most distinct highlights in the city center - was nice and the moderate pace allowed to enjoy the experience. The second tour was to the Aztec ruins of Teotihuacan (amazing experience, and climbing the pyramids in full sun can be really exhausting;), then we visited a local farm and learned about two dozens of products that can be made from the agave plant, and in the end we visited the sacred sanctuary of Virgin Mary of Guadeloupe. During this trip I was in a minibus with two Italians from the south and, literally, all three of us had hour hair standing and eyes closed after our driver demonstrated us a sample of local driving style. Compared to what we've seen Napoli style seems like a driving school.. I was happy to be back in one piece:-)
My second visit in the capital was also pretty short - I came for job interviews, stayed in a very nice area of Polanco (hotel Nikko, a good quality). I did some sightseeing, this time it was two interesting museums - the museum of Temple Mayor, located just next to cathedral and built around the excavations of the main pyramid of the Aztek capital Tenochtitlan; second one is located in the Castello de Chapultepec and it combines an interesting exposition dedicated to the national history with the display of palace interiors used by the rulers of Mexico in XIX and XX century. The whole park of Chapultepec is an amazing place - it's really big, in a walking distance from Polanco, it features various museums, zoo, botanical garden, a small lake and is full of people, especially families with children, on Sunday. It really shows the city lives and people love to spend time together outside. I also visited the zoo, hoping to see the highly advertised "monstrous" anaconda, but neither the size of the snake nor the garden's collection did impress me.. On the contrary, I very much enjoyed the popular going out area Zona Rosa. It seems to be a great area for a coffee, shopping or just a walk.
