Mexico City, Mexico

Recently, we stopped over in Mexico City for a few days, before heading on to Cancun to meet up with family for Thanksgiving.

Mexico City is both the capital of Mexico and the largest city in Mexico. It is also the most populous city in North America; actually, one of the most populous cities in the world, with almost 22 million people living in the Greater Mexico City area.

And, while it is crowded, it is also a beautiful city full of statues and murals almost everywhere we went. We stayed in the heart of the city on Paseo de la Reforma, just a couple of blocks from the Angel of Independence statue.

Here are some interesting landmarks, art pieces, statues and murals we saw while walking around the center of town.

Whenever we explore a new city Joel looks up things to do. One of the sites he uses is Atlas Obscura, a website which lists “Cool, Hidden, and Unusual Things to Do” in different cities. For our trip to Mexico City, one of the unusual places Joel found was the Biblioteca Vasconcelos, “a jaw-dropping “megalibrary” that turns book-browsing into a geometric adventure.” – Atlas Obscura

“The majority (82%) of the residents in Mexico City are Catholic.” And, according to Wikipedia, “the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mexico is the largest archdiocese in the world.” So it wasn’t surprising to see so many churches and cathederals around town. What did surprise us was that they were so ornate inside. It was also surprising to see buildings that were many centuries old in a country outside of Europe.

“The city was originally built on a group of islands in Lake Texcoco by the Mexica (more commonly referred to as the Aztecs) around 1325, under the name Tenochtitlan. It was almost completely destroyed in the 1521 siege of Tenochtitlan and subsequently redesigned and rebuilt in accordance with the Spanish urban standards.” – Wikipedia

It is hard to describe how grand the Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral is. “It has five naves consisting of 51 vaults, 74 arches and 40 columns. The two bell towers contain 25 bells. The tabernacle, adjacent to the cathedral, contains the baptistery and serves to register the parishioners. There are five large, ornate altars, a sacristy, a choir, a choir area, a corridor and a capitulary room. Fourteen of the cathedral’s sixteen chapels are open to the public. Each chapel is dedicated to a different saint or saints.” – Wikipedia

“The cathedral is home to two of the largest 18th-century organs in the Americas. There is a crypt underneath the cathedral that holds the remains of many former archbishops. The cathedral has approximately 150 windows.” – Wikipedia

The Metropolitan Cathederal is located on the north side of Constitution Plaza, next to the National Palace. “The National Palace (Spanish: Palacio Nacional) is the seat of the federal executive in Mexico. Since 2018 it has also served as the official residence for the President of Mexico.”

While walking through the historic district we noticed so many storefronts with these beautiful quinceanera and bridal dresses. “A quinceañera is a celebration of a young woman’s 15th birthday that is a rite of passage from girlhood to womanhood. Quinceañeras are common in Latin American cultures, including Mexico, Central and South America, and the Caribbean.” – Wikipedia

On our last day in town we took a walking tour through Frida Kahlo’s neighborhood of Coyoacan.

“Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈfɾiða ˈkalo]; 6 July 1907 – 13 July 1954) was a Mexican painter known for her many portraits, self-portraits, and works inspired by the nature and artifacts of Mexico. Kahlo’s work as an artist remained relatively unknown until the late 1970s, when her work was rediscovered by art historians and political activists.” – Wikipedia

We began our tour in Plaza de la Conchita.

Nearby is the Frida Kahlo Park, a park built to honor the Mexican artist. Her husband, Diego Rivera, was a prominent Mexican painter. His large frescoes helped establish the mural movement in Mexican and international art.

In the heart of Coyoacan is the Jardin Centenario, a park famous for the fountain of the coyotes. For centuries, it was the atrium of the San Juan Bautista church and monastery, constructed from early 1522 and completed about 1552.

From the Jardin Centenario it is just a short walk to the Coyoacan Market, a vibrant (and busy!), 2-story marketplace in operation since 1921, with food stalls, apparel, art & souvenirs. We had some delicious street tacos here.

Our last stop on our walking tour was the Frida Kahlo Museum, also known as La Casa Azul (The Blue House), this was Frida Kahlo’s home for most of her life.

Frida Kahlo was a woman whose life was marked by illness and tragedy from an early age. “At the age of six, Kahlo contracted polio: “it all started with a terrible pain on the upper part of my right leg”. As a result she was left with a withered and shorter right leg for life.” Then, “on September 17, 1925, when at the age of eighteen, she suffered a near fatal accident. As she was returning from school, an electric tramway car hit the bus she was riding on. The result was horrific: a steel handrail went straight through the left side of her body piercing her abdomen and uterus, leaving her unable to bear children. Her collarbone, spinal column and right foot were broken. This accident marked the beginning of her deteriorating physical condition…” – Frida Kahlo Museum

After her accident, “On the canopy of her bed, her mother installs the mirror that Frida uses to do self-portraits. She also has an easel adapted to allow her to paint horizontally.” – Frida Kahlo Museum

“…as a direct result of this physical condition (one leg shorter than the other from polio) that Kahlo began to choose long skirts. She wore three or four socks on her thinner calf and used shoes with a built up right heel to disguise her imperfections…” – Frida Kahlo Museum

“The pursuit for clothes that would obscure the evidence of disease and trauma was without doubt a primary force that would eventually lead her back to her mother’s heritage and to the comforts of the stylistically rigid and traditional forms of the Tehuana dress. The intensity of the adornment of this attire on the upper part of the body obliges the viewer to focus their attention above the waist, distracting the viewer from her legs and what she described as a body less than perfect.” – Frida Kahlo Museum

We learned so much about this famous artist. And visiting the home where she lived and painted helped us to connect with her. I found a virtual tour online from the museum’s website. https://www.museofridakahlo.org.mx/virtual/?lang=en

We were up at sunrise for an early flight to Cancun. While at breakfast, an employee pointed out that smoke from the nearby volcano Popocatépetl. She told us it always smokes. When we looked it up on Wikipedia we learned, “Popocatépetl is currently active after being dormant for about half of last century. Its activity increased in 1991 and smoke has been seen constantly emanating from the crater since 1993.”

After a short two-hour flight we landed at the beachside resort of Cancun. My sister has lived here for over 20 years and we have visited often. It is one of our favorite places to go when we want to enjoy some beach time.

My parents were also in town to visit my sister for Thanksgiving. They had asked us to join them but we told them not this time. Then, we changed our minds and snuck into town without telling them.

After a couple of days on the beach, our friend Lois drove us over to my sister’s house and we knocked on the door. Surprise!!

We had a great time visiting with everyone.

There is an urban park near my sister’s house that is a naturally protected ecological area. We spent several days going for walks here.

This park is home to many animals, but the one that I find most unusual is the Tejon. “The Spanish name for the coati in Mexico. However, the word “tejón” translates to “badger” in English, which can be confusing because there are also badgers in Mexico.” – Wikipedia

This turned out to be a very relaxing way to end a busy year of travel.