Mexico City as we never imagined...

Our last few days were spent in Mexico City, a city of 22 million which sits high on the altiplano at almost 2500 meters. We were a bit nervous to visit as we hear a lot of negative things about the city but again Mexico keeps surprising us.

We again stayed in a private home owned by a young doctor and lawyer which was quite modern in design as well as being huge. Here is just one of the many sitting areas in the home. We were made to feel right at home and were pleased with our choice.

It was located in a very quiet neighbour called San Miquel de Chapultepec that was very safe and easy to walk around.

Mexico is known for its bright colors and murals as can be seen on a house just around the corner.

We also ate at the neighbourhood restaurant which was full of Mexican families enjoying a Sunday meal. It was one of the best meals we ever had in Mexico as we tried the Chile Poblano and the mole sauce was rich with chocolate and chillies.

 

Since we only had a couple days here we decided to hire a private tour guide named Hector Barraza at Mexico City Elite Tours who also turned out to be a great find. We walked, taxied and took the subway across the city from Centro Historic to outlying neighbourhoods. Our two days with him gave us a glimpse of the history, culture and architecture of the city.

The first day we took the subway and was surprised to see how clean it was. It is a very complicated design so the stations are all identified by symbols to accommodate those who can't read.

 

The first day we walked around the Centro Historic district with Hector explaining the history and architecture of the buildings we saw...

 

A government building

The office of the President of Mexico

The main Cathedral of Mexico City...quite impressive and different from others we had visited as there were two altars one at the front and back of the church.

Mass was being said at the first altar while we were there.

Another view of the church....

Lots of pedestrian walkways...

Beautiful courtyards...

Historic markers....this shows the spot where the Spanish conquer Cortes first met the Aztec leader Montezuma which is now in the Center of the city.

Archeological sites...this is the site of a great Aztec temple which was discovered in the middle of the city. When the Spanish built Mexico City they built it on top of the Aztec city and used their buildings as quarries to gather materials. This site was discovered when recent digging took place....

Everywhere there are stalls with things to buy, here this alleyway was taken over by book sellers...

 

The spectacular interior of the Central Post Office....

The Opera House

These organ grinders are all over town....

We also took the tourist bus to the newer part of town and were really impressed with the cleanliness and the modern look of the business and financial districts...

Wide boulevards

 

Many monuments including The Angel of Independence

 

And the Arch of the Revolution. Of the many huge monuments and sculptures around the city there are many to remember and celebrate the Mexican revolution and its fight for Independence.

 

 

Great street art...

Some downtown street pictures.... Waiting for the bus

Walking through one of the many parks...

People everywhere...

Also lots of traffic and every time the light turns red there are people selling something, this guy Clorets...

And there is always time for a rest...

 

 

Another day we did a walking tour of two neighbourhoods San Angel and Coyocan which are some of the more well to do neighbourhoods and were beautiful...

I mistakenly called these flowers Poinsettias but was quickly told that in Mexico they are called Christmas Eve and the name was changed by an American general whose name was Poinsettia.

 

Many well tended parks...

Busy streets...

 

Many churches...

Fancy stores...

 

Cobblestone streets

Atrium crosses...these were used by the Spaniards instead of the the traditional crucified Christ as they were telling the natives that human sacrifice wasn't allowed so how could they show their God to be crucified?

These are the neighbourhoods of the artists Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo so we visited their studios and the Blue House.

Frida's studio which was joined by a roof top walkway to Diego's studio...

Diego's studio...

Frida's studio...

The garden...

 

 

Overall we both were more than pleased we decided to visit Mexico City and only wished we could have spent more time there. It has so much to see, lots of museums, art galleries and cultural venues to name a few and we only got an opportunity to see very little Since we hope to be coming to Mexcio for a few more winters we both feel that we will be back to this city to experience more of what it has to offer.

 

 

 

 

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San Miguel de Allende...a Mexican hilltop town

Sorry to leave Guadalajara but the road was calling so off to the bus station we go....

The bus to SMA headed east towards central Mexico and again travelled many miles through mountains and valleys where there appeared to be many ranches and large farms.

 

 

I think the big house on the hill is the hacienda...while the few other houses we saw looked like this...

When we arrived in San Miguel we were delighted with our accommodations in a home owned by an artist from Santa Fe, the whole house was decorated with the colors and art of Mexcio.

 

This is our bedroom....

This is just one of the terraces outside our bedroom.

This is our street which is very typical of the neighbourhoods here...brightly coloured with great flowers.

Around the corner is the laundry and here is Don passing in his clothes to be washed. He was there bright and early because when you are travelling for months with a carry on there is not a lot to spare...

We are in the Colonia Guadeloupe which is very much a Mexican neighbourhood with a few expats living here as well. Though overall SMA is home to one of the largest expats communities in Mexico many of them Americans who first came here on the GI bill after WWII to study art and made it their home. We shared a cervaza with an American vet who came here after Vietnam and he told us there was even an Ameriacn legion here back then.

Given the large foreign community the town has many amenities you wouldn't find in other Mexican towns this size...

We had breakfast every morning at this combined organic grocery store, bar and restaurant and it was quite a pleasant place.

One of the centrepieces of town is the Bibliotecia which is housed in an historical building and offers a bilingual library, art classes, language classes, cultural events and so on. This too was founded by American women in the 1950s. When we went in there were lots going on and this display of children's art from one of the classes was being mounted...

 

San Miguel de Allende is located approximately 1900 meters above sea level and has a population of 150,000. It's main industries are agriculture and tourism and it played a very important part in the War of Independence with two of the main leaders Allende and Hidalgo coming from this area.

Here are a couple of views from a lookout at the top of the town...

 

 

Beautiful colors but somewhat washed out due to the brightness of the noonday sun. It is springtime and the purple trees are in bloom everywhere.

Many of the streets are made of cobblestones and are very steep so walking is difficult...

 

 

SMA is known as an artist town and everywhere there are beautiful murals on sides of houses, shops and public buildings, this one is just around the corner on the front and back wall of a parking lot.

It is also a town of many 17th and 18th century churches, one on every corner it seems...

Every one we visited had worshippers in them...some quiet time...

This is the main church in the central plaza..

 

One evening we came across a religious procession that started in front of this church and then proceeded to another so we followed along...

The women were carrying Our Lady of Sorrows as this is part of Easter celebrations. We got in the procession and the statues were carried into the church to their rightful places and the crowd cheered.

This woman was one of the light bearers. We really like it when we come across these gatherings as they help us understand a little more about Mexican culture....

such as there is religion and then there is music...this mariachi band started as soon as the procession passed and the people began dancing in the streets...

And of course there is always an evening snack!

In Centro and the surrounding area there are many shops selling all manner of art, clothes, home decor but I am often drawn to the places where the locals shop...

I love the colors in this hardware store...

The smells of roasting corn which the locals call eloite and eat with chilies and mayo, nice smells but not to my taste!

The local mercado was busy as well...

 

This lady was cleaning her cactus leaves which are a very popular food here in Mexico.

 

Everywhere you turn in Mexico people are trying to make a living by selling something. In front of one of the churches there was a flower market...

 

Flowers are one of the things that the farmers grow here and the roses in particular are gorgeous...

This little fellow was helping his mom tie up the bundles for sale.

There is also a huge Artisans Mercado on a street filled with art shops which we visited but didn't buy much because we have little room in our packs, however it was a feast for the eyes and you could spend days just in this area of town.

 

Here are some glimpses of what we saw...

Frida was everywhere..

So was amor.

There is also a tradition of tin smithing in this region, anyone interested in an angel?

 

And color, color and more color...

 

 

As we walked the streets the sun was lighting up every corner...

 

 

We also spent some time in the Jardin which is the town square modelled after a French garden so it looked different than others we have seen in that all the trees were trimmed to look like giant tires...

 

In the evening this area is packed with people and activity, this lady was making crowns from fresh flowers which she sold for 20 pesos to lots of women who wore them around in the evening.

Lots of mariachi bands, here two of the musicians are warming up...

 

There is also a tradition of giant people who stroll around or dance to the music...

The ballon man is always out...

 

Every time we sat here on the bench we ended up talking to someone as people are very friendly and interested in where you come from. All in all it was a wonderful but too short of a visit we could have easily spent a week or more and barely scratched the surface of all this town as to offer. I am already checking out the Language schools as I think they would be a good reason to come back to this hilltop town.

San Miguel de Allende was a Mexican delight, still very much a local town with so much to offer to visitors...definitely a place to come experience Mexico. Hasta Luego!

 

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