Arriving in Mexico City, still wearing my flip flops and bikini underneath my cloth I stepped into a different world. The temperature was around 5°C in the biggest City of North America and even though I was staying with a friend quite a bit off the centre we took the time to travel around and see a lot of the interesting parts.
I walked around the huge Chapultepec park, wondered around the streets lined with cafés and small shops of Condesa and La Roma, went passed the house, Frida Kahlo used to live in (only from the outside because the prices are insane and I gotta say kinda racist since non local visitors pay many times less a fee suggesting, that all foreigners are able to pay high price for culture) and strolled through the big artisanal market happening daily in Coyoacan. One day we went on a trip to the temple ruins of Theotihuacan near the city. Here we climbed up on the pyramid dedicated to the sun, which is in fact the world’s third largest pyramid, and gazed along the wide main road framed by ancient walls and houses towards the pyramid dedicated to the moon on the other end.
Capultepec
The park is named after the beloved Chapulines, little crickets seasoned with chilli, salt and lime and sold from big buckets on every street in some areas. They were played an important role in the pre-Hispanic cousin and are still used in a variety of dishes. Chaputlepec is one of the biggest city parks in the western hemisphere and contains a number of historic, cultural and artistic sites. Relatively new is the botanical garden that was hosting a sociocritical exhibition on waste and recycling. Along all main roads of the park, countless stands and stalls offer anything from Hannah tattoos to cooked corn, juices, Cd’s and plastic containers. I spend a whole day exploring the park and some of the attractions on site.
Coyoacan
I very much enjoyed the area of Coyoacan, this former autonomous village has been absorbed by the ever-growing city but contained its small town flair with small alleyways, a little park and central market. Many artisans and artist occupy the area and Frida Kahlo used to live in this cultural hub.
Theotihuacan
The ruins of Theotihuacan are an incredibly powerful site. But since many years thousands of people have visited and tampered with the ancient structures many have been reconstructed to show cast the prior state. It resembles more of a museum than old ruins and the adjacent exhibition hall gives information about the development of Mexico City.
Mexico City also has a huge museum of anthropology with the biggest exhibition I have ever visited. For more than three hours I wandered through artefacts and samples of Mexican and human history, though part of the museum was closed for construction.
The much smaller but very interesting museum of modern art I visited, exhibits artworks in four rooms. Many of which are inspired by political or critical topics.
I presume there are millions of hidden gems, beautiful places and lovely people in this concrete jungle, the adventure is to find just these in the huge City.
