A Week in the Capital

Day of the dead decorations
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From Oaxaca we took an early morning 5 hour bus on to Mexico City. All seemed normal until just before we set off when a security woman came onto the bus with her handy cam and walked down the aisle videoing us in our seats. This was the only time we saw this and thought it must be dangerous going to Mexico City on the bus. It turned out to be a very straightforward journey with no problems.

With over 20 million people Mexico City, or Distrito Federal as it's known here, is one of the largest capital cities in the world. I had imagined it to be a huge, dirty, sprawling mess. Within a day of being here however i realised i was way off.

As one vendor finished they would be replaced by the next who seemlessly followed on

Big Alebrijes on the Paseo de la Reforma
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We arrived into the eastern bus terminal of the city. There are 4 main terminals - north, south, east and west. Each one is massive, similar in stature to an airport terminal. They all have easy connections to the excellent metro (the worlds 4th busiest underground railway) so getting in and out of the city was a relatively easy thing to do. At 2 pesos (10 pence) for any length of journey this is one of the cheapest railways in the world and despite unneccessary rumours of its dangers we found ourselves using it on many occasions and felt much safer than taking taxis (you get warned about unlicensed taxis but it was difficult to tell which were licensed and which weren't). We always seemed to be the only foreigners on the train too which was a bit strange.

Palacio de Bellas Artes
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There is much to mention when writing about this city but i'll talk about the subway first as it was definately an experience not to forget. The majority of trains we were on would have people coming through the carriages selling stuff. Marker pens, CDs and torches were typical items on sale here. As one vendor finished they would be replaced by the next who seemlessly followed on. There would be a long line of these sellers working the train. The most intriguing of these were those selling CDs. They would have speakers set up in their backpacks and play samples of what they were selling at full volume - one minute Elvis Presley, the next YMCA, it was like being at one of Uncle Dave's discos. All discs obviously came complete with a black and white photocopied sleeve. As with most things in this country the police are far too lazy to care when fake goods are being sold. Many of these vendors were blind and it looked quite difficult for them to navigate their way through the crowded carriages.

Shannyn with Beetle taxi
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We needed to take a few trains in rush hour which is not fun. It's bad enough in London but here they go to a new level of pushing, so much so that they even operate women and kids only carriages during busy times (they also have women only buses in the city). The doors don't stay open for long either making it quite a task for us to both get on or off. Inevitably one time i turned to see Shannyn heading to the next station without me.

We stayed in Zona Rosa first, a lively business area full of cafes and restaurants with a huge Japanese and Korean population (the sushi was good and affordable). Just north of here is the Paseo de la Reforma, the cities main and most impressive boulevard. There are many monuments and buildings along its route and the wide pathways are filled with interesting exhibits and sculptures. We were lucky enough to be there to see the huge display of skeletons and other dead type things for the day of the dead celebrations. There were also many Alebrijes - if you've been paying attention you will know that these are the famous brightly painted and imaginative wooden creatures made in the Oaxaca region. Here they were massive papier mache reproductions and they colourfully lined one section of the Reforma.

Murals at the Palacio Nacional
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From here we also visited the areas of Roma and Condessa.Trendy clothes shops, art markets and coffee shops were the main attractions here. It was a nice area for a stroll through the many tree-lined streets and parks. The many posh dogs being taken out for a walk giving it a feel of upper class Buenos Aires.

Unfortunatey our nice little hostel in Zona Rosa decided to double book our room after just 1 day, and hostel number 2 was an awful place full of noisy inconsiderate ****s so after 2 days we found ourselves in the unusual situation of searching for our 3rd accomodation in 3 nights. We decided to switch areas and headed for the historic centre, going there in one of the green volkswagen beetle taxis that you see scampering all over the city. They are quite iconic here and it seemed a good time to try one out (not sure if they are recommended though). This move worked out well, nice little hotels here costing much less than a dirty hostel in Zona Rosa and there was still plenty to see and do. You just have to be careful late at night in this area when there aren't many people around.

The Ballet Folclorico de Mexico
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The historic centre is very grand with stylish old buildings towering over you at every turn. Highlights here were the majestic looking Palacio de Bellas Artes, the Palacio Nacional with it's many murals by the socialist artist and local hero Diego Rivera, the 1920s marble and gold decorated Post Office building and suprisingly Sears department store - it's rooftop cafe on the 8th floor giving great views of the city and it apparently served up some of the best iced-coffees on our trip so far. There were several visits here.

Xochimilco canals
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This was a good area to get cheap tacos and tortes (tasty spicy sandwiches) but there were also some grander art deco style cafes full of upper class locals. If you are coming here don't miss Jugos Canada, it does great juices and tortes. It's a couple of doors down from Hotel Rioja, our 4th and best accomodation in the city.

On the streets in this area are 2 ridiculous sets of people - street musicians and traffic police. The musicians consist of a double act in traditional costume. One of them stands there cranking a handle on a wooden organ making a tune while the other stands there holding out his cap for donations. It looks ok but there's very little effort put in and you can see why it's a dying tradition.

Gary at the top of Sears
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Now the traffic police. They seem to be there because no-one can adhere to the rules of traffic lights. It makes an even more hazardous situation as some people follow the little green man while he is being over-ruled by the frenzy of whistles from the traffic police. The main pre-requisite for this job must be big lungs as all they do is stand there constantly whistling at cars and pedestrians. They whistle so often its use as a warning has become redundant. The rest of the police force are also worth commenting on while we are on the subject - buying cigarettes, standing around chatting in groups or texting on their mobile phones seems to be their daily duties. One word for them - Lazy.

Azteca stadium vendor goes by
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We took a couple of day trips to areas slightly further afield. First was to Xochimilco, 20km south of the city. The town itself was really interesting especially the local market. Tortillas being made, food samples being offered and chicken feet being chopped were just some of the intriguing things going on here.

The main reason people visit Xochimilco is the series of canals winding through the area. Locals especially come here at the weekend and take one of the hundreds of brightly (and tackily) coloured boats up and down the canal ways. We did this expecting it to be a nice break from the hustle and bustle of the city. The moment we set off however we were joined by a succession of small boats trying to sell us stuff - foods, drinks, plants, gifts, even the famous Mariachi bands came alongside playing their tunes. It was a slightly surreal experience, something you would not expect to find in the capital city.

Gary with football tickets
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The other trip we did was nearer to the city, 10km south of the centre to the Coyoacan area, famed for its association with another of Mexico's idols Frida Khalo. It's a pieceful yet lively place with nice little cafes dotted around its cobbled streets. It was quite nice here but just down the road is San Angel, an even better area to check out especially on a Saturday when all the artists gather in the park to sell their work - the best art we have seen on our trip so far. There are also markets and craft shops selling really high quality stuff. Another stylish area in a suprisingly diverse city.

Dog dressed up for the celebrations
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As if this wasn't enough we managed to fit in two of the main events of the city - the football and the ballet. The Ballet Folclorico de Mexico was a succession of performances of Mexican dances from all over the country. Some amazing brightly coloured dresses from the women and plenty of foot stomping from the men made this a highly entertaining, yet expensive, evening at the ballet.

Now for the football. Through a long drawn out process of people telling us where you could buy tickets and it not being the case, followed by us making the long trip out to the stadium especially, we acquired a pair of tickets for a Mexican league game at the world famous Azteca Stadium. Rumours of a potential 120,000 sell out crowd made us get the tickets early and it was some what of a disappointment to find the club match between home side America and Monterray to attract little more than 10,000 people. It was an interesting experience and the atmosphere was actually quite good considering the lack of people there. They don't have the singing and chanting of an English match though, preffering to blow horns for the entire 90 minutes instead. As you would expect with this country there are many people selling food and drink throughout the game and it was this that led to us missing the only goal of the game - an inconsiderate taco seller crossing our path as the ball went in. Wherever you go in this city the vendors will find you... Gary