Mexico City!! HUUUUGE Mexico City!! What a phenomenal place this is!!
I arrived here on Monday 10th July and immediately felt right at home - a big city environment is definitely where I'm at my happiest. For 5 exhausting days jam-packed with things to do I explored as much as I possibly could, covering a lot of ground.. and still there are so many places I never even got chance to visit.
It would take me a very long time to write a full blog on everything I did throughout my time here so I will spare you some time and condense it as much as I possibly can.
I had a preconception that the city may be run down, scruffy and rough around the edges.. but I couldn't have been more wrong. Of course there are certain areas like this, as there are in most cities, however the majority were modern, clean and some very beautiful. It may be one of the largest populated cities in the world but it never felt particularly overcrowded, perhaps because it's spread out over a huge area.
The safety of the city had been constantly questioned by people I'd met throughout my time in Mexico but for me I've never felt safer, no matter where I was. The people here are super friendly, as they have been in the whole of Mexico, in fact I'd go as far as saying that of all the countries I've visited so far the people of Mexico have been the most friendly and helpful.
The long walk down Reforma was cool.. a huge avenue which connects the central parts of the city. Aligned either side are huge skyscrapers, malls, the stock exchange, and an absurd amount of Starbucks, virtually on every block! The main focal point of the avenue is the Angel of Independence.. given its central location high up in the middle of a massive and very busy roundabout, the beautiful golden angel watches over Reforma.
At the bottom end of Reforma is Chapultepec Park where there is heaps going on, a number of famous monuments such as "Ninos Heroes", and it's generally just a great place to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city.
The Tamayo Museum is situated near to the entrance of the park which is full of contemporary art exhibitions. How some of this crap gets passed off as art is beyond me.. I was scratching my head in disbelief most of the time. Since when have randomly placed boxes inside a room become art?!
A 10-minute walk from the Tamayo is the National Museum of Anthropology. I had been told by a few people that this place was a "must see" even if museums aren't your kind of thing. I'd also heard that the museum was massive and can take two days to get around it all. It was indeed massive but I guarantee you it was never going to take me two days to complete.. a couple of hours max.
It started off really interesting, descriptions in English always help.. but half an later, it all started to get a little boring. There's only so many Mexican artefacts I can pretend to be interested in.
45-minutes walk further on was the Jumex Museum, where Andy Warhol's work was been exhibited - this one was pretty interesting as much of his work involve many iconic figures from yesteryear.
The stunning looking Soumaya museum was next door.. a building shaped like a wave coated in metallic tiles. I never visited inside as it was more contemporary art, however it was worth a visit just to see the building itself.
At the opposite end of Reforma is Alameda Central, where a large rectangular park is located adjacent to the extremely busy avenue of Juarez. At the top end of the park is Laboratorio de Arte Alameda.. another museum but on a much smaller scale than the others. A wacky Dutchman called Theo Jansen was showcasing some of his work there in which he combines art with engineering by building large mechanisms out of PVC that are able to move on their own, known only as "Strandbeest". Mind blown! Mainly at the ridiculousness of what I was looking at, while laughing at myself thinking, "what the hell am I doing here?!"
At the opposite end of the park is Palacio de Belles Artes (The Palace of Fine Arts), a prominent cultural centre in the heart of the city which hosts major events in music, dance, theatre, opera and literature. The unmistakable white washed building with its golden dome and grand interior also hosts important painting exhibitions.. one of which I attended - "Picasso and Rivera". I didn't particularly have a clue what I was looking at, however I did recognise a couple. It was just cool to see artwork from two of the most famous painters who have ever walked the planet.
Across the road in the Centro area stands another grand building - The Palacio de Correos de Mexico (The Postal Palace of Mexico City). Huge in size with a stunningly beautiful interior.. marble flooring and shelving, combined with bronze and iron window frames. Very impressive!
One of the city's most important landmarks due its central location, height and history is the skyscraper, Torre Latinoamericana. The building is visible from miles around dominating Mexico City's Downtown skyline. One afternoon I ventured up to the 44th floor which offers spectacular panoramic views over the whole of the city from an observation deck. They'd have been even more impressive had it not been for smog hovering above the skyline.. the pollution here is very noticeable!
Centro Histórico (The Historic Centre) is the central neighbourhood of the city focussed on the Zócalo, which is the huge main plaza, and extends in every direction for several blocks. The Zócalo can hold up to 100,000 people at a time and is the largest plaza in Latin America, and also one of the biggest in the world. The Metropolitan Cathedral is located on one side of the plaza, while the huge National Palace stretches down the length of another.
One particular thing that was never on my "to do" list was to visit Frida Kahlo's house/museum. However, having had a few fast-track lessons while in contact with Suki and Liz, two of my good friends from back home, who also told me that "I had to go" while I was in Mexico City, I was persuaded to take a look inside the famous painters house. To be fair, having now visited, it was actually really interesting and I learnt a lot whilst I was there on top of what the girls had already taught me. It was extremely busy and full of tourists from all around the world.. I'm told it's like this every day so it shows how much love people have this woman and her art. Without knowing, I also happened to visit on the anniversary of her death too - 13th July (1954).
Despite the smog, the relentless sound of car horns, and the annoying persistent whistling of traffic cops during my stay.. I loved my time in Mexico City. I visited so many places that I wouldn't normally entertain, mainly museums, but regardless of however wacky and ridiculous they were, I really enjoyed checking them out.
I've had an awesome time in Mexico, seen a lot of cool things, as I did throughout the whole of South America, but thankfully there will be no more "Hola" or "Gracias". I'm definitely ready for a change of culture and there's probably no better place to do that than in Las Vegas in the United States, where I will be meeting up with Phil, one of my best mates from back home. To say I'm excited would be a massive understatement!
Flight in the morning. Vegas baby!!!!
One last.. Caio Caio, and Adiós :) xx