My Summer Vacation 2017 Part IV – Mexico City
Overview
After touring the ruins at Palenque, we drove the 11 hours or so to Mexico City. We didn’t get there until pretty late, and we were hungry so we checked in to the 4 Points by Sheraton in the Roma district, and walked down the street to a taco stand that happened to be open. They also happened to have TVs showing the McGregor vs. Mayweather fight. So our first night in Mexico City we ate tacos and watched the fight. Not bad.
The next morning we met Javier Altamirano and his wife Mari, the owner of the largest fly shop in Mexico. (By the way Fxcalak at Acocote Eco Inn is the second largest fly shop in Mexico 🙂 ) We had breakfast at the EL CARDENAL in the Hilton in Reforma. They arrived a little late because the Mexico City Marathon cut off their route to the hotel. They ended up walking a lot of the way.
They were kind enough to take us to the Mercado de San Juan, where they had whole pigs and goats, stacks of snook, as well as scorpions on a stick, fried grasshopper and other delicacies.
As I am looking at this, the areas where we were, are some of the hardest hit by the recent earthquake. The Roma district where our hotel was, Condessa which was only 15 minutes walk away had multiple buildings collapse. Our hearts go out to all those who lost loved ones and homes to the devastating earthquake.
Zocalo
From the mercado, we said good bye to Javier and Mari, and walked to the Zocalo, passing the Palacio de Bellas Artes, and seeing some very cool architecture along the way. The Zocalo is probably most recently famous for the opening scene in the James Bond movie Spectre where a helicopter swoops over the packed square. It is huge. We walked into the main cathedral, where apparently the Shroud of Turin was on display. Didn’t see that though.
Frida Kahlo Museum
After breakfast, we went to the Frida Kahlo museum. Unfortunately they don’t let you take pictures of the exhibits or the art. So we were only able to take pics of the grounds. When we arrived, the line was over 45 Minutes as they only allowed a certain number of people in at any given time. We waited in line. It was well worth it. The artwork was on all the walls, and they had a new exhibit of clothing and other personal items that were discovered in an attic that were very cool. I hadn’t realized that Frida had been in a severe motorcycle accident that caused her to lose initially her foot then the leg below the knee. She also had a number of ailments that never did quite heal over the course of her short life. Fascinating peek into her life.
So much to see in Mexico City, definitely will have to go back. There was such energy, a lot of people sure, but very cosmopolitan city.
After dinner we headed back to the hotel. We had another long drive ahead.
If you want to read the previous posts check them here:
