It's my last morning in Mexico at the end of two weeks of rediscovering the attractions of this vast, diverse country.
It's been a chilly couple of days and nights here in the capital with gloomy overcast skies and some substantial rains.
Already I'm making plans to come back here--maybe over the busy Christmas holidays some year.
Before then I will try to get my photo software happening so I can share some of the thousands of photos I've taken of my travels in Latin America durimg the past two years.
Monday, August 29, 2011
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Weekend Crowds Take Over in the DF
With el Chopo and Insurgentes visited in the morning, in the afternoon I took another Metro train up to the Tepito Market. This turned out to be a huge affair taking up all the sidewalk as well as two lanes of each side of a six lane boulevard extending for at least six city blocks and spreading out on all side streets for that length.
This market not only had the usual pirated knockoffs, but stall after stall of jeans, shirts, underwear, socks, and almost anything imaginable. The crowds spilled out into the street where six lanes of a one way boulevard were bottlenecked into two, creating a massive traffic jam for the length of the market.
Fairly typical of the "Third World" market, Tepito was reminiscent of the gigantic Chatuchak Weekend Market in Bangkok or the equally large Marche aux Puces in Paris.
A walk from Tepito southwest took me past the Plaza Santo Domingo--sort of a mini Zocalo--to the Calle Donceles where, as advertised, I found at least a dozen used book shops.
In a country where new English language titles can set you back $40-50 even for paperback, it was refreshing to find prices more in line with the budget traveler: $2-10 depending on the title and condition.
Not all the shops had English language titles, but I found a huge pile in the back corner of one place, and many of these books were from the 1970s or earlier.
Walking further down Donceles took me to both the national Chamber of Deputies and the Mexican Senate. And on another pedestrian walkway, the Calle Condesa, I was delighted to find an unofficial used book market on the street, though there weren't any non-Spanish language books in sight.
My walk then took me past the UNAM university bookstore where next door there appeared to be an exhibit dedicated to "Instruments of Torture and Capital Punishment." This reminded me that the Police Museum, near my hotel, has an exhibit titled "Serial Killers."
This morning I took the Metro way up to the northeast side of the city to check out the Virgin of Guadalupe. Perhaps most simply described as the most important religious shrine in Mexico, this attraction apparently draws throngs of visitors 24/7.
I will admit that the crowds nearly defeated me today, and it took me nearly a half hour to find a less crowded way into the broad square where thousands of visitors came to pay their repects, some of them actually walking on their knees to do so.
A colonial relic of a cathedral, sinking into Mexico City's soft ground, is flanked by a couple of even larger modern structures where people flow in and out constantly to choral music piped into huge speakers. A larger than life bronze statue of John Paul II overlooks the entire scene.
Back on the Metro, I faced my first experience with a transport breakdown and wasted an hour trying to get a train back downtown. Apparently a bicycle race near the Alameda-Zocalo route completely messed up many of the major bus routes, but I have no idea what delayed the metro trains.
All I know is it was a bit scary to see the crowds pouring into the station platform with almost no trains arriving to ease the jam.
This market not only had the usual pirated knockoffs, but stall after stall of jeans, shirts, underwear, socks, and almost anything imaginable. The crowds spilled out into the street where six lanes of a one way boulevard were bottlenecked into two, creating a massive traffic jam for the length of the market.
Fairly typical of the "Third World" market, Tepito was reminiscent of the gigantic Chatuchak Weekend Market in Bangkok or the equally large Marche aux Puces in Paris.
A walk from Tepito southwest took me past the Plaza Santo Domingo--sort of a mini Zocalo--to the Calle Donceles where, as advertised, I found at least a dozen used book shops.
In a country where new English language titles can set you back $40-50 even for paperback, it was refreshing to find prices more in line with the budget traveler: $2-10 depending on the title and condition.
Not all the shops had English language titles, but I found a huge pile in the back corner of one place, and many of these books were from the 1970s or earlier.
Walking further down Donceles took me to both the national Chamber of Deputies and the Mexican Senate. And on another pedestrian walkway, the Calle Condesa, I was delighted to find an unofficial used book market on the street, though there weren't any non-Spanish language books in sight.
My walk then took me past the UNAM university bookstore where next door there appeared to be an exhibit dedicated to "Instruments of Torture and Capital Punishment." This reminded me that the Police Museum, near my hotel, has an exhibit titled "Serial Killers."
This morning I took the Metro way up to the northeast side of the city to check out the Virgin of Guadalupe. Perhaps most simply described as the most important religious shrine in Mexico, this attraction apparently draws throngs of visitors 24/7.
I will admit that the crowds nearly defeated me today, and it took me nearly a half hour to find a less crowded way into the broad square where thousands of visitors came to pay their repects, some of them actually walking on their knees to do so.
A colonial relic of a cathedral, sinking into Mexico City's soft ground, is flanked by a couple of even larger modern structures where people flow in and out constantly to choral music piped into huge speakers. A larger than life bronze statue of John Paul II overlooks the entire scene.
Back on the Metro, I faced my first experience with a transport breakdown and wasted an hour trying to get a train back downtown. Apparently a bicycle race near the Alameda-Zocalo route completely messed up many of the major bus routes, but I have no idea what delayed the metro trains.
All I know is it was a bit scary to see the crowds pouring into the station platform with almost no trains arriving to ease the jam.
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Back in Mexico DF
I'm back in the big city and spent this morning "following the young people", first to the famous El Chopo Saturday market which is where the kids go to get their favorite music and clothing.
Every possible genre and subgenre of popular music from the last 45 years is represented: rock'n'roll, reggae, ska, heavy metal, punk, and more. Some stalls sell only classic LPs (remember those, kids?).
El Chopo is also the place to get 10 peso piercings, tongue studs, leather pants, dog collars and leather bits and pieces, chains, tattoos,corn rows, and more.
Despite all the variety, Chopo Market--which has a history running back to the 1970s--turns out to be much smaller than I had pictured it.
Next I hopped a bus to the Glorieta Insurgentes, a large roundabout surrounded by dodgy looking medium size skyscrapers--one of them looks like a squat, so covered with graffiti it is--and this is where Mexico City's "emo" kids hang out.
Mexico City and Queretaro both were wracked by anti-emo riots a couple years ago. Emos are said to be a youth subculture which draws style elements fom other subcultures but doesn't seem to have any further meaning beyond a vague striving for "heightened emotions." Other youth groups reportedly were enraged by the emos' supposed superficiality and for "stealing" others' hairstyles and fashions.
Today I don't see many kids here, but there are a handful of police equipped with riot gear.
The Glorieta Insurgentes also has a number of very large, modern internet shops, some with as many as 50 cubicles. I am writing this dispatch from one of them right now.
Again, this traffic circle is large but not as massive as I had pictured it in my head--certainly not as big as Arc du Triomphe in Paris or Bangkok's Victory Monument circle.
There is a metro stop, bus stops, and a couple important throughfares, but this area is much quieter than, say, Alameda Park.
Next on my to do list: there's a street I want to find that has a large number of used bookshops.
Then I might check out the barrio Tepito which supposedly has the largest "pirate" market in Mexico. This is the place to get your DVDs, CDS, and other fake knockoffs.
Another visit to Plaza Garibaldi--mariachi central--will be in order before the weekend's finish.
And finally, tomorrow I'll try to run up to the Virgen of Guadalupe which has been highly recommended.
Every possible genre and subgenre of popular music from the last 45 years is represented: rock'n'roll, reggae, ska, heavy metal, punk, and more. Some stalls sell only classic LPs (remember those, kids?).
El Chopo is also the place to get 10 peso piercings, tongue studs, leather pants, dog collars and leather bits and pieces, chains, tattoos,corn rows, and more.
Despite all the variety, Chopo Market--which has a history running back to the 1970s--turns out to be much smaller than I had pictured it.
Next I hopped a bus to the Glorieta Insurgentes, a large roundabout surrounded by dodgy looking medium size skyscrapers--one of them looks like a squat, so covered with graffiti it is--and this is where Mexico City's "emo" kids hang out.
Mexico City and Queretaro both were wracked by anti-emo riots a couple years ago. Emos are said to be a youth subculture which draws style elements fom other subcultures but doesn't seem to have any further meaning beyond a vague striving for "heightened emotions." Other youth groups reportedly were enraged by the emos' supposed superficiality and for "stealing" others' hairstyles and fashions.
Today I don't see many kids here, but there are a handful of police equipped with riot gear.
The Glorieta Insurgentes also has a number of very large, modern internet shops, some with as many as 50 cubicles. I am writing this dispatch from one of them right now.
Again, this traffic circle is large but not as massive as I had pictured it in my head--certainly not as big as Arc du Triomphe in Paris or Bangkok's Victory Monument circle.
There is a metro stop, bus stops, and a couple important throughfares, but this area is much quieter than, say, Alameda Park.
Next on my to do list: there's a street I want to find that has a large number of used bookshops.
Then I might check out the barrio Tepito which supposedly has the largest "pirate" market in Mexico. This is the place to get your DVDs, CDS, and other fake knockoffs.
Another visit to Plaza Garibaldi--mariachi central--will be in order before the weekend's finish.
And finally, tomorrow I'll try to run up to the Virgen of Guadalupe which has been highly recommended.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
National News In Mexico This Week
Two stories this week: the 2011-2012 school just started last Monday, and relics of Pope John Paul II are making a six month tour of Mexico. I saw the people lining up for it in Mexico City on the TV news early this morning.
Guanajuato Continues to Charm
Okay, I admit it: I love Guanajuato! It has just about everything I like in a travel destination.
I think of it as sort of like the Venice of Mexico, though it's not near the sea and it doesn't have canals and singing gondola men. But it's built in rough hill country, and there is a whole network of road tunnels connecting parts of the town.
What it does have in droves is charming old world ambience and many pedestrian-only streets and lanes, so it's perfect for street performances, strolling, people watching, al fresco dining, and all the other things car-free areas are good for.
Some of the pedestrian lanes, known here as callejones, are so narrow it's a bit of a squeeze for two people to pass each other. One famous lane is called Callejone de Beso because two people can be in buildings across from each other, but still be close enough to kiss.
In colonial times, Guanajuato was an important center of silver mining, and you can still tour the old mines today.
But these days the town is a vibrant arts center with several beautiful theaters including the Teatro Juarez, an imposing old opera palace.
Guanajuato is also a major student center with an important university in town, so naturally there are lots of young people. Some of these youngsters join traditional choral societies, known as callejoneadas or estudiantinas, who dress up in elaborate old world costumes and serenade the public in those same narrow walkways on Friday and Saturday evenings.
And there are plenty of mariachi groups here, as well, so if you like the old world street life as much as I do, you can see why I've made Guanajuato a must-see destination on all three of my trips to Mexico.
Guanajuato is also the home town of Frida Kahlo's husband, muralist Diego Rivera. His childhood home is now a museum which I visited on a previous trip.
In one of the little plazuelas here there is a Frida y Diego Restaurant & Bar, and I can confirm they make a mean espresso. Their menu also features a desayunos (breakfast) "Frida", but none for poor Diego. . .
Just as I discovered in Queretaro last week, Guanajuato is in the midst of a free arts festival featuring theater performers, jazz musicians, clowns, performance artists, and others. Something is happening here, somewhere sometime, everyday this month.
That reminds me that I met one of the groups booked at the Queretaro festival last weekend, an international trio of stage performers based in Berlin called The Garden Project. This features two men, an Australian and a Greek, plus a woman from Poland.
I caught some of their show onstage outdoors on Sunday night. It was a very strange collage of dance, video, music, and light, but what was most interesting was The Garden Project's collaboration with a local group of like-minded artists.
I met two of The Garden Project at breakfast one morning, and mentioned that Guanajuato might be a good place for them to check out for future bookings.
Regrettably, they said they were headed straight back to Berlin on Monday morning so didn't have a chance to explore any more of beautiful old Mexico.
I think of it as sort of like the Venice of Mexico, though it's not near the sea and it doesn't have canals and singing gondola men. But it's built in rough hill country, and there is a whole network of road tunnels connecting parts of the town.
What it does have in droves is charming old world ambience and many pedestrian-only streets and lanes, so it's perfect for street performances, strolling, people watching, al fresco dining, and all the other things car-free areas are good for.
Some of the pedestrian lanes, known here as callejones, are so narrow it's a bit of a squeeze for two people to pass each other. One famous lane is called Callejone de Beso because two people can be in buildings across from each other, but still be close enough to kiss.
In colonial times, Guanajuato was an important center of silver mining, and you can still tour the old mines today.
But these days the town is a vibrant arts center with several beautiful theaters including the Teatro Juarez, an imposing old opera palace.
Guanajuato is also a major student center with an important university in town, so naturally there are lots of young people. Some of these youngsters join traditional choral societies, known as callejoneadas or estudiantinas, who dress up in elaborate old world costumes and serenade the public in those same narrow walkways on Friday and Saturday evenings.
And there are plenty of mariachi groups here, as well, so if you like the old world street life as much as I do, you can see why I've made Guanajuato a must-see destination on all three of my trips to Mexico.
Guanajuato is also the home town of Frida Kahlo's husband, muralist Diego Rivera. His childhood home is now a museum which I visited on a previous trip.
In one of the little plazuelas here there is a Frida y Diego Restaurant & Bar, and I can confirm they make a mean espresso. Their menu also features a desayunos (breakfast) "Frida", but none for poor Diego. . .
Just as I discovered in Queretaro last week, Guanajuato is in the midst of a free arts festival featuring theater performers, jazz musicians, clowns, performance artists, and others. Something is happening here, somewhere sometime, everyday this month.
That reminds me that I met one of the groups booked at the Queretaro festival last weekend, an international trio of stage performers based in Berlin called The Garden Project. This features two men, an Australian and a Greek, plus a woman from Poland.
I caught some of their show onstage outdoors on Sunday night. It was a very strange collage of dance, video, music, and light, but what was most interesting was The Garden Project's collaboration with a local group of like-minded artists.
I met two of The Garden Project at breakfast one morning, and mentioned that Guanajuato might be a good place for them to check out for future bookings.
Regrettably, they said they were headed straight back to Berlin on Monday morning so didn't have a chance to explore any more of beautiful old Mexico.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
San Miguel to Guanajuato
On the bus ride out of San Miguel this morning we made a brief stop at the old railroad terminal--then crossed the tracks to join the back road to Guanajuato.
This reminded me that the remains of Jack Kerouac's old running buddy, Neal Cassady, were found nearby the tracks in 1968, apparently the victim of an accident, suicide, or otherwise untimely death.
Cassady was Kerouac's inspiration for Dean Moriarty, the anti-hero of his seminal Beat Generation novel On the Road.
Today I fell from the lap of luxury into the rock bottom of grungy hostelries when I relocated from the very excellent value Posada de las Monjas ($42 per night) in San Miguel to an extremely divey $12.50 room in the Hotel Granaditas in downtown Guanjuato--described by the Lonely Planet as "best of the cheapies" in the area.
My edition of the LP is 8-9 years old. . .but this place is a dump!
In all fairness, though, I was looking for something a little cheaper to "average out" my daily budget after a couple days in expensive San Miguel.
The entire ordeal reminds me that Mexico isn't as cheap as it used to be. Yes, it's nominally cheaper than in the States, but I've found that my budget projections for lodging have fallen quite a bit short of the reality of 2011.
Strangely enough, I've seen that lodging in the capital is perhaps cheaper than in the provinces. Maybe that's because DF is saturated with hotels, and that glut of hotels runs the entire dive-to-five-star price spectrum.
The Granaditas seems to be run by Jehovah's Witnesses, judging by the piles of The Watchtower at the reception desk.
Again, this is a reminder to me of last Saturday night when I was out and about in Queretaro and made acquaintence with several JWs who were approaching people--me included--with tracts and invitations to their Sunday morning service. Turns out the JWs were in the midst of their annual convention.
Jehovah's Witnesses around town were easily recognizable by their sharp, conservative dress and their "Hello my name is. . ." name tag lanyards.
Also well dressed and approaching strangers were salespersons of Herbalife, Inc. I met a few of them, too. Each one showed me a "before" picture: sometimes overweight, now these folks were walking/talking cheerful promoters of a product "that really changed my life." And one young lady wasn't shy about telling me how many thousands of dollars she makes pushing the product.
Back to San Miguel, though: yes, it's really expensive, so apparently the influx Americans and Europeans is driving up local costs considerably (?).
The cheapest hotel I could find was in the 300 peso range, and in some cases that was without private bath. I paid 520 pesos ($42) for my room in Las Monjas, which was by far the most luxurious place I've stayed in Mexico so far. My room was very nice, and for a bonus it had one of the best views of the hilly old town available.
There is a mini real estate boom happening in the old town with For Sale signs everywhere. Long popular with Euro/American artists and other creative types, San Miguel's old town has many art galleries and expensive antique shops. Craft stores and touristy gift shops dot the Centro a-plenty.
And yet apparently the local expatriate community doesn't support bookstores. Both local bookshops, listed in Lonely Planet and described as "very good" and with a great selection of English language titles, either went out of business in the past eight years, or moved somewhere I couldn't find in my two days there.
An older boomer gentleman informed me: "The best place to find books is the Thursday sale at the Bibliotech." He was referring to an American lending library which I visited yesterday afternoon.
This reminded me that the remains of Jack Kerouac's old running buddy, Neal Cassady, were found nearby the tracks in 1968, apparently the victim of an accident, suicide, or otherwise untimely death.
Cassady was Kerouac's inspiration for Dean Moriarty, the anti-hero of his seminal Beat Generation novel On the Road.
Today I fell from the lap of luxury into the rock bottom of grungy hostelries when I relocated from the very excellent value Posada de las Monjas ($42 per night) in San Miguel to an extremely divey $12.50 room in the Hotel Granaditas in downtown Guanjuato--described by the Lonely Planet as "best of the cheapies" in the area.
My edition of the LP is 8-9 years old. . .but this place is a dump!
In all fairness, though, I was looking for something a little cheaper to "average out" my daily budget after a couple days in expensive San Miguel.
The entire ordeal reminds me that Mexico isn't as cheap as it used to be. Yes, it's nominally cheaper than in the States, but I've found that my budget projections for lodging have fallen quite a bit short of the reality of 2011.
Strangely enough, I've seen that lodging in the capital is perhaps cheaper than in the provinces. Maybe that's because DF is saturated with hotels, and that glut of hotels runs the entire dive-to-five-star price spectrum.
The Granaditas seems to be run by Jehovah's Witnesses, judging by the piles of The Watchtower at the reception desk.
Again, this is a reminder to me of last Saturday night when I was out and about in Queretaro and made acquaintence with several JWs who were approaching people--me included--with tracts and invitations to their Sunday morning service. Turns out the JWs were in the midst of their annual convention.
Jehovah's Witnesses around town were easily recognizable by their sharp, conservative dress and their "Hello my name is. . ." name tag lanyards.
Also well dressed and approaching strangers were salespersons of Herbalife, Inc. I met a few of them, too. Each one showed me a "before" picture: sometimes overweight, now these folks were walking/talking cheerful promoters of a product "that really changed my life." And one young lady wasn't shy about telling me how many thousands of dollars she makes pushing the product.
Back to San Miguel, though: yes, it's really expensive, so apparently the influx Americans and Europeans is driving up local costs considerably (?).
The cheapest hotel I could find was in the 300 peso range, and in some cases that was without private bath. I paid 520 pesos ($42) for my room in Las Monjas, which was by far the most luxurious place I've stayed in Mexico so far. My room was very nice, and for a bonus it had one of the best views of the hilly old town available.
There is a mini real estate boom happening in the old town with For Sale signs everywhere. Long popular with Euro/American artists and other creative types, San Miguel's old town has many art galleries and expensive antique shops. Craft stores and touristy gift shops dot the Centro a-plenty.
And yet apparently the local expatriate community doesn't support bookstores. Both local bookshops, listed in Lonely Planet and described as "very good" and with a great selection of English language titles, either went out of business in the past eight years, or moved somewhere I couldn't find in my two days there.
An older boomer gentleman informed me: "The best place to find books is the Thursday sale at the Bibliotech." He was referring to an American lending library which I visited yesterday afternoon.
Check Out Blogs of Authors
If you haven't checked them out already, I have links to the writers and authors I've been referring to in recent posts: David Lida, Daniel Hernandez, Jim Johnston, and Chuck Thompson.
You can find those links in the right hand column a little bit below.
I don't have anything for Tony Cohan, but if you're interested in some very fine, nearly poetical essays about two Americans' lives in Mexico in the late 20th century, you can buy his books at Amazon.
You can find those links in the right hand column a little bit below.
I don't have anything for Tony Cohan, but if you're interested in some very fine, nearly poetical essays about two Americans' lives in Mexico in the late 20th century, you can buy his books at Amazon.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Taking the Slow Way to Guanajuato via San Miguel
Queretaro was so exciting this past weekend--with a major arts festival featuring international and local performers on stage and buskers everywhere else--that I ended up staying the whole weekend.
As a city of about 200,000 it seems that all of Queretaro's citizens plus a large number of Mexican tourists were out in force on Saturday and Sunday. The street life is so vibrant that you almost can't go wrong with a camera. Just point, keep on clicking, and something good is bound to turn up.
The street food in town was also cheap, filling, and delicious. And to top things off, I found a great value hotel room in the refurbished Hotel Hidalgo: just a little over $30 for an excellent room with a big cable TV in an old colonial courtyard building.
I don't remember much about my last visit here (circa 1998), but it seems to me that Queretaro has gone through a major sprucing up of its plazas and parks since then. This year it has impressed me as a lot more "happening" than back then.
Today I write from San Miguel de Allende, another fine old colonial town but much smaller than Queretaro.
San Miguel has become something of an American colony with boomer retirees buying real estate and living here full or part time. In the central square it's strange but true to see yankees come close to outnumbering the locals in the afternoon.
Tony Cohan, an author from California, first visited San Miguel with his wife in the mid-1980s. They fell in love with the place, bought a fixer-upper house in the old town for $60,000, and proceeded to make a life here for the next 25 years.
Cohan's books (On Mexican Time and Mexican Days) about their experiences in Mexico make for some very warm reading. It must be interesting to have witnessed all that has changed in this lovely little town since Cohan moved here. It reminds me of the changes I saw from 1989 to 2001 in Chiangmai, Thailand.
Another author I've been checking out of late is a Generation Y Mexican-American, Daniel Hernandez from Los Angeles.
He first visited Mexico City in 2002 in a quest to fine his roots, and he has since made a semi-permanent home there as a writer and journalist.
His book Down and Delirious in Mexico City is just as captivating as David Lida's book but focuses more on the youth subcultures of the DF and the wider Mexican scene. He points out that more than half the population of the DF is between 14 and 34 years old.
Sometime in the mid '00s the youth scene in Mexico City exploded internationally as it drew many expatriates from Europe, the U.S., and other parts of Latin America, and Hernandez was there--participating and documenting it through his blog and as a contributer to Mexican and American publications.
Tomorrow I'm off to Guanajuato, and I hope to be back in the capital on Friday night.
As a city of about 200,000 it seems that all of Queretaro's citizens plus a large number of Mexican tourists were out in force on Saturday and Sunday. The street life is so vibrant that you almost can't go wrong with a camera. Just point, keep on clicking, and something good is bound to turn up.
The street food in town was also cheap, filling, and delicious. And to top things off, I found a great value hotel room in the refurbished Hotel Hidalgo: just a little over $30 for an excellent room with a big cable TV in an old colonial courtyard building.
I don't remember much about my last visit here (circa 1998), but it seems to me that Queretaro has gone through a major sprucing up of its plazas and parks since then. This year it has impressed me as a lot more "happening" than back then.
Today I write from San Miguel de Allende, another fine old colonial town but much smaller than Queretaro.
San Miguel has become something of an American colony with boomer retirees buying real estate and living here full or part time. In the central square it's strange but true to see yankees come close to outnumbering the locals in the afternoon.
Tony Cohan, an author from California, first visited San Miguel with his wife in the mid-1980s. They fell in love with the place, bought a fixer-upper house in the old town for $60,000, and proceeded to make a life here for the next 25 years.
Cohan's books (On Mexican Time and Mexican Days) about their experiences in Mexico make for some very warm reading. It must be interesting to have witnessed all that has changed in this lovely little town since Cohan moved here. It reminds me of the changes I saw from 1989 to 2001 in Chiangmai, Thailand.
Another author I've been checking out of late is a Generation Y Mexican-American, Daniel Hernandez from Los Angeles.
He first visited Mexico City in 2002 in a quest to fine his roots, and he has since made a semi-permanent home there as a writer and journalist.
His book Down and Delirious in Mexico City is just as captivating as David Lida's book but focuses more on the youth subcultures of the DF and the wider Mexican scene. He points out that more than half the population of the DF is between 14 and 34 years old.
Sometime in the mid '00s the youth scene in Mexico City exploded internationally as it drew many expatriates from Europe, the U.S., and other parts of Latin America, and Hernandez was there--participating and documenting it through his blog and as a contributer to Mexican and American publications.
Tomorrow I'm off to Guanajuato, and I hope to be back in the capital on Friday night.
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Friday & Saturday in Queretaro
I'm keeping my fingers crossed now that I appear to have found a decent high speed internet shop in Queretaro, about a three hour bus ride northwest of the DF.
After puttering around near my Zocalo hotel on Wednesday--and taking a couple hundred photos of the vibrant street life in the area--I found myself held over in the big city for another day to take care of some housekeeping (laundry, to be precise).
With Thursday afternoon at my disposal, I decided to make the return trek out to Coyoacan to take photos and check out the museums.
It was another long walk from the metro stop to Frida's Blue House, and there was a long line of tourists at the ticket counter, so I continued my way back to Trotsky's house.
The admission, at 55 pesos--which includes a 15 peso "permit" to take photos--was reasonable, and I can confirm that history buffs would enjoy a visit to this museum since apparently nothing has been drastically changed since 1940 when the Soviet exile and mortal enemy of Stalin was knocked off in his study by a mysterious Spanish NKVD assassin.
I made full use of my photo permit.
Back at Frida's house I found I had to give it a miss for another day because of a temporary cash shortage. At 120 pesos (including photo permit), the admission charge was a bit steep for me, and the museum didn't accept credit/debit cards.
Friday morning I managed to tear myself away from the comforts of the capital and set out for Queretaro--a town I visited once before.
Queretaro is a well-kept colonial city with many pedestrian walkways and the usual high number of strolling musicians. Guanajuato and San Miguel de Allende are both but a short bus trip away, and I'll probably head there tomorrow.
After puttering around near my Zocalo hotel on Wednesday--and taking a couple hundred photos of the vibrant street life in the area--I found myself held over in the big city for another day to take care of some housekeeping (laundry, to be precise).
With Thursday afternoon at my disposal, I decided to make the return trek out to Coyoacan to take photos and check out the museums.
It was another long walk from the metro stop to Frida's Blue House, and there was a long line of tourists at the ticket counter, so I continued my way back to Trotsky's house.
The admission, at 55 pesos--which includes a 15 peso "permit" to take photos--was reasonable, and I can confirm that history buffs would enjoy a visit to this museum since apparently nothing has been drastically changed since 1940 when the Soviet exile and mortal enemy of Stalin was knocked off in his study by a mysterious Spanish NKVD assassin.
I made full use of my photo permit.
Back at Frida's house I found I had to give it a miss for another day because of a temporary cash shortage. At 120 pesos (including photo permit), the admission charge was a bit steep for me, and the museum didn't accept credit/debit cards.
Friday morning I managed to tear myself away from the comforts of the capital and set out for Queretaro--a town I visited once before.
Queretaro is a well-kept colonial city with many pedestrian walkways and the usual high number of strolling musicians. Guanajuato and San Miguel de Allende are both but a short bus trip away, and I'll probably head there tomorrow.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Growing Roots in Mexico City
I had a feeling Mexico City would be right up my alley, but I didn't think I'd end up staying more than3-4 days initially.
Yet the attractions here are so numerous that I decided this morning to scout some cheaper hotels, and I ended up taking a $21 room in the Zocalo district, so now I won't make a move north to Guanajuato until Thursday at the earliest.
Since I have only two weekends left on this trip, it looks like a plan to spend the coming weekend in Guanajuato and St Miguel de Allende, and I would still have a few days' leeway to explore some more of that region--with plenty of time to close out the following weekend back in the DF.
I want another weekend in the big city because until today I haven't taken very many photos, and I'd like to revisit Condesa and Coyoacan for that purpose. And if I decide to try a couple of the many museums here, there will be plenty of time for that.
Here are some of my impressions and observations of this great city now that I've been here a little more thanfour days:
1.) This a city that never sleeps, and the sheer number of people out and about at any given time is astonishing.
2.) There are very many itinerant musicians, and some of them are excellent players. Just now I photographed a 10-12 piece Afro-Cuban jazz ensemble with vocalist busking on one of the pedestrian streets. They had a huge crowd gathered, and as I dropped a plastic blue 20 peso note in the "hat" I noticed that it had plenty of company with other blue notes and 10 peso coins.
3.) But it's certainly not all mariachi and musica latina. I've also seen classical cellists, jazz sax players, many violin/guitar duos, solo guitarist/singers, and more.
4.) This city has tons and tons of cops, they are everywhere and everywhere. Yet paradoxically many Mexicans don't equate the number of police with safety. David Lida writes that there are perhaps 20 seperate´police agencies operating in the DF with total numbers approaching 100,000--a huge ratio even for such a large city. The main problem is the average cop gets a fairly low salary, forcing many of them to solicit small bribes from motorists and others in order to make a decent living.
5.) I've spent the bulk of my time so far in two neighborhoods: the Alameda Park and Zocalo areas. Amidst all the hustle and bustle of people working, eating, selling things, playing music, organ grinding, and hustling for the next peso, I have seen very little actual begging. Apart from the occasional elderly woman or a woman with 2-3 children, there seems to be almost no panhandling to speak of in these two primary locations.
6.) Many people I meet in the course of a day-a waiter in my hotel, a mom and pop store proprietor--have friends and/or relatives in el norte.
7.) Vehicle traffic can be brutal at nearly any time of day, but if you use the Metro at the right time (skip rush hours) it is very fast, relatively comfortable, and for only 30 cents per ride it's one of the best bargains of the city. Not at all like the slow, gloomy, and sometimes scary New York subway or Chicago el, the Metro is comparable to the system in Paris: long trains with quiet rubber wheels arrive once every 2-3 minutes, and the nine or ten lines cover a huge swathe of DF territory. And like Paris the station maps are excellent, so it's difficult to get lost underground.
8.) I love the food, and the coffee is great too. Just as Californians have developed their versions of sushi, so too have the Mexicans. I stopped for coffee in chain which featured on the menu the usual espresso and latte/cappucino drinks as well as French and Italian water, pastries, ice cream, sandwiches, Mexican lunch and dinner specialties, Mexican-style sushi, and more. . .
9.) It's the rainyseason, but there hasn't been much rain at all, though often there is cloud cover. It's been very temperate in the daytime--70s and low 80s--and sometimes quite chilly at night!
10.) Finding a good internet shop has been surprisingly difficult--I'm still looking for a good fast one with plenty of lightso I can manage the tricky Spanish language keyboards--but I'm not complaining much since it's still only one or two bucks per hour to use. Compare that to Kinko/Fedex in the U.S. ($12 an hour) and you're laughing. . .
Yet the attractions here are so numerous that I decided this morning to scout some cheaper hotels, and I ended up taking a $21 room in the Zocalo district, so now I won't make a move north to Guanajuato until Thursday at the earliest.
Since I have only two weekends left on this trip, it looks like a plan to spend the coming weekend in Guanajuato and St Miguel de Allende, and I would still have a few days' leeway to explore some more of that region--with plenty of time to close out the following weekend back in the DF.
I want another weekend in the big city because until today I haven't taken very many photos, and I'd like to revisit Condesa and Coyoacan for that purpose. And if I decide to try a couple of the many museums here, there will be plenty of time for that.
Here are some of my impressions and observations of this great city now that I've been here a little more thanfour days:
1.) This a city that never sleeps, and the sheer number of people out and about at any given time is astonishing.
2.) There are very many itinerant musicians, and some of them are excellent players. Just now I photographed a 10-12 piece Afro-Cuban jazz ensemble with vocalist busking on one of the pedestrian streets. They had a huge crowd gathered, and as I dropped a plastic blue 20 peso note in the "hat" I noticed that it had plenty of company with other blue notes and 10 peso coins.
3.) But it's certainly not all mariachi and musica latina. I've also seen classical cellists, jazz sax players, many violin/guitar duos, solo guitarist/singers, and more.
4.) This city has tons and tons of cops, they are everywhere and everywhere. Yet paradoxically many Mexicans don't equate the number of police with safety. David Lida writes that there are perhaps 20 seperate´police agencies operating in the DF with total numbers approaching 100,000--a huge ratio even for such a large city. The main problem is the average cop gets a fairly low salary, forcing many of them to solicit small bribes from motorists and others in order to make a decent living.
5.) I've spent the bulk of my time so far in two neighborhoods: the Alameda Park and Zocalo areas. Amidst all the hustle and bustle of people working, eating, selling things, playing music, organ grinding, and hustling for the next peso, I have seen very little actual begging. Apart from the occasional elderly woman or a woman with 2-3 children, there seems to be almost no panhandling to speak of in these two primary locations.
6.) Many people I meet in the course of a day-a waiter in my hotel, a mom and pop store proprietor--have friends and/or relatives in el norte.
7.) Vehicle traffic can be brutal at nearly any time of day, but if you use the Metro at the right time (skip rush hours) it is very fast, relatively comfortable, and for only 30 cents per ride it's one of the best bargains of the city. Not at all like the slow, gloomy, and sometimes scary New York subway or Chicago el, the Metro is comparable to the system in Paris: long trains with quiet rubber wheels arrive once every 2-3 minutes, and the nine or ten lines cover a huge swathe of DF territory. And like Paris the station maps are excellent, so it's difficult to get lost underground.
8.) I love the food, and the coffee is great too. Just as Californians have developed their versions of sushi, so too have the Mexicans. I stopped for coffee in chain which featured on the menu the usual espresso and latte/cappucino drinks as well as French and Italian water, pastries, ice cream, sandwiches, Mexican lunch and dinner specialties, Mexican-style sushi, and more. . .
9.) It's the rainyseason, but there hasn't been much rain at all, though often there is cloud cover. It's been very temperate in the daytime--70s and low 80s--and sometimes quite chilly at night!
10.) Finding a good internet shop has been surprisingly difficult--I'm still looking for a good fast one with plenty of lightso I can manage the tricky Spanish language keyboards--but I'm not complaining much since it's still only one or two bucks per hour to use. Compare that to Kinko/Fedex in the U.S. ($12 an hour) and you're laughing. . .
Monday, August 15, 2011
Walking Tours in the DF
Once again, I have to acknowledge Jim Johnston and his "opinionated" guide to the DF. At first glance, I didn't think much of this slender volume, but when I realized he maps out several suggested walking tours of select neighborhoods, I decided that his book is almost written for me. Since I really enjoy walking miles through Latin American colonias, I've found his book to be an indispensible companion for my visits yesterday to La Condesa and my trip to Coyoacan this morning.
Nine stops south on the Metro from my hotel near the city center, the ride to Coyoacan is the equivalent in length to a trip on Chicago's El train from the Loop to Rogers Park. And from the Metro station it was another 20 minute hike to the center of the colonia, which feature's Frida Kahlo's Blue House and the fortress-like compound where Leon Trotsky lived out his final years of exile from the Soviet Union.
I had intended to pay 40 pesos to see the bullet scarred walls of Trotsky's villa--now a museum--but for some strange reason it was closed when I arrived. History fans will recall that the Russian former resident of the place couldn't escape the long reach of Stalin's arm, and this is where he met a very gruesome end--by icepick.
Johnston gives a special mention to La Guadalupana, a rustic old cantina which was the local hangout of Kahlo, her husband Diego Rivera, and their friends (including, presumably, Trotsky). The facade of the building today looks exactly as it did in the 1930s--offering a very real time-warpy feeling.
I have to give Johnston a big round of applause for his recommendation of Condesa tacqueria El Tizoncito where I thoroughly enjoyed a meal last night. The tacos al pastor (spiced red pork) were absolutely to die for: a huge plate of them, with about half a dozen different green and red salsas, for around five bucks. I must revisit the place soon!
Nine stops south on the Metro from my hotel near the city center, the ride to Coyoacan is the equivalent in length to a trip on Chicago's El train from the Loop to Rogers Park. And from the Metro station it was another 20 minute hike to the center of the colonia, which feature's Frida Kahlo's Blue House and the fortress-like compound where Leon Trotsky lived out his final years of exile from the Soviet Union.
I had intended to pay 40 pesos to see the bullet scarred walls of Trotsky's villa--now a museum--but for some strange reason it was closed when I arrived. History fans will recall that the Russian former resident of the place couldn't escape the long reach of Stalin's arm, and this is where he met a very gruesome end--by icepick.
Johnston gives a special mention to La Guadalupana, a rustic old cantina which was the local hangout of Kahlo, her husband Diego Rivera, and their friends (including, presumably, Trotsky). The facade of the building today looks exactly as it did in the 1930s--offering a very real time-warpy feeling.
I have to give Johnston a big round of applause for his recommendation of Condesa tacqueria El Tizoncito where I thoroughly enjoyed a meal last night. The tacos al pastor (spiced red pork) were absolutely to die for: a huge plate of them, with about half a dozen different green and red salsas, for around five bucks. I must revisit the place soon!
Colonia Condesa & the Zocalo
After a day or so of acclimatizing to the elevation here, I set out yesterday in earnest to acquaint myself on foot with some of Mexico City's neighborhoods. In doing so I also familiarized myself with the city's fast and efficient Metro (subway) and a couple of electric bus lines.
Colonia Condesa is a quiet, pleasant, relatively wealthy neighborhood with tree-lined streets just 10-15 minutes by Metro from the bustle of the downtown Alameda area. Condesa seems to be peopled mainly by upper middle class dog lovers, and the whole area has a large number of cafes and restaurants which were mostly busy with Sunday diners both times I visited.
Street musicians of all stripes compete for coins and peso notes--including a very fine instrumental trio of clarinet, accordian and contrabass who entertained the multitudes in the very cool and shady Parque Mexico. These guys played very intricate arrangements at high tempo of what sounded like music from the Balkans, and they appeared to be quite popular as their "hat" was filling with green dollar bills and blue 20 peso notes.
While the boys jammed for the gente, I enjoyed a coffee break at a sidewalk cafe that featured plastic dandelions in water-filled salt shakers.
In the afternoon I went hunting back near the Zocalo for other, possibly cheaper hotels from the one where I currently reside. The Zocalo's large plaza seems to be occupied by a permanent camp of anti-government protesters, but this didn't hinder in any sense the fun-seeking activities of the huge crowds of Sunday strollers. I managed to find a couple other hotel possibilities to file away for future reference.
The Hotel Fleming, where I stay now, is perfectly fine but just a tad above my daily budget. Its location is unbeatable, though, especially for the Metro and the Alameda park.
Colonia Condesa is a quiet, pleasant, relatively wealthy neighborhood with tree-lined streets just 10-15 minutes by Metro from the bustle of the downtown Alameda area. Condesa seems to be peopled mainly by upper middle class dog lovers, and the whole area has a large number of cafes and restaurants which were mostly busy with Sunday diners both times I visited.
Street musicians of all stripes compete for coins and peso notes--including a very fine instrumental trio of clarinet, accordian and contrabass who entertained the multitudes in the very cool and shady Parque Mexico. These guys played very intricate arrangements at high tempo of what sounded like music from the Balkans, and they appeared to be quite popular as their "hat" was filling with green dollar bills and blue 20 peso notes.
While the boys jammed for the gente, I enjoyed a coffee break at a sidewalk cafe that featured plastic dandelions in water-filled salt shakers.
In the afternoon I went hunting back near the Zocalo for other, possibly cheaper hotels from the one where I currently reside. The Zocalo's large plaza seems to be occupied by a permanent camp of anti-government protesters, but this didn't hinder in any sense the fun-seeking activities of the huge crowds of Sunday strollers. I managed to find a couple other hotel possibilities to file away for future reference.
The Hotel Fleming, where I stay now, is perfectly fine but just a tad above my daily budget. Its location is unbeatable, though, especially for the Metro and the Alameda park.
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Sensory Overloads the DF
Thanks to Jim Johnston's excellent advice in his "opinionated" city guide about getting a sitio taxi from the airport to the Colonia Central, I had a very smooth transition from flying the unfriendly skies in the morning to getting situated in my pre-booked, conveniently located hotel early in the afternoon.
Although the heart of the capital is only six kilometers from the airport, it took nearly an hour to navigate through the city's notorious traffic congestion. However, I was out and about on foot by around 2.30 for my first walking tour of this massive, colorful metropolis.
The Alameda Central, a green park about five blocks long, is only a couple blocks north of my hotel, so I made a beeline for it. Though the sun was pounding the streets pretty heavily, there were people everywhere I looked, just as it is in Manhattan.
From the Alameda, I walked up a wide boulevard about six blocks north to Plaza Garibaldi which is mariachi central for the entire country. Even though it was too early to catch any music--the place doesn't get hopping until late at night--there were plenty of costumed musicians (including several violinists) beginning to gather in readiness for the coming night's work.
At this point I turned east, intending to locate the Zocalo, the historic center of the city with one of the biggest plazas in the world, surrounded by dazzling colonial architecture of palaces, the Metropolitan Cathedral, and various government buildings.
But after a couple blocks I began to feel the heat of the sun more intensively as I realized that the city's 7000 foot elevation was turning my walking legs into heavy lead. I decided to save the Zocalo for another, cooler time period.
I found a good, albeit slightly pricey four-course lunch in the restaurant of my hotel. This was just as well, for by that time I was running on very little sleep from the night before, and a siesta afterward took me til nearly 9.00 p.m. Nightfall brought temperatures 20 degrees lower than the day's--a pleasant end to an exciting travel day.
Although the heart of the capital is only six kilometers from the airport, it took nearly an hour to navigate through the city's notorious traffic congestion. However, I was out and about on foot by around 2.30 for my first walking tour of this massive, colorful metropolis.
The Alameda Central, a green park about five blocks long, is only a couple blocks north of my hotel, so I made a beeline for it. Though the sun was pounding the streets pretty heavily, there were people everywhere I looked, just as it is in Manhattan.
From the Alameda, I walked up a wide boulevard about six blocks north to Plaza Garibaldi which is mariachi central for the entire country. Even though it was too early to catch any music--the place doesn't get hopping until late at night--there were plenty of costumed musicians (including several violinists) beginning to gather in readiness for the coming night's work.
At this point I turned east, intending to locate the Zocalo, the historic center of the city with one of the biggest plazas in the world, surrounded by dazzling colonial architecture of palaces, the Metropolitan Cathedral, and various government buildings.
But after a couple blocks I began to feel the heat of the sun more intensively as I realized that the city's 7000 foot elevation was turning my walking legs into heavy lead. I decided to save the Zocalo for another, cooler time period.
I found a good, albeit slightly pricey four-course lunch in the restaurant of my hotel. This was just as well, for by that time I was running on very little sleep from the night before, and a siesta afterward took me til nearly 9.00 p.m. Nightfall brought temperatures 20 degrees lower than the day's--a pleasant end to an exciting travel day.
Arrival in the DF
My arrival yesterday in Mexico City, the distrito federale of the nation's capital, was pretty much as I expected.
Thanks to much extensive reading over the past winter of such young American authors as David Lida, Chuck Thompson, and Jim Johnston, I had a remarkably amount of knowledge about the place before commencing my first trip here.
As all three of these writers point out--you can google them to find their books--Mexico City has attained an unfairly bad rap in the "Western"--read, American--press.
Thompson's book is his amusing account of picking three of the scariest places in the world and his subsequent journey to find out what the big fuss is about. Somewhat facetiously he chose the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire), Mexico City, and Disney World.
A highly entertaining travel writer who despises the formulaic travel writing found in most newspapers and magazines today, Thompson himself was inspired by Lida's excellent "non-guide" book about the Mexicican capital. Much of the factual info I pass along here comes from them both.
The DF is a massively huge area, perhaps definitive of urban sprawl in the developing world in this, the second decade of the 21st century. Like many such megacities in the world's poorer countries, it has a large and rising population which is nearly impossible to document with any accuracy. However, most agree that there are at least 20 million people living here, and probably at least 1000 more arriving every day.
That amounts to 1/5 to 1/4 of Mexico's entire population. The reason so many live and work here is the same as why so many Mexicans seek work in el Norte, the U.S.--for the economic opportunities which are lacking in the rest of the country.
Probably at least 40% of the economy in Mexico is "underground" and therefore untaxed, and there are signs of this everywhere since so much of the economic activity is of people trying to sell something on the street.
Despite widespread poverty, Mexico's economy is large and robust. It remains one of the ten largest economies in the world today, but the big problem is widening income disparity, with income stratification even worse than in the U.S.
After my reading last winter I realized that I've been missing out on a possible gem of a location for my continuing travels in the developing world, and one that's amazingly only a 3 1/2 hour flight from Chicago! Because the DF is quite a bit like a New York City for all of Latin America--the undisputed center for culture, music, and the arts "south of the border"--I felt I had to rectify this hole in my lifelong itinerary.
And after only 24 hours here, I can say: so far so good. . .
Thanks to much extensive reading over the past winter of such young American authors as David Lida, Chuck Thompson, and Jim Johnston, I had a remarkably amount of knowledge about the place before commencing my first trip here.
As all three of these writers point out--you can google them to find their books--Mexico City has attained an unfairly bad rap in the "Western"--read, American--press.
Thompson's book is his amusing account of picking three of the scariest places in the world and his subsequent journey to find out what the big fuss is about. Somewhat facetiously he chose the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire), Mexico City, and Disney World.
A highly entertaining travel writer who despises the formulaic travel writing found in most newspapers and magazines today, Thompson himself was inspired by Lida's excellent "non-guide" book about the Mexicican capital. Much of the factual info I pass along here comes from them both.
The DF is a massively huge area, perhaps definitive of urban sprawl in the developing world in this, the second decade of the 21st century. Like many such megacities in the world's poorer countries, it has a large and rising population which is nearly impossible to document with any accuracy. However, most agree that there are at least 20 million people living here, and probably at least 1000 more arriving every day.
That amounts to 1/5 to 1/4 of Mexico's entire population. The reason so many live and work here is the same as why so many Mexicans seek work in el Norte, the U.S.--for the economic opportunities which are lacking in the rest of the country.
Probably at least 40% of the economy in Mexico is "underground" and therefore untaxed, and there are signs of this everywhere since so much of the economic activity is of people trying to sell something on the street.
Despite widespread poverty, Mexico's economy is large and robust. It remains one of the ten largest economies in the world today, but the big problem is widening income disparity, with income stratification even worse than in the U.S.
After my reading last winter I realized that I've been missing out on a possible gem of a location for my continuing travels in the developing world, and one that's amazingly only a 3 1/2 hour flight from Chicago! Because the DF is quite a bit like a New York City for all of Latin America--the undisputed center for culture, music, and the arts "south of the border"--I felt I had to rectify this hole in my lifelong itinerary.
And after only 24 hours here, I can say: so far so good. . .
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