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.
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