Visiting Plaza Garibaldi is different when you're with a friend.
As a solo traveler, the musicians gave me barely a second glance, but with a friend in tow they are hoping we are ready to pay cash for some live music.
Sitting at a very reasonably priced restaurant terrace (60 pesos, or $5, for top shelf tequila), we were intermittantly approached by musicians offering a song--for what amounts to a song.
After bargaining a young fellow down to 50 pesos from 70, he said "One moment please" and disappeared to round up his partners--who turned out to be another guitarist and a trumpet-wielding hipster with dark glasses and a smartphone.
It was immediately clear that 50 pesos gets you a trio, at most, which includes a horn player busy texting his buddies between riffs! This was great fun for me to "give back" after many years of playing similar gigs in Thailand and elsewhere. The trumpet player reminded me of several ex-colleagues of mine, lol. . .
Later an older, more decrepit pair of singing guitarists attempted to entice us with the old, worn out cliches "La Cucaracha" and "Besame Mucho".
"No! but no, no Besame Mucho, no. . ." we protested.
But if we wanted something better, it was going to cost us. . .50 pesos! "De accuerdo" we agreed, and the duo gave us fairly decent rendition of we don't what, but it was a beautiful song, and everyone was satisfied with the transaction.
Friday, February 24, 2012
Voladores de Papantla
According to Jim Johnston's good Mexico City walking guide, "If you are lucky you will catch" a performance of the Voladores de Papantla just outside the Anthropology Museum.
Turns out our luck was good as we turned up just in time for the noon spectacle.
Five men, costumed in the clothing of the ancient Totonac people of Vera Cruz, climb to the top of a 75 foot pole where four of them tie ropes to their feet and revolve around the pole as they slowly descend to the ground while the fifth man plays the flute and dances on top!
Johnston informs us that this show is a ritual "offering to the fertility god Xipe Totec".
Since these guys perform this dangerous feat for a living, we were only too happy to donate to the hat.
Turns out our luck was good as we turned up just in time for the noon spectacle.
Five men, costumed in the clothing of the ancient Totonac people of Vera Cruz, climb to the top of a 75 foot pole where four of them tie ropes to their feet and revolve around the pole as they slowly descend to the ground while the fifth man plays the flute and dances on top!
Johnston informs us that this show is a ritual "offering to the fertility god Xipe Totec".
Since these guys perform this dangerous feat for a living, we were only too happy to donate to the hat.
Museo Nacional de Antropologia
Om Thursday we made our way to the massive Chapultec Park and to the equally massive Anthropology Museum.
For less than $5 the visitor has access to 12 large salas on the ground floor with corresponding rooms on the second floor and even more in the basement. Each sala is devoted to a particular region and/or indigenous people and/or period of history in Mexico.
We managed to cover only three salas (Aztec, Oaxaca, Gulf Coast) in two hours. Even that was a bit overwhelming.
These rooms are filled with thousands of pieces from the tiny to the truly gigantic, and made from just about any material that was available during those times.
Household items, religious objects, weaponry, and jewelry seemed to predominate the displays no matter what period or people. Jade, gold, bone, obsidian, alabaster, crystal, and shell comprised some of the more durable material.
My favorites tended to be the smaller, intricately carved figurines and jewelry pieces which include some fantastic gold items and even some coinage.
The cabeza colosal (Big Head) was a major attraction in the Gulf Coast hall, but it competed with other equally gargantuan stone pieces rising 20 feet high.
Befitting a culture that places so much importance on death, there also were some carefully arranged tomb displays, one of which featured the artifacts of child sacrifice victims.
For less than $5 the visitor has access to 12 large salas on the ground floor with corresponding rooms on the second floor and even more in the basement. Each sala is devoted to a particular region and/or indigenous people and/or period of history in Mexico.
We managed to cover only three salas (Aztec, Oaxaca, Gulf Coast) in two hours. Even that was a bit overwhelming.
These rooms are filled with thousands of pieces from the tiny to the truly gigantic, and made from just about any material that was available during those times.
Household items, religious objects, weaponry, and jewelry seemed to predominate the displays no matter what period or people. Jade, gold, bone, obsidian, alabaster, crystal, and shell comprised some of the more durable material.
My favorites tended to be the smaller, intricately carved figurines and jewelry pieces which include some fantastic gold items and even some coinage.
The cabeza colosal (Big Head) was a major attraction in the Gulf Coast hall, but it competed with other equally gargantuan stone pieces rising 20 feet high.
Befitting a culture that places so much importance on death, there also were some carefully arranged tomb displays, one of which featured the artifacts of child sacrifice victims.
The Double House in San Angel
Located even further away from the Centro than the Blue House, the museum of the Studios of Diego y Frida is deep in the tony San Angel neighborhood. This is the "double house", made famous in the film Frida, two separate buildings connected by a roof top walkway.
Both house are rather small but three stories high.
At first we tought the admission charge, at 12 pesos per person ($1), was a great value until we discovered that Frida's house--also painted deep sea blue--was closed for renovations.
But Diego's studio was worth the long journey anyway. Wide and spacious and blessed with windows covering about one third of the wall area, this artist's workplace is chocked full of his tools of the trade and has plenty of seating for Diego's many visitors. Other rooms include a bedroom and a study, and featured sketches and other pieces by the artist. This was quite obviously a wonderful place to work.
Inside the compound and surrounding it were young local art students at work sketching and painting this quirky and intimate site.
Following a walk back to Plaza San Jacinto--the center of San Angel--we found a nice menu del dia for about 60 pesos each ($5).
Both house are rather small but three stories high.
At first we tought the admission charge, at 12 pesos per person ($1), was a great value until we discovered that Frida's house--also painted deep sea blue--was closed for renovations.
But Diego's studio was worth the long journey anyway. Wide and spacious and blessed with windows covering about one third of the wall area, this artist's workplace is chocked full of his tools of the trade and has plenty of seating for Diego's many visitors. Other rooms include a bedroom and a study, and featured sketches and other pieces by the artist. This was quite obviously a wonderful place to work.
Inside the compound and surrounding it were young local art students at work sketching and painting this quirky and intimate site.
Following a walk back to Plaza San Jacinto--the center of San Angel--we found a nice menu del dia for about 60 pesos each ($5).
La Casa Azul
It's been a jam packed few days in Mexico City. I've met K, a friend and former travel partner of many years, and we have rooms in the Hotel Fleming, a centrally located abode and an excellent value at around $35 for a single and private bath.
This K's first time in the DF, so I've acted as sort of an unofficial guide to getting around to points of interest of her choosing.
On Tuesday we immediately hit the metro for the trek out to Coyoacan to check out Frida Kahlo's Blue House (La Casa Azul). Unfortunately the museum hadn't even opened by the time we arrived at 11.00. A visibly annoyed local woman told us "the guy said he would open the door in a few minutes, but they are supposed to open at 10.00!"
We decided to kill time by going to the Trotsky Museum--my second visit in less than a year.
By noon not only was the Blue House open: it also was very crowded with Europeans, North Americans and locals. This is the house where Frida grew up in the 1910s, and where, in 1954, she died in her bed.
The museum has preserved many of the household rooms including the large kitchen, some bedrooms, studies, and sitting rooms.
Other rooms are devoted to galleries that feature Frida's works, other pieces she was inspired by, and pictures by some of her contemporaries such as Paul Klee.
One highlight of the Blue House is the massive garden which feature stone masks of "the dead"--a subject of lifelong interest to Frida--and life size paper mache models of Frida and husband Diego Rivera as skeletons!
Digital photo loops help complete a portrait of Mexico's "odd couple" as the vivacious core of a circle of friends which included many international luminaries of the 1930s--1950s.
This K's first time in the DF, so I've acted as sort of an unofficial guide to getting around to points of interest of her choosing.
On Tuesday we immediately hit the metro for the trek out to Coyoacan to check out Frida Kahlo's Blue House (La Casa Azul). Unfortunately the museum hadn't even opened by the time we arrived at 11.00. A visibly annoyed local woman told us "the guy said he would open the door in a few minutes, but they are supposed to open at 10.00!"
We decided to kill time by going to the Trotsky Museum--my second visit in less than a year.
By noon not only was the Blue House open: it also was very crowded with Europeans, North Americans and locals. This is the house where Frida grew up in the 1910s, and where, in 1954, she died in her bed.
The museum has preserved many of the household rooms including the large kitchen, some bedrooms, studies, and sitting rooms.
Other rooms are devoted to galleries that feature Frida's works, other pieces she was inspired by, and pictures by some of her contemporaries such as Paul Klee.
One highlight of the Blue House is the massive garden which feature stone masks of "the dead"--a subject of lifelong interest to Frida--and life size paper mache models of Frida and husband Diego Rivera as skeletons!
Digital photo loops help complete a portrait of Mexico's "odd couple" as the vivacious core of a circle of friends which included many international luminaries of the 1930s--1950s.
Monday, February 20, 2012
Back in Mexico City
I'm back in el defe for a winter visit, so check back for more news.
The weather here is very California-like with temperatures of 72 high and 49 low, though it is overcast today and looks like it might rain. . .
The weather here is very California-like with temperatures of 72 high and 49 low, though it is overcast today and looks like it might rain. . .
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