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.
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