Feb 22, 2001
While in Zihuatanejo, we decided to take a short side trip to Mexico City. We caught an overnight bus, leaving at 10:30pm on a Friday night and arriving in Mexico City at 7:30 am the following morning. The bus was pretty plush, with snacks, reclining seats and footrests and videos. As with any red-eye, we didn't exactly feel like we'd slept a full night's sleep, but it was enough to get by. After the sleepy little town of Zihuatanejo and those of the Sea of Cortes, we were overwhelmed by the bustle of the bus station when we arrived in Mexico City and by how much cooler it was than Zihuatanejo. The subway system was quite impressive and very cheap, so we used it extensively to get around Mexico City. We immediately stopped for breakfast then found a hotel in a convenient area of town that wasn't anything fancy but was only about $17.50 a night. After checking in and showering, we took off to explore the sights of the city. Armed with a Frommer's Guide, we had the scoop on places to stay, eat and the key sights, along with cost and operating hours.
We started with the Museum of Anthropology, trying to absorb all that fascinating historical and cultural information in a single marathon session. One could easily spend days there. (We fondly remember how often we'd visit the free Smithsonian museums in D.C., walking through on our way to or from somewhere, or stopping in to kill time if we were early to some event or other.) After a while, despite our best intentions and interest in what the Museum of Anthropology had to offer, our eyes were glazing over and we were ready to drop; Besides which, they were closing. We went up to the Zona Rosa, a chic section of town with lots of shops and restaurants, to find something to eat and a place to rest our weary feet. After getting chased around the area by an enterprising fellow who insisted that Garth needed his cloth(!) shoes polished, we finally shook the guy when we tapped a policeman on the shoulder and indicated that we were being bothered. Boy did he disappear fast!
Sunday we followed a suggested walking tour that took us to a series of museums in the Zocalo (historic) area of downtown. Sunday is a free day for museums, although there are so many museums to see that it's hard to choose where to start. (Unfortunately, on Monday, all the museums are closed, so this is the worst day to spend as a tourist on a tight schedule in Mexico City. With hindsight, we should have gone on a Thursday or Friday and planned a longer stay.) We saw the Presidential palace, with the famous murals by Diego Rivera depicting the rich history of Mexico and the museum of Benito Juarez, a beloved president; We experienced a Catholic Mass as we toured the Metropolitan Cathedral, built over the ruins of the pyramids, and visibly sinking into the soft earth beneath. (Mexico City was originally built on an island in the middle of a large lake, linked by causeways to the surrounding shores. Many buildings are visibly sinking and resemble the leaning tower of Pisa on a smaller scale.) While we took a short rest we watched the Sunday revelers in the park, dressed almost exclusively in brand-new-looking casual clothes. We stopped for a small bite to eat on the rooftop terrace of a hotel overlooking the Zocalo, ordering the caesar salad, which was invented by a Mexican Chef in Tijuana and, traditionally, is elaborately prepared at the dining table. We capped off the evening with a performance of the Ballet Folklorico in the impressive art deco style Palacio des Belles Artes.
Numerous street vendors surround the metro stations, where you can buy all kinds of items from food to music CDs and jewelry to hardware. We found fresh fruit in a cup, fresh squeezed juice or a hot meal for next to nothing quite appealing. We would have eaten at these street vendors more often if we hadn't been so chilled in our summer clothes in 50-degree weather. After gradually getting accustomed to 90-degree heat, 50 degrees was positively freezing and we didn't dress for it. Inexpensive restaurants were available everywhere, although there were certainly fancy, expensive places to eat as well.
On Monday, we headed for the famous pyramids just north of the city called Teotihuacan. On our way we were pushed violently as we entered a subway car and Garth discovered that his wallet had been stolen during this incident. Fortunately, he was carrying very little, so our hassles were minimal. Since I had little cash and now Garth had none, we worried about having enough money to tour the pyramids and also get back to the city from the boonies where the bus had dropped us off. We were able to buy some Pesos from some fellow tourists with some American cash I still had. The ancient city of Teotihuacan was built in 100 B.C. at the time when the Greeks were building their great monuments halfway across the world. Before the city was abandoned in 700 A.D., the city had 125,000 inhabitants and covered 95 square miles with an influence as far south as Guatemala. The site is huge and the ruins were pretty impressive. Mexico city rests at an altitude of 7,000 feet and after walking several miles around the ruin site and climbing up the steep steps of the temple of the sun, as well as to and from the bus, we were wiped! While we were there we noticed a huge steam cloud and wondered if the volcano was erupting. When we were walking around downtown later, foraging for dinner, someone confirmed that the volcano had erupted earlier that afternoon.
After 3 long days of continuous walking, we dragged ourselves to the bus and collapsed. We really enjoyed our visit and wished we could have made it a longer one. Three days just doesn't do justice to the largest city in the world. I was disappointed that we were never able to reach someone who lives in Mexico City that I had worked with and very much wanted to see again. We'd like to visit again when we get another chance. In the meantime we must head north, as we have visitors coming to see us several hundred miles north of Zihuatanejo.
Cheers,
Wendy Hinman and Garth Wilcox
S/V Velella (Wylie 31)