Mexico City, Mexico - Wander the Planet .net

MEXICO CITY, MEXICO

Mexico City is one of my favorite cities. There are so many different things to see and do and the city has a great metro system. I have been to the city a number of times by myself and have never had any problems. Just take special care when in crowded places (especially on the subway during rush hour - if you are female at the least guys will get free feels and you won't be able to tell who the heck it is!) and try not to carry a bag. On this trip, I visited the major neighborhoods: 1) Historic Downtown, 2) Chapultepec, 3) Zona Rosa, and 4) Coyoacan.

Historic Downtown

The Centro Historico (commonly known as El Zocalo, or Historic Centre) is a large plaza in the centre of the city. The plaza is surrounded by: the Catedral Metropolitana, the Placio Nacional (the residence of the President of Mexico), the Depertmento del Distrito Fedral, and the Templo Mayor.There are numerous museums to visit around the Zocalo area to keep you very busy for a whole day.

If you aren't staying in this area, take the blue-line subway to the Zocalo station. The Zocalo is the 2nd largest public plaza in the world (the 1st is the Red Square in Moscow) and is marked by the huge Mexican flag in its center. There are protests here almost every day, as the Presidential Palace lines one side of the plaza, and a number of "taking down the flag" and "putting up the flag" ceremonies. There are also cool EZLN, PRD, and Communist booths in the plaza selling Che books and pictures of Marcos.

The Catedral Metropolitan was completed in 1813 and is the largest colonial cathedral in the Americas. There are 14 chapels, a number of side altars, and 5 naves. However, this massive cathedral is sinking into the soft soil beneath it and is filled with scaffoldings. The Templo Mayor de Tenochtitlan is behind the cathedral and was once the holiest shrine in Tenochtitlan. The site was rediscovered in 1978 during subway excavations, and now houses a museum. Cost is $25 pesos (about $2.50).

La Alameda is one of the only parks in downtown Mexico. This is where many business people come to relax during lunch and where locals meet on the weekend. The park has fountains, sculptures, and a band kiosk. Surroundings this park are some of Mexico's best performing arts venues and museums. The Hemiciclo de Benito Juarez is a marble monument to celebrate 100 years of independence.

You must visit the Museo Mural Diego Rivera where his famous mural called the Sueno de una Tarde Dominical en La Alameda Central resides.

Mexico City the world's 3rd largest city (after Tokyo and New York City) with 22 million people and produces the world's most pollution.

As far as locals are concerned the name of the town is Mexico. The country was named after the city not the other way around.

The city is built in a large valley. This valley acts as a cauldron as it traps the pollution in a layer of 'cloud' that permanently hovers over it. The pollution becomes so bad on some occasions that people are ordered not to leave their homes.

I stayed at the Hotel Majestic in Mexico City's Historic Downtown. The rooms were probably really nice about 20 years ago but I had a great view of the Zocalo, Cathedral, and Presidential Palace. Although, beware of the "taking down the flag" ceremony at 6am.

The Palacio de Bellas Artes is in La Alameda park a few blocks from the Zocalo (from subway get off at Belles Artes blue line station). While I was there, there was an Andy Warhol exhibit (which was cool if you like him). There is also huge Diego Rivera mural in the Mezzanine.