We had a fun trip to Mexico City over Christmas this year. The city was decorated quite nicely for the holidays with lots of lights and nativities. We stayed in a hotel right on Avenida Reforma, possibly the main avenue of the city. We could walk in one direction to the expansive Chapultepec Park, and in the other, to the historic downtown. Nearby, there were plenty of moderate priced restaurants, so it was really a great location.
The downside of the trip is that Keith caught a bad cold about mid-week. The close quarters of the tour bus, together with the very dry air, especially in the hotel, along with the air pollution and more dramatic temperature variations all conspired together for some serious sinus problems. I choose not to go on the tour the thirteen-hour day to Taxco but went all the other days. Leigh started to feel the effects toward the end of the trip but not to the same level.
The upside is that it is truly a great city that we would definitely consider visiting again. Although we are not crazy about organized tours, we feel that we could not have seen nearly as much or have the same level of appreciation if we had planned the trip ourselves. Our tour guides did a good job hitting all the major sites in record time while giving us an appreciation of the history as well.
The highlight of the trip was attending a performance of The Nutcracker. We happened to see that it was playing at the Auditorium, found that tickets were still available, bought the tickets and saw the show all within a couple hours. We had great seats too - front and center. It was spectacular.
The archaeological site at Teotihuacan with the two pyramids, the Sun and the Moon, was very impressive. It is a fascinating place, an already abandoned city when found by the Aztecs. There are way too many vendors selling handicrafts, and much of what one sees has been “restored”, but it’s great to let your imagination go wild and imagine civilization there nearly two thousand years ago.
We attended Mass on Christmas Day in the Basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe. That’s big! Catholic Mexicans have a special relationship with their Virgin of Guadalupe that defies the understanding of my Protestant and American upbringing. But it’s a very special place to the Mexican people and it was terrific being there on Christmas Day - big big crowd.
Well of course we saw the Anthropology Museum, the Dolores Olmedo Museum (works of Rivera and Kahlo), Chapultepec Castle and Park, the floating gardens, the historic downtown and Zocalo, the murals of Diego Rivera, Alemeda Park, the Pink Zone, and a few upscale residential neighborhoods. We rather struck out on the dining, really happy with only one meal at Andersons. We found the unadventurous but reliable VIPS across from the hotel to be the best choice. Yes, sad but true; VIPS is similar to a Dennys and owned by Walmart. Blame it on my cold, I just wasn’t up for a dining adventure most evenings.
All-in-all it was a good trip and a great overview of Mexico City. We’ll go back sometime. But if I get sick again that will be it.
Here’s a photo of one of the many nativities lining Reforma Avenue:
And here’s a look from the top of the Sun to the Moon:
