The largest city in the world & the perfect beach

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The Sunday after the wedding (see previous blog) we went on a bus ride to Mexico City - it was excellent, we practically had business class aeroplane seats and 2 x movies - fantastic! After a short taxi ride across town we arrived at yet another lovely hotel (Condesa Haus, I would highly recommend it) which had a four legged bath in the room, in the very pretty suburb of Condesa. Sadly we found out we were in for 3 days of (light) rain in Mexico City ... never mind. We started our first day by waiting 45mins for the Turibus, we were about to give up and jump in one of the many cabs - lucky Scott was more patient that me. It was a good way to get a feel for this mega-city with +20million people. We cruised around some of the more expensive neighbourhoods; Condesa, Roma, Zona Rosa, before arriving at the historic centre and Zocalo (main plaza). The best part of the journey was passing by a protest, we later learnt that Mexico City is the hub of all protests and there are usually a couple a day! The most famous of all protest groups where from the country and the government had reposed the land and not paid what they considered to a fare so they came into the city and strip their clothes over but held on to their machetes - anyways, that is the story our hotel host told us. The Zocalo was really cool; it was a HUGE square it and all the buildings around looked like they needed a really good wash, same magnitude as Tienemen Square. We both felt a bit woozy, the altitude of the city was getting to us, it took a few days for our bodies to adjust. Our first stop was the Catedral Metropolitara it was again very big and took up one side of the square - and it appeared to be sinking, the little chapel next door more so. What we soon discovered was that all the old buildings where somewhat sinking. This was for two reasons; the city is built on an old lake system plus the city sits on a major volcanic fault line. The city experiences’ shakes every single day, but most of the time they were so deep in the ground you didn’t feel them. There was a kind old man on security at Palacio National when we arrived, this is the building that occupies another length of the square, and he lets us in even though I didn’t have any ID on me. It is a beautiful old building with a traditional central courtyard. The main reason for being there of course was to see Diego Rivera’s murals - we turned the corner to find the main mural undergoing touch-up i.e. covered in scaffolding. Oh well, there were a few others dotted around so all was not lost. After this we decided to have a quick walk around the back streets, it was fill of people buying ‘tac’ for Halloween and Day of the Dead celebrations, I have never seen so many skeletons for sell. The Day of the Dead is a fantastic celebration, one day a year (2nd Nov) families come together to celebrate the lives of those who have past. In the country side it is likely some families spend the night in the cemetery having a feast and of course drinking! The next port of call was Torre Latinoamericana, we took the elevator to the 42nd floor and got an amazing view out to the surrounding hills, the city stretched out in all directions as far as the eye could see, or the mist/pollution stopped you. Being up at that even higher altitude made us feel even more woozy/dizzy so we didn’t stay long. We had lunch at this beautiful old building, courtyard effect with titles and lovely drawings on the wall - more lovely Mexican food. We really got stuck into the local fare on this holiday, it was just delicious! It started to rain after that so we ran and jumped back on the bus, sadly we missed walking along the Paseo de la Reforma a very impressive street, tree lined with art installations and funky seats (large hands, hippos, etc).
The following morning it was raining but by the time we got to our first stop on our little mini day tour it had stopped. Basilica de Guadalupe was a major religious site and the most important Roman Catholic site in the Americas. Effectively the Virgin Mary had appeared to a local farmer, it was doubly significant since he was Mexican, it took four sightings for the miracle to be recognised. Now the site holds a number of sinking old churches and chapels, plus a new complex which is very architecturally pleasing to the eye even though it was built in the 70’s. After this we drove past some of the many of the cities slum areas, not really slum’s in the same magnitude of Mumbai, but very basic living. And there were a lot of them. We were soon at Teotihuacan a huge city that the Aztecs lived in some 2000 years ago. It has two very well restored pyramids (of the sun and of the moon), both which you can climb up getting a stunning view of the city and valley in which is sits. We also visited some of the well persevered paintings all in bright reds, whites and blues. I think there were more touts than there were tourists, over lunch our guide Roberto told us that tourism is down 70%!t(MISSING)his year, devastating for the city and country. They really got hit twice - swine flu and recession. Before calling it a day we went to the Museo Nacional de Antropologia to have a look at some of the artefacts from around Mexico and especially from Teotihuacan. The architect who designed the building at Guadalupe also designed this building and again it was a lovely structure. The one really cool thing we saw is known as the Aztec calendar or Sun Stone; however it is in fact a sacrificial stone. The following morning we awoke to a semi clear day and head off down to the leafy suburb of Coyoacan, it is very famous as that is where Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera lived for most of their lives. We visited Leon Trotsky’s Casa first, and it was extremely interesting (he was friends with Diego and lived with him and Frida, until she had an affair with him). He was exiled with Stalin and his family murdered in Russia, the house was turned into a mini-fortress after a couple of assassination attempts. They finally got him in Aug 1940 and there is a small memorial to him in the garden under a communist flag. We took a lovely stroll to the next house which was Frida’s, a vibrant bright blue, the house was lovely very open with lots of natural light. They had done a great job; there were pictures of the family, quotes from Frida and Diego, old sketches, corsets, old clothes, beds and nick-nacks. After that was walked into the main square, it was little stepping out of Mexico City and into a small village, it had a very peaceful feel to it. Next stop the pacific coast, but not after another disastrous run in with Mexicana airlines.
We got to the airport in good time ... just in case. All was going well until the lady at the counter tried to attach ‘standby’ tags to our bags. Needless to say after two cancelled flights and after reconfirming this flight and our booking on it twice it was the last straw - un-freaking believable. The manager at the airport was totally rude and it was only by waiting at the boarding gate and being first inline did we manage to get on. Some people missed out, it appeared they had over booked the flight, no idea how we were the ones to be put on standby. Anyways, now along with the refund I am trying to get from the cancelled flight I am also demanding a full explanation to the standby debacle. After that drama we arrived in Zihuatenejo (the beach mentioned in the Shawshank Redemption), and took a lovely 45min ride to Playa Troncones. Our paradise beach for the next 2 and a bit days, rain or shine it was stunning and just perfect. The Villa Festiva (www.villafestiva.com) we stayed in was very new only completed in March this year and it was perfectly appointed. We arrived to hibiscus on the bed, a lovely view to the ocean a larger outdoor balcony including a kitchen and the shower was sensational. The only weird thing was there was no door on the toilet, so it really was open living! It was pretty much rancho relax-o for the time we were there, up around 10.30, stroll down the beach for lunch, pool side reading in the afternoon, fruity cocktails pre dinner watching the sun set (yup the place came with a blender) and a delicious meal at one of the local restaurants. One of the evenings we did watch the local restaurant / conservation team release hundreds of little turtles into the ocean. A few went the wrong way so we managed to plop them back into the ocean and head them into the right direction. It was a perfect end to our 2 weeks in Mexico!

PHOTOS
Moive

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