November 1-8, 2024
Hola from Mexico City, aka CDMX. Andy and I arrived here on November 1 and are settling in to our newest immersion experience.
This post is dedicated to Cousin Sally from Wilkes-Barre whom my mom (Sally) and I recently visited and to Marilyn from Atlanta. I hope it is a good distraction from everything else going on in the world.
AND a huge thank you to the many friends and family who shared their best of Mexico City with me. I have studied all your recommendations and restaurant suggestions and all good so far. 🤗
Secret number one
Contrary to what you might have heard or what you remember from decades past, Mexico City feels pretty safe. Like all big cities, one has to be smart about paying attention. Speaking of paying attention, sidewalks here are a bit uneven. This can be explained by tree roots, earthquakes or something I will mention later, the sinking of Mexico City. Uneven or not, on a recent quiet morning stroll, merchants could be seen sweeping their storefronts but still, one really must keep an eye on the ground.
Nothing like having one’s credit card compromised the day before foreign travel! On Halloween, back in the USA, we were notified that our credit card had been compromised and we arranged to have new cards mailed from CitiBank US to our address here. Once we landed, getting to an ATM was a priority. Upon our arrival, we were relieved to see a Citibanamex ATM at the airport but that didn’t work. In fact, we seemed to “break” every Citibanamex ATM we tried; somehow the screens went blank and there was no explanation. On a whim, Andy gave it one more try at a Banorte and we had success. Subsequently, new credit cards arrived and this happy shopper is back in business.
Our first weekend here included Día de los Muertos, also known as Day of the Dead. This Mexica (whom we know as the Aztecs) celebration memorializes their ancestors. As the Spanish colonized Mexico, this tradition moved to coincide with All Saints’ Eve, All Saints’ Day, and All Souls’ Day. Some of the festivities we enjoyed observing included many a skull and skeleton (all shapes and sizes), marigolds which are the flower of the dead, sampling muertos (the bread of the dead that we enjoyed for breakfast on Saturday) and papel picado (chopped or punched papers), brightly colored banners. Prior to experiencing this celebration with the entire city, my only experience with All Saints’ Day had merely been the suspension of Alternate Side of the Street Parking in New York City.
Secret number two
While Día de los Muertos has been around for hundreds of years, the huge parade we enjoyed on Saturday is a new tradition, thanks to Bond (James Bond). The film Spectre begins with a Día de los Muertos parade and a typical romantic rendezvous at the beautiful Gran Hotel Ciudad de México, which we visited as well.
During the filming of this movie, March 2015, Centro Historico was disrupted for two weeks, while the opening parade scene was filmed. Locals were furious and merchants lost business. Fortunately, history has shown that tourism greatly increases with the presence Bond and all was forgiven. Since the filming, the Día de los Muertos parade has become a tradition, a complete fabrication turned reality! And, by the way, I read that in order to film the parade scene in Mexico City, it was agreed that the Bond girl would be Mexican but not the villain. Guess what movie we watched on Saturday night?
Home, Sweet Home in Roma Norte
Our apartment is in the Roma Norte neighborhood. It is modern and spacious, with two bedrooms and two and a half bathrooms. The kitchen is functional and I have already made a few dinners here; we do not go out every night. Interestingly, the appliances are pretty new; however, the “new” oven needs a match to light. Fortunately, there is an air fryer / mini-oven. Unless we are cooking for a crowd, we won’t be using the oven! Andy has set himself up at a desk in one of the bedrooms so he can continue to work, growing Rhodium Analytics. Once again, we have to thank the Millennials who taught us that remote work can be accomplished from anywhere as long as technology cooperates.
On our first night, we sampled the closest restaurant to our apartment, Carmela DeMorada. The chef, Gabriela Ruiz, created a menu with traditional Mexican staples like maiz cacahuacintle (or hominy). I thought the kernels were beans but the next day, I saw maiz cacahuacintle at many a street vendor and then it all made sense.
We have found a nice local grocery store and the indoor Mercado Medellin market had many vendors selling produce, meat and fish. There are also places to eat there and we enjoyed a tasty lunch of aqua fresca with limon and chia as well as a tortilla lime soup, recommended by the customer sitting next to me (delicious) at the counter of Moloch, a tiny food stand in the market.
Secret number three
I know no Spanish (except for polite greetings and water requests). So reading a menu is a mystery, although Google Translate is quite helpful. One evening, we dined at El Parnita, a busy taco restaurant, right around the corner. Since my Spanish is limited, I didn’t really know what I ordered. I saw Portobello and esmedregal on the menu and ended up with a delicious mushroom taco and (unbeknownst to me) a taco of breaded cobia fish. Happily, Roma Norte is known for its charming cafes and we popped into one after dinner to buy pastries for breakfast. We asked for two but walked out with four extra pastries, on the house.
Secret number four
“Mexico City: The Mexican Capital with 150+ Museums—and Almost As Many Types of Tacos”
Mexico City definitely has the most museums of any city in North America. Some things I have read say that there are more museums here than any other place in the world (other readings give that credit to London or Paris).
On our first outing, on Día de los Muertos, we had not planned to visit a museum but nature called and finding a bathroom in a quiet museum solved our problem. We found ourselves in front of the Museo Franz Mayer. This is Mexico’s museum of decorative arts primarily from the collection of Mayer (1882-1975), a German Jewish businessman who emigrated from Germany to London to New York (he worked for Merrill Lynch) and then successfully made his fortune in Mexico City. Mayer became an avid collector, specifically seeking works of art from the viceregal period in Mexico’s history, the era of Spanish rule. Franz Mayer left his collection which also included a library of books on painting, sculpture and the decorative arts in trust with the goal of opening an art museum in Mexico City. The trust purchased 16th century former hospital to house Mayer’s collection and library and the museum opened in 1995. A special exhibit of posters decorated the interior courtyard was quite relevant and a beautiful exhibit from Brazil of wood-carved benches by indigenous artists of the Amazon. The video that illustrated how these artists worked was incredible.
Selections from the Museum’s poster exhibit:
Secret number five
Roads closed to cars on Sundays!
One great way to get the lay of the land in a new place is by bicycle. Fortunately, we were able to schedule a group tour on our first Sunday in Mexico City, biking about twelve miles. Unbeknownst to us, fifty miles of roads are closed for cars, buses and trucks but open for walkers, runners and cyclists, making Sunday morning, the perfect time to pedal to all the highlights
We started in Roma (“our” neighborhood) and stopped at two lovely parks: Parque México has the feel of a tropical jungle and is surrounded by Avenida Amsterdam. It is also home to the Lindbergh Open Air Theater, with an Art Deco look (the park was created around the time Charles Lindbergh made his 1927 transatlantic flight). Right across Amsterdam is Parque España. Both parks are an escape from the busy urban jungle that is CDMX.
The third and most grand park we rode through is Mexico City’s Bosque de Chapultepec (pre-Aztec translation: grasshopper hill). Much larger than Central Park, we rode past its namesake castle, where the Spanish royals lived, then a military college and now the Museo Nacional de Historia. There are lakes, playgrounds, monuments and tons of vendors selling souvenirs and snacks. Among the seven museums at the park are Museo Nacional de Antropología, Museo de Arte Moderno, Museo de Historia Natural and a zoo. I will get to all of them! There is a huge monument of Carrara marble (from Italy), the Monumento a los Niños Héroes (Altar a la Patria), commemorating the six young Mexican cadets who lost their lives at the last battle of the Mexican-American War in 1847.
From the parks, we biked down the Paseo de la Reforma, Mexico City’s main thoroughfare, along with thousands of others Sunday riders. We stopped to see a few landmarks like El Ángel, the monument commemorating Mexican Independence. We saw a giant 43, a memorial to the Iguala mass kidnapping. In 2014, 43 students from a politically active teachers college were abducted and never heard from again. Corruption within the army is now the implication for this tragedy and family members often come to this spot to make sure these students are not forgotten.
Secret number six
CDMX is sinking!
When we arrived in front of the Palacio de Bellas Artes, a large performing and cultural arts center in the historic district of the city, we learned about Mexico City’s problem with subsidence, also known as sinking. It’s really visible here and every year this large beautiful building sinks a few centimeters. We can blame this on the Spanish, who expanded the city by draining Lake Texcoco. To this day, sections of Mexico City lose up to twenty inches per year. Some buildings are leaning and some monuments have had to be remounted and repaired due to subsidence. While the exterior of the Palacio de Bellas Artes is in the Art Nouveau and Neoclassical styles, the interior is Art Deco, with a gorgeous Tiffany mosaic curtain. This is also the home to quite a few murals, among them a Diego Rivera mural that was recreated for this space after it was rejected by the Rockefellers in New York. Why, might you ask, did the capitalist Rockefellers reject a work they had commissioned? The work, aligning with Rivera’s political views included Vladimir Lenin. The original mural at Rockefeller Center was never finished. It was painted over but recreated in the Palacio de Bellas Artes.
Andy and I have since returned to the Palacio de Bellas Artes for a wonderful performance by the Ballet Folklorico de Mèxico. The company’s founder, Amalia Hernández, founded the company 1952. The company’s repertoire includes tradtional Mexican scenes and stunning costumes. There are elements of our version of ballet in the choreography but the music and costumes depict a very different flavor. Included in the performance were wonderful mariachi musicians with strings, horns and drums. The dancers and musicians joined the audience toward the end of their performance which made for a fun end to a delightful evening.
We have twice visited Centro Historico and Mexico City’s huge Plaza de la Constitución, also known as the Zócalo. We were introduced to the gorgeous Metropolitan Cathedral, the National Palace and the great Temple of the Mexica Civilization (from 1325 until 1521), an archeological site. This is often the location of free concerts and many Día de los Muertos displays and activities. The interior of the Cathedral (built between 1573 and 1813) is magnificent, in the many architectural styles over its 240 year construction with many chapels, altars and artwork. Unfortunately, this monument has also suffered from a sinking foundation but recent restoration work has helped stabilize the cathedral.
Secret number seven
Secret Room Yoga
Not only is our building located behind Carmela DeMorada, the restaurant we tried on our first evening, but there is an inner courtyard with a lovely yoga studio. I was hoping to find a way to exercise here and I do not want to go running solo (I am hoping some of our visitors will want to run with me – hint-hint). Secret Room Yoga has classes all-day long and I availed myself of a one-month special: unlimited classes for $1500 Mexican ($74.35 US), plus the price of a yoga mat. So, while Andy is working or using the nearby gym he joined, I am happily back on the mat. I have also noticed that I am the oldest person, no matter what class I take. Fortunately, some teachers are bilingual and the language of yoga is Sanskrit, which sounds the same whether in English or Spanish!.
Last secret
Not quite a secret but I am not posting comments about the recent US election, keeping them a secret. I just cannot, and I am sure you do not want to read any more commentary, especially from me!
More to come and more to post over the next seven weeks!
Enviando amor desde la Ciudad de México,
Joanie
The Innocents Abroad, 21st Century Version 