For anyone who has traveled this country, it will not come as a surprise that México is a city of contrasts. Here, though, the contrasts seem exaggerated, edgier: between ancient and new, technology and tradition, wealth and poverty, rustic and sophisticated, chaos and calm.
The noises from our 8th floor apartment in Colonia La Condesa are pure New York City, generously seasoned with the sounds one hears in every small Mexican pueblo.
Horns honk incessantly, sirens bleep and wail, groups of lovely people pass below the apartment terrace, chatting and laughing. Inside and around those sounds are the piercing whistle of the yam seller’s steam chimney, the hand bell of the garbage announcer, the scritches of twig brooms, the Pan-pipe tootle of the knife sharpener on his bicycle.
We have walked miles. The only real danger I've seen is that of being smacked by an impatient driver in a six-way intersection, of which there are many of each. Peaceful cobbled side streets intersect with busier thoroughfares where stop lights are a vague suggestion and two lanes often become four or five as cars and taxis crowd each other for a place in line.
Gridlock is endemic. It's not unusual for a city bus to rush a red light and end up stopped in the middle of the intersection, preventing cross traffic from moving at all, or for an impatient taxi to blare its horn at a police car in front of it that's taking too long to move. I am endlessly entertained by the intersection of Sonora and Amsterdam half a block away, a constant drama of frustration and near accidents.
The busy thoroughfares empty into the "canals" of the city: grand avenues so wide that their medians encompass entire monument-studded parks.
The shot above was taken from the upper level of the red Turibus, a double-decker we spent a couple of sunny hours atop, giving me the opportunity to shoot photos around the city and observe the contrasts of Mexico's physical construction.
The city's architecture ranges from pre-Columbian ruins to ultra-modern highrises. Building styles are boundless, from exquisite through horrifyingly bad, from modest to -- and past -- extravagant.
And still there is room for the motley, the eccentric, the artistic.
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So, after all this touring, are you getting hungry? Not a problem. Contrasts abound in the food department, too.
Tiny typical family-run abarrotes, with their stock of candy and chips and sodas and packaged lunchmeats, still exist a block away from OXXO, 7-Eleven, Circle K. Street vendors sell fruit, hot sweet potatoes, pastries and flan, pushing their carts past well-stocked gourmet grocery stores and wine shops, or setting up business on a street corner.
Want Italian or Lebanese food instead? How about French, Japanese, Catalán, Argentinian, Brazilian, Oaxacan or Yucatecan? Care for a fresh baked croissant, a plate of sushi, a pizza with prosciutto and mushrooms? You can get anything you want at a México restaurant. In the course of five chilly days last week, Travis and I had five different soups: cream of calabacita (squash), cream of spinach with mint, steaming French onion, Azteca, and Yucatecan sopa de limón with fresh lime and shredded chicken.
Lunches in the fancier restaurants often last hours. Businessmen and bankers remove their ties and jackets, order bottles of wine and dine in garrulous groups -- as in this Uruguayan restaurant, which serves grilled meat and sausages and sausages and grilled meat. And chicken.
My personal favorite eateries are the sidewalk cafés, with which I am deliriously in love. Choose the type of food you crave, then sit, drink, and dine while watching the endless parade of singles and couples, workers and deliverers, dogwalkers and jaywalkers.
Should you want a quick nosh, you'll find Burger King, KFC, Wendy's, Chili's, Subway, McDonald's, Baskin Robbins, and nearly as many Starbuck's as there are in Seattle. Also, of course, are the countless taco stands and lunch bars crowded with eaters from morning until late afternoon.
I still have much to tell you about the museums and art, the shopping and neighborhoods and other ingredients of this complicated megalopolis. I still have to show you the Museo de Anthropología and the Museo de Arte Popular which we saw today. Maybe I'll do a midweek post -- you might as well check in and see!
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Fascinating city, it would seem a city that houses all the cultures, people and cars of the world in one huge mosiac. How do you ever find your way back each evening! We trip along behind you happily!!!!
Posted by: Gretchen | July 24, 2011 at 06:57 PM
Keep going, beautiful Sis! I am so happy you are having so much fun!
-g
Posted by: Greg Close | July 23, 2011 at 06:33 AM
Really enjoying this Mexico City trip! I'd love to visit someday! It's fascinating!
Posted by: Beck | July 22, 2011 at 09:28 AM
Hi you two! I am envious of your adventure! I could use that kind of culture infusion about now! Photos are beautiful. I am headed into another kind of environment . . . treating myself to three nights up in the pine forest of Idyllwild, CA, where I will connect with friends I have not seen for years. They will tell me about their recent adventures to Mata Ortiz, Chihuahua, and the thriving pottery scene there. And tales of the ever-growing family of my dear friend, Juan Quezada. Interesting how small the world really is. Enjoy the rest of your visit! (And enjoy the fact that you are not in the Midwest where it is 100 degrees and 95% humidity! Wonder if it's the same in OK?) I'm headed for dry and cool climates . . . and will eat all the artichokes from Castroville next week that I can stuff into this already-stuffed bod! XXXOOO
Posted by: Judith | July 22, 2011 at 09:20 AM
You went WHERE without me?!??!!! #@!!%!!
Posted by: Tracy G. | July 22, 2011 at 08:56 AM
Beautiful pics....love the contrasting buildings....so I feel like I'm missing something...how long are you going to be in Mexico City? Is it just for sightseeing or another purpose? Looking forward to the Museum pics.....just don't get arrested again!
Posted by: Char | July 22, 2011 at 08:50 AM