Palacio De Bellas Artes
Mexico City, is the capital of Mexico and the most populous city in North America. It is both the oldest capital city in the Americas and one of two founded by Native Americans, the other being Quito, Ecuador.
Mexico City is built on the dried bed of Lake Texcoco, in the Valley of Mexico. a basin in the high plateaus in the centre of Mexico, at an altitude of 2,240 metres (7,350 ft). The city is surrounded by mountains with the active volcano, Mount Popocatépetl (the smoking mountain), nearby.
The historic centre of Mexico City and the “floating gardens” of Xochimilco in the southern borough of the city have been declared World Heritage Sites by UNESCO.
5 Cultural ‘things to do’ in Mexico City
Xochimilco
Lying 45 minutes south of downtown Mexico City is Xochimilco, the ‘Venice of Mexico’, which was declared a World Heritage Site in 1987.
It’s an eclectic place is set in the middle of a colossal city where you can float down the canals on traditional ‘trajinera’ boats or hire a mariachi to serenade you with local music and discover colors your eyes have never seen before.
You can also visit the small artificial islands, called chinampas, which are used to grow flowers, vegetables and ornamental plants.
Frida Kahlo House Museum
The bright-blue former residence of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera is located in Coyoacán, one of the oldest and most beautiful neighborhoods in Mexico City.
The Blue House was made into a museum in 1958, four years after the death of the painter and today is one of the most popular museums in the Mexican capital.
The Museo Frida Kahlo contains some of the painter’s most important works: Long Live Life (1954), Frida and the Caesarian Operation (1931), and Portrait of My Father Wilhelm Kahlo (1952) among others as well as the couple’s collection of folk art, pre-Hispanic artifacts, photographs, memorabilia, and personal effects.
Templo Mayor Museum
In 1978, some electricity workers unearthed an 8-tonne stone disc of Coyolxauqui (“Koh-yowl-SHAU-kee”), an Aztec goddess. Further exploration revealed that there was an entire archaeological wonder lying beneath Mexico City’s streets, and a decision was taken to demolish some old colonial buildings, to reveal the Templo Mayor (Main Temple).
The museum opened in 1987 and today you can visit a large dug up section in a good state of conservation, and admire sections of the temples dedicated to Huitzilopochtli, the lord of war, and Tlaloc, lord of the rain.
Between the walls of several sections of the temple, there are altars, snakes carved in stone and an imposing Tzompantli, which is a wall covered with representations of skulls, this because the Aztecs worshipped the dead, tradition maintained by Mexicans.
The Templo Mayor is today a major attraction in the very heart of downtown Mexico City and is one of Mexico’s most important archaeological sites.
Palacio de Bellas Artes (Palace of Fine Arts)
The ‘Palacio de Bellas Artes’ is not only home of the Folk Ballet of Mexico, but houses two museums within its building:
– The Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes (Bellas Artes Palace Museum) featuring temporary exhibits
– Museo Nacional de Arquitectura (National Architecture Museum) which occupies a permanent place at the top floor of the building.
Works of the famous muralists Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, David Alfaro Siqueiros, and Rufino Tamayo feature on the walls of the first and second-floors of the building.
The star highlight of the Palace is the glass curtain in the main theatre. This striking stage glass curtain, made by Tiffany of New York, is a stained-glass foldable panel that features the landscape of the Valley of Mexico with its two great volcanoes, Popocatepetl and Iztacchihuatl.
El Zocalo Cathedral
The Metropolitan Cathedral, also known as ‘The Metropolitan Cathedral of the Assumption of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven’ (try saying that after a few tequilas!) is the imposing cathedral that dominates the vast expanse of Mexico City’s central square (Zocalo). It is also one of Mexico City’s most iconic structures, a treasured architectural masterpiece and Latin America’s largest and oldest cathedral.
Work started in 1573 and the cathedral remained a ‘work in progress’ during the entire colonial period. Subsequently, it displays many different architectural styles as successive generations of builders incorporated the innovations of their time. The conquistadors ordered the cathedral built atop the Templo Mayor and, as a further show of domination at a key historical moment, used most of these Aztec stones in its construction
5 Cool ‘things to do’ in Mexico City
Take a spin class at high altitude
If you fancy exercising at more than 200m above sea level, then get yourself along to one of the special fixed bike ‘spin’ classes organised by Fitspin.
As well as burning 700 calories, working your legs, glutes, abdomen and chest during the 50 minute session, you will also witness one of the best views in the whole of the city.
Exercise for free in Chapultepec Forest
With more than 61000 visitors a day, Chapultepec Forest is home to museums and many places to relax.
Centered on a rock formation called Chapultepec Hill, one of the park’s main functions is to be an ecological space and is considered the first and most important of Mexico City’s “lungs”, with trees that replenish oxygen to the Valley of Mexico.
It also has five tracks where you can train and get in shape for free: El Sope, Circuito del Lago Mayor, Corre, Segundo Circuito and Circuito Gandhi.
There are: pull up bars, parallel bars, monkey bars and much more things to do an effective training, so you can climb, bend and sweat till your last drop
Salsa the night away at Salón San Luis
Salón San Luis is a ballroom with 73 years experience and has a decor that’s stuck in the 1950s: dim red lights, waiters in white suits and black ties and mirrors on the walls.
But the dance floor comes alive as the band plays the best tunes as you try your hand at salsa, cambia, merengue and norteña. There’s no shame in bad dancing, you can pick up a few steps and locals, old-timers and pros might even show you a thing or two.
The only drawback is that single ladies are not allowed in on their own.
Try and find the entrance to one of the best speakeasy bars in town
The address to the Hanky Panky Cocktail Bar just says: “Somewhere in Mexico City” that’s it. There is no website, just a Facebook page and it doesn’t advertise in any way.
The only way to get the address, is to make a reservation, either on Facebook or by phoning them up.
The sleuthing required to find this spot is entirely worth it once you’ve spent a night at a place which is impossible to find to begin with and ends with you exiting through a hidden door
Plaza Garibaldi (Mariachi band square)
Plaza Garibaldi is known as Mexico City’s home of mariachi music.
During the Golden Age of Mexican cinema from the 1930s to the 1950s, a genre of movies called “Charro” became extremely popular where the leading movie star would often sing mariachi songs to their leading ladies
On one side of Plaza Garibaldi is the Salón Tenampa, which became a major nightspot in the 1920s (and is still in business today) when Cirilo Marmolejo and his mariachi band started playing there regularly.The plaza soon attracted other mariachi musicians, who would be paid by gentlemen to sing to their partners in the style of Marmolejo or the Charro movie stars.
Today mariachi bands can still be found here day and night. It’s a cultural meeting point of sorts, where travellers can come day or night, to watch bands solicit bar patrons, cars, and passer-bys to buy a song.
The best time to experience the plaza is from 11:00 p.m. onwards, especially on a Friday or Saturday.
5 places to eat
El Lugar Sin Nombre
According to the ‘Lonely Planet Guide’ this restaurant is too good to keep hidden. Much like the Hanky Panky Cocktail Bar it doesn’t have a website, just a Facebook page, however this restaurant does have an address.
The ‘restaurant with no name,’ is located next to mezcalaría Bósfaro and prepares handcrafted Mexican, slow-food dishes in earthenware cookware. Reading the reviews on their Facebook page, it is definitely well worth a visit.
Sanborns
Sanborns is an iconic Mexican restaurant with locations all over the city, but the original Sanborns is located in the historical district of the City and as soon as you go through the doors, you feel transported back in time to classic Mexico City.
It’s known as the “Casa de los Azulejos,” which literally means the “House of Tiles.” and was originally an old 18th century palace built by the Count del Valle de Orizaba family.
It was sold many, many times both privately and then commercially before Frank and Walter Sanborn bought it to expand their drugstore/soda pop business. It was they who added a beautiful stained glass roof and murals.
El Moro Churerría
Churros are those fried pieces of bread covered in sugar and cinnamon, that are an absolutely delicious treat.
And in Mexico City, early evening is churro time when families, couples, and friends all go out for a taste of sweet fried dough and chocolate.
El Moro is a classic churro destination where they’ve been making churros for more than 80 years and is definitely worth a visit.
There will often be lines snaking around the block outside this beloved churrería, as you watch the cooks dip, fry, and sugar-coat your long, spindly churro, which is then paired with hot chocolate in a flavor of your choosing.
Eat street food
Mexico City is ‘one of the world’s most exciting food cities’ and is a street food lovers paradise. There is a wide variety of delicious food all over the city, from street side food vendors serving pre-hispanic fare to the city’s restaurants.
One of the best ways to experience the street food scene and everything it has to offer is with one of those local street food tours, especially as the guides don’t just shuffle you along. They live in these parts of the city and care about showing you the highlights and will lead you to an excellent quesadilla stand, tell you what to order from the busy taco vendor, and then hand you a chamoy-dripping michelada.
Mexican food is always good, but it tastes that much better in Mexico City.
Hostería de Santo Domingo
On August 4, 1860, Hostería de Santo Domingo was born in what was part of the Convent of Santo Domingo de Guzmán. Mexico City’s oldest restaurant has a festive atmosphere which is enhanced by live piano music.
For 158 years the restaurant has been whipping up classic Mexican food, but most people go there to sample the chile en nogada – an enormous poblano chili pepper stuffed with ground meat, dried fruit and bathed in a creamy walnut sauce.
It’s a great place to escape the crowded pavements of Mexico City but is usually very busy. So the best thing to do is either book (so you won’t be disappointed) or go out of peak hours.
5 Top Tips to help you get by
- Avoid the metro during the ‘hora pico’ – which is from 6-9 (both am and pm) – unless you want to get elbowed in the face by angry locals all competing for a spot in the sardine tin. (… and you thought the London Underground was bad)
- Don’t drink the tap water – because it will make you very unwell. As well as the obvious ways you can ingest tap water, keep an eye out for what your salad is washed in and never accept ice cubes in your drink. No matter how you try not to get ill, chances are you will get an upset tummy at one point or another on your trip.
- Don’t take taxis from the street – stick to Ubers or a registered taxi rank
- Just know you’ll be charged more as a tourist – if it’s apparent that you’re ‘foreign’, the chances are that prices will be silently bumped up for you, from a taco costing MXN$5 more than for the Mexican who bought one five minutes before, or the taxi driver doubling your bill. It does happen, just keep an eye out for suspiciously high prices. It’s also usual to tip 10% in restaurants.
- Sip your tequila do not shot it
Basic phrases to help you get by
- Hola – Hello
- Buenos días – good morning/good day
- Adios – Goodbye
- Gracias – thank you
- por favor – please
- ¿Cuanto cuesta? – how much is it?
- ¿Donde está …? – Where is …?
- ¿Puedo tomar una foto? – May I take a photo?
- Lo siento. No hablo español. ¿Habla usted inglés? – I’m sorry, I don’t speak Spanish. Do you speak English?
- ¿On són els banys? – Where are the toilets?
Palacio De Bellas Artes
Mexico City, is the capital of Mexico and the most populous city in North America. It is both the oldest capital city in the Americas and one of two founded by Native Americans, the other being Quito, Ecuador.
Mexico City is built on the dried bed of Lake Texcoco, in the Valley of Mexico. a basin in the high plateaus in the centre of Mexico, at an altitude of 2,240 metres (7,350 ft). The city is surrounded by mountains with the active volcano, Mount Popocatépetl (the smoking mountain), nearby.
The historic centre of Mexico City and the “floating gardens” of Xochimilco in the southern borough of the city have been declared World Heritage Sites by UNESCO.
5 Cultural ‘things to do’ in Mexico City
Xochimilco
Lying 45 minutes south of downtown Mexico City is Xochimilco, the ‘Venice of Mexico’, which was declared a World Heritage Site in 1987.
It’s an eclectic place is set in the middle of a colossal city where you can float down the canals on traditional ‘trajinera’ boats or hire a mariachi to serenade you with local music and discover colors your eyes have never seen before.
You can also visit the small artificial islands, called chinampas, which are used to grow flowers, vegetables and ornamental plants.
Frida Kahlo House Museum
The bright-blue former residence of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera is located in Coyoacán, one of the oldest and most beautiful neighborhoods in Mexico City.
The Blue House was made into a museum in 1958, four years after the death of the painter and today is one of the most popular museums in the Mexican capital.
The Museo Frida Kahlo contains some of the painter’s most important works: Long Live Life (1954), Frida and the Caesarian Operation (1931), and Portrait of My Father Wilhelm Kahlo (1952) among others as well as the couple’s collection of folk art, pre-Hispanic artifacts, photographs, memorabilia, and personal effects.
Templo Mayor Museum
In 1978, some electricity workers unearthed an 8-tonne stone disc of Coyolxauqui (“Koh-yowl-SHAU-kee”), an Aztec goddess. Further exploration revealed that there was an entire archaeological wonder lying beneath Mexico City’s streets, and a decision was taken to demolish some old colonial buildings, to reveal the Templo Mayor (Main Temple).
The museum opened in 1987 and today you can visit a large dug up section in a good state of conservation, and admire sections of the temples dedicated to Huitzilopochtli, the lord of war, and Tlaloc, lord of the rain.
Between the walls of several sections of the temple, there are altars, snakes carved in stone and an imposing Tzompantli, which is a wall covered with representations of skulls, this because the Aztecs worshipped the dead, tradition maintained by Mexicans.
The Templo Mayor is today a major attraction in the very heart of downtown Mexico City and is one of Mexico’s most important archaeological sites.
Palacio de Bellas Artes (Palace of Fine Arts)
The ‘Palacio de Bellas Artes’ is not only home of the Folk Ballet of Mexico, but houses two museums within its building:
– The Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes (Bellas Artes Palace Museum) featuring temporary exhibits
– Museo Nacional de Arquitectura (National Architecture Museum) which occupies a permanent place at the top floor of the building.
Works of the famous muralists Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, David Alfaro Siqueiros, and Rufino Tamayo feature on the walls of the first and second-floors of the building.
The star highlight of the Palace is the glass curtain in the main theatre. This striking stage glass curtain, made by Tiffany of New York, is a stained-glass foldable panel that features the landscape of the Valley of Mexico with its two great volcanoes, Popocatepetl and Iztacchihuatl.
El Zocalo Cathedral
The Metropolitan Cathedral, also known as ‘The Metropolitan Cathedral of the Assumption of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven’ (try saying that after a few tequilas!) is the imposing cathedral that dominates the vast expanse of Mexico City’s central square (Zocalo). It is also one of Mexico City’s most iconic structures, a treasured architectural masterpiece and Latin America’s largest and oldest cathedral.
Work started in 1573 and the cathedral remained a ‘work in progress’ during the entire colonial period. Subsequently, it displays many different architectural styles as successive generations of builders incorporated the innovations of their time. The conquistadors ordered the cathedral built atop the Templo Mayor and, as a further show of domination at a key historical moment, used most of these Aztec stones in its construction
5 Cool ‘things to do’ in Mexico City
Take a spin class at high altitude
If you fancy exercising at more than 200m above sea level, then get yourself along to one of the special fixed bike ‘spin’ classes organised by Fitspin.
As well as burning 700 calories, working your legs, glutes, abdomen and chest during the 50 minute session, you will also witness one of the best views in the whole of the city.
Exercise for free in Chapultepec Forest
With more than 61000 visitors a day, Chapultepec Forest is home to museums and many places to relax.
Centered on a rock formation called Chapultepec Hill, one of the park’s main functions is to be an ecological space and is considered the first and most important of Mexico City’s “lungs”, with trees that replenish oxygen to the Valley of Mexico.
It also has five tracks where you can train and get in shape for free: El Sope, Circuito del Lago Mayor, Corre, Segundo Circuito and Circuito Gandhi.
There are: pull up bars, parallel bars, monkey bars and much more things to do an effective training, so you can climb, bend and sweat till your last drop
Salsa the night away at Salón San Luis
Salón San Luis is a ballroom with 73 years experience and has a decor that’s stuck in the 1950s: dim red lights, waiters in white suits and black ties and mirrors on the walls.
But the dance floor comes alive as the band plays the best tunes as you try your hand at salsa, cambia, merengue and norteña. There’s no shame in bad dancing, you can pick up a few steps and locals, old-timers and pros might even show you a thing or two.
The only drawback is that single ladies are not allowed in on their own.
Try and find the entrance to one of the best speakeasy bars in town
The address to the Hanky Panky Cocktail Bar just says: “Somewhere in Mexico City” that’s it. There is no website, just a Facebook page and it doesn’t advertise in any way.
The only way to get the address, is to make a reservation, either on Facebook or by phoning them up.
The sleuthing required to find this spot is entirely worth it once you’ve spent a night at a place which is impossible to find to begin with and ends with you exiting through a hidden door
Plaza Garibaldi (Mariachi band square)
Plaza Garibaldi is known as Mexico City’s home of mariachi music.
During the Golden Age of Mexican cinema from the 1930s to the 1950s, a genre of movies called “Charro” became extremely popular where the leading movie star would often sing mariachi songs to their leading ladies
On one side of Plaza Garibaldi is the Salón Tenampa, which became a major nightspot in the 1920s (and is still in business today) when Cirilo Marmolejo and his mariachi band started playing there regularly.The plaza soon attracted other mariachi musicians, who would be paid by gentlemen to sing to their partners in the style of Marmolejo or the Charro movie stars.
Today mariachi bands can still be found here day and night. It’s a cultural meeting point of sorts, where travellers can come day or night, to watch bands solicit bar patrons, cars, and passer-bys to buy a song.
The best time to experience the plaza is from 11:00 p.m. onwards, especially on a Friday or Saturday.
5 places to eat
El Lugar Sin Nombre
According to the ‘Lonely Planet Guide’ this restaurant is too good to keep hidden. Much like the Hanky Panky Cocktail Bar it doesn’t have a website, just a Facebook page, however this restaurant does have an address.
The ‘restaurant with no name,’ is located next to mezcalaría Bósfaro and prepares handcrafted Mexican, slow-food dishes in earthenware cookware. Reading the reviews on their Facebook page, it is definitely well worth a visit.
Sanborns
Sanborns is an iconic Mexican restaurant with locations all over the city, but the original Sanborns is located in the historical district of the City and as soon as you go through the doors, you feel transported back in time to classic Mexico City.
It’s known as the “Casa de los Azulejos,” which literally means the “House of Tiles.” and was originally an old 18th century palace built by the Count del Valle de Orizaba family.
It was sold many, many times both privately and then commercially before Frank and Walter Sanborn bought it to expand their drugstore/soda pop business. It was they who added a beautiful stained glass roof and murals.
El Moro Churerría
Churros are those fried pieces of bread covered in sugar and cinnamon, that are an absolutely delicious treat.
And in Mexico City, early evening is churro time when families, couples, and friends all go out for a taste of sweet fried dough and chocolate.
El Moro is a classic churro destination where they’ve been making churros for more than 80 years and is definitely worth a visit.
There will often be lines snaking around the block outside this beloved churrería, as you watch the cooks dip, fry, and sugar-coat your long, spindly churro, which is then paired with hot chocolate in a flavor of your choosing.
Eat street food
Mexico City is ‘one of the world’s most exciting food cities’ and is a street food lovers paradise. There is a wide variety of delicious food all over the city, from street side food vendors serving pre-hispanic fare to the city’s restaurants.
One of the best ways to experience the street food scene and everything it has to offer is with one of those local street food tours, especially as the guides don’t just shuffle you along. They live in these parts of the city and care about showing you the highlights and will lead you to an excellent quesadilla stand, tell you what to order from the busy taco vendor, and then hand you a chamoy-dripping michelada.
Mexican food is always good, but it tastes that much better in Mexico City.
Hostería de Santo Domingo
On August 4, 1860, Hostería de Santo Domingo was born in what was part of the Convent of Santo Domingo de Guzmán. Mexico City’s oldest restaurant has a festive atmosphere which is enhanced by live piano music.
For 158 years the restaurant has been whipping up classic Mexican food, but most people go there to sample the chile en nogada – an enormous poblano chili pepper stuffed with ground meat, dried fruit and bathed in a creamy walnut sauce.
It’s a great place to escape the crowded pavements of Mexico City but is usually very busy. So the best thing to do is either book (so you won’t be disappointed) or go out of peak hours.
5 Top Tips to help you get by
- Avoid the metro during the ‘hora pico’ – which is from 6-9 (both am and pm) – unless you want to get elbowed in the face by angry locals all competing for a spot in the sardine tin. (… and you thought the London Underground was bad)
- Don’t drink the tap water – because it will make you very unwell. As well as the obvious ways you can ingest tap water, keep an eye out for what your salad is washed in and never accept ice cubes in your drink. No matter how you try not to get ill, chances are you will get an upset tummy at one point or another on your trip.
- Don’t take taxis from the street – stick to Ubers or a registered taxi rank
- Just know you’ll be charged more as a tourist – if it’s apparent that you’re ‘foreign’, the chances are that prices will be silently bumped up for you, from a taco costing MXN$5 more than for the Mexican who bought one five minutes before, or the taxi driver doubling your bill. It does happen, just keep an eye out for suspiciously high prices. It’s also usual to tip 10% in restaurants.
- Sip your tequila do not shot it
Basic phrases to help you get by
- Hola – Hello
- Buenos días – good morning/good day
- Adios – Goodbye
- Gracias – thank you
- por favor – please
- ¿Cuanto cuesta? – how much is it?
- ¿Donde está …? – Where is …?
- ¿Puedo tomar una foto? – May I take a photo?
- Lo siento. No hablo español. ¿Habla usted inglés? – I’m sorry, I don’t speak Spanish. Do you speak English?
- ¿On són els banys? – Where are the toilets?
The 2019 World Rally Championship (WRC) begins this evening, Thursday 24 January, with the start of the 87th running of the legendary Monte-Carlo Rally. This article, hopefully, will go some way to explaining the history of the event and what makes it so special … there was even a film made about a fictional race!
