March
31, 2006, 5 pm
Hello from Mexico City –
A Compact Day of Discovery of Downtown (A Skyscraper,
Beautiful Palaces, Rodin Sculptures, A Little Horse,
the "House of Tiles" and a Government Pawn
Shop)
This Friday morning the chirping tropical birds
in the courtyard outside the building woke me up
early. Vanessa had fixed a real Mexican breakfast:
fruit – melon and papaya, with yogurt and
sweat bread. Appropriately strengthened we got going
early at 8:45 to start exploring Mexico City.
Our explorations started with a ride on a public
bus on the Eje Central, one of the main streets
of Mexico
City. It took us straight to “La Torre
Latinoamericana”, Mexico’s famous 44-story
skyscraper. Completed in 1956, this skyscraper has
survived a number of earthquakes, most notably the
big earthquake of 1985 which destroyed big sections
of Mexico City. From the cafeteria on the 42nd floor
we had a great 360 degree view over the city, although
the smoggy atmosphere impeded our visibility.
La Torre Latinoamericana
After getting a good lay of the land, we descended
and exited through the rear doors of la Torre Latinoamericana
and realized that a big exhibit of Rodin
sculptures was in town. We saw a variety of statues
by the famous French sculptor, including the Thinker.
The environment behind the Torre Latinoamericana
was also really interesting since some of the buildings
right next to this skyscraper are in very bad repair
and formed a very interesting backdrop to this exhibition.
I assume that these buildings were damaged in the
big earthquake of 1985.
Rodin's sculptures were in town
Our next stop was at the Palacio de Bellas Artes,
an Art Nouveau style theatre or opera house. The
interior holds murals by some of the famous Mexican
artists of the 20th century, including Diego
Rivera, José
Clemente Orozco,
David Al faro Siqueiros and Rufino
Tamayo. The Palacio was originally started in
1905 by an Italian architect, and was not completed
until 1934 as the Mexican
Revolution intervened. This explains the Art
Deco interior of this fascinating building.
The beautiful Palacio de Bellas Artes
We continued our walk towards the Alameda Central
– Mexico City’s famous park whose name
is derived from the “alamos”
or poplar trees that were planted here in the 16th
century. The Alameda Central holds a variety of
different statues, including one of Beethoven and
one of Neptune. The most imposing monument is the
so-called “Hemiciclo a Juarez”, a semi-circular
marble monument dedicated to Mexico’s reformist
president of indigenous background.
The "Hemiciclo a Juarez"
A few steps away from the Alameda Central we had
a look at the Museo Mural Diego Rivera which exhibits
one of Rivera’s greatest masterpieces: Dream
of a Sunday Afternoon in the Alameda Central.
This mural has huge dimensions and was originally
created for the Hotel Prado and includes a lot of
symbolism and references to Mexico’s history.
The "Caballito" (Little Horse) on the
Paseo de la Reforma
After taking in Diego Rivera’s huge mural
we headed towards Mexico’s grandest street:
The Paseo de la Reforma. This broad, tree-lined
street was originally laid out in the 1860s, during
the short-lived reign of Emperor
Maximilian. At the intersection with Avenida
Benito
Juarez is the Caballito (the “Little
Horse”), one of the city’s landmarks.
We continued on past the the Hotel Imperial to the
Monumento a la Revolución. This was dictator
Porfirio
Diaz’ unfinished congress building, that
was later turned into a monument to the 1910
revolution by the people who got rid of him.
The Monumento a la Revolución
Then we passed back on Calle Juarez to the Casa
de los Azulejos, the “House of Tiles”
dating back to the 16th century. It features a beautiful
Moorish-style interior and has been turned into
a Sanborns restaurant. On the landing of the stairs
between the first and second floor it features a
mural by José
Clemente Orozco, which amazingly surrounds the
bathrooms.
Diego Rivera's famous mural: Dream of a Sunday Afternoon
in the Alameda Central
We slowly made our way towards the Zócalo,
first visiting the brand-new Museo de Arte Popular.
It is housed in a historic building with a big courtyard
that is located close to the Torre Latinoamericana
and holds all sorts of typically Mexican artifacts,
including traditional clothing, sombreros, decorations,
silver work and various types of jewellery as well
as typical symbols of Mexico such as the Calaveras
(the ever-popular and colourful skeletons so enjoyed
by Mexicans).
"Calaveras" (skeletons) in the Museo de
Arte Popular
We explored the local neighbourhood, visiting the
one-street Chinatown, passed by a wonderful pastry
shop (la Dulcería Celaya) where
Vanessa introduced me to delicious Mexican sweets
and then we discovered Mexico’s biggest pawnshop:
the government-run Nacional Monte de Piedad,
a beautiful monumental building made of dark volcanic
stone that dates back to the 16th century. We were
both commenting on the irony that people in Mexico
still like to buy and sell gold jewellery although
for safety reasons they are not able to wear it
openly on the street.
Our next stop was a discovery of Mexico’s
Zócalo and the enormous Catedral Metropolitana.
Looking for budget travel to Mexico? Rent a Mexico
timeshare from an owner for less than the cost
of a hotel room. Timeshares offer more space and
have kitchens, so it's great for family travel.
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