Our last full day here! Another nice weather day. We were pretty lucky over the trip, it's the end of rainy season and typically in October about half the days have rain. I guess there was rain most evenings which didn't really impact us; we only really needed our umbrellas one day.
We started the day at Zona Arqueológica Tlatelolco, about a 30 minute walk north from our hotel. Our path took us by the Palacio Postal, and so we gave one last try to see if it was open / accessible, and it was! We walked right in. It was one of the nicer post offices I've seen. There weren't many tourists either, possibly also discouraged by the past few days.
We continued on our walk to Tlatelolco, along a major street. The buses were mostly electric, which really cut down on the pollution that we felt on the sidewalk. The ruins at Tlatelolco are what I would call minor ruins. They aren't a destination in itself; but they are pretty cool to visit. It was very peaceful to wander around and through the restored ruins.
Just beside the ruins is a 16th century church, so we stuck our heads in for a view. It's an old church.
Abutting both the ruins and the church is the Plaza de las Tres Culturas, referring to the pre-columbian Aztec ruins, Spanish colonial (the 16th century church) and modern Mexico (1960’s urbanism). It's also the location of the Tlatelolco massacre, of which the protests had occurred in the Zócalo a couple days ago, commemorating the date.
We had thought about taking the metro to our next stop, the Museo de Arte Moderno (MAM), but ended up taking an Uber cause it was half the time and we wouldn't have to be concerned with people coughing. We've noticed an increase in people wearing masks the last couple days, so figured Uber would be safer health-wise.
The MAM was across the street from the Museo Nacional de Antropología which we had visited earlier in the week. We walked through a bit of the 1st floor, and then grabbed some lunch at the cafeteria in the gardens. There were some interesting exhibits in the gardens so we checked those out, and then the rest of the museum.
And that was it for our sightseeing in CDMX. Caught an Uber back to the hotel, relaxed and cleaned up, and had dinner downstairs.
...
Overall it was an enjoyable trip. We did see most of the things on our list, and as a bonus got to see the Inauguration celebrations. There was a lot of variety between museums and ruins and art. The food was also great, from street food to more upscale places. There's a cool artsy vibe to the city, at least in the historic center and surrounds. Definitely a good one week trip.
Friday, October 04, 2024
Thursday, October 03, 2024
Centro Historico, CDMX, Mexico
It was a beautiful morning, sunny although still a bit cool (13C) at 8am. We got up a bit earlier to try to get to the 9am performance of the pipe organs in the Metropolitan Cathedral. The barricades were coming down so it was easy to enter the cathedral. We were a bit early (about 8:40am) so asked the police at the door about the timing. They said it was at 10am and that we should line up at 9:30.
So we went back to the hotel and had breakfast, returning to the cathedral at 9:30. We then realized our question earlier had got lost in translation (literally) and it was mass that started at 10am. Oh well. The organist was playing (presumably having started at 9am), so at least we got to hear the pipe organs, which was our main objective.
We then headed over to Miguel Lerdo de Tejada Library to check out the mural by Vlady Kibalchich Rusakov. Mexican muralism is big thing in CDMX, and I had mapped out some of the key sites to visit.
We had to show ID to enter; they were okay with viewing our passport scans on our phones. Most visitors are academics here for the library. They didn’t mind us as tourists, in fact they were super polite and keen that we were here!
Vlady’s murals are ginormous, covering three full wallls of the library, almost 1,750 m² according to the blurb onsite. We walked around and took our pics, trying not to disturb the academic folks.
A quick change of clothes at our hotel (it was about 22C now) and then we were back out touristing.
Walked over to Museo de la Secretaría de Hacienda, aka Antiguo Palacio del Arzobispada, aka SHCP Museum of Art. We were there yesterday and were thrown off by its aliases. It’s just across the Zócalo from us, much easier with the barricades removed. Anyways, it has amazing contemporary art, we were quite impressed. It was free to enter, and we only saw a handful other visitors.
Next was Secretaria de Educación Pública, aka SEP Site Museum, aka Convento de la Encarnación. This houses a lot of murals by the big three (Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco and David Alfaro Siqueiro), commissioned by the SEP. I really like the style, they could all be the cover of an Ayn Rand book. This was also free to enter and not busy at all.
We were getting hungry so had lunch at a random taco stall. The stall was really busy but they squeezed in a couple more stools for us. It was mmm good.
Tried yet again to get into the Palacio Postal. There was a long line-up to enter, filled with people waiting to do official post office stuff, so we decided to skip it.
Last stop for the day was Mercado de Artesanías La Ciudadela, for some souvenir shopping.
Had dinner at Paxia, which is atop the Hilton about a five minute walk from us. It was really good.
Walked back through the Zócalo, and called it a night.
So we went back to the hotel and had breakfast, returning to the cathedral at 9:30. We then realized our question earlier had got lost in translation (literally) and it was mass that started at 10am. Oh well. The organist was playing (presumably having started at 9am), so at least we got to hear the pipe organs, which was our main objective.
We then headed over to Miguel Lerdo de Tejada Library to check out the mural by Vlady Kibalchich Rusakov. Mexican muralism is big thing in CDMX, and I had mapped out some of the key sites to visit.
We had to show ID to enter; they were okay with viewing our passport scans on our phones. Most visitors are academics here for the library. They didn’t mind us as tourists, in fact they were super polite and keen that we were here!
Vlady’s murals are ginormous, covering three full wallls of the library, almost 1,750 m² according to the blurb onsite. We walked around and took our pics, trying not to disturb the academic folks.
A quick change of clothes at our hotel (it was about 22C now) and then we were back out touristing.
Walked over to Museo de la Secretaría de Hacienda, aka Antiguo Palacio del Arzobispada, aka SHCP Museum of Art. We were there yesterday and were thrown off by its aliases. It’s just across the Zócalo from us, much easier with the barricades removed. Anyways, it has amazing contemporary art, we were quite impressed. It was free to enter, and we only saw a handful other visitors.
Next was Secretaria de Educación Pública, aka SEP Site Museum, aka Convento de la Encarnación. This houses a lot of murals by the big three (Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco and David Alfaro Siqueiro), commissioned by the SEP. I really like the style, they could all be the cover of an Ayn Rand book. This was also free to enter and not busy at all.
We were getting hungry so had lunch at a random taco stall. The stall was really busy but they squeezed in a couple more stools for us. It was mmm good.
Tried yet again to get into the Palacio Postal. There was a long line-up to enter, filled with people waiting to do official post office stuff, so we decided to skip it.
Last stop for the day was Mercado de Artesanías La Ciudadela, for some souvenir shopping.
Had dinner at Paxia, which is atop the Hilton about a five minute walk from us. It was really good.
Walked back through the Zócalo, and called it a night.
Wednesday, October 02, 2024
Centro Historico, CDMX, Mexico
Today was the quietest morning we’ve seen on our street, what with Inauguration Day, protests against the government and busy weekends since we arrived Friday night. The quiet wouldn’t last all day though, as Oct 2 is the remembrance of the Tlatelolco massacre. The hotel said it was likely the protests would start around 3pm.
We finished our breakfast and hurried out to see stuff before the blockades went up.
First up was Templo Mayor, just off the Zócalo. The extent of this UNESCO site was discovered in 1978 by electrical workers digging a hole. It’s now an active archaeological site, with suspended walkways for tourists. It also contains an excellent museum within the grounds. It took us 90 minutes to wander through, and we skipped quite a bit. Templo Mayor is really impressive, a must-see in CDMX.
We then stumbled across Colegio de San Ildefonso, which was on my list, we just weren’t looking for it just then. It’s considered the birthplace of Mexican muralism. Its walls are filled with murals by Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco and others. We had the place pretty much to ourselves.
Navigated the crowd barricades to get to Museo de la Secretaría de Hacienda, where you get tickets to the National Palace. Unfortunately the National Palace has been closed to tourists for a while with no plans to reopen :(
Later I realized the Museo is also called Antiguo Palacio del Arzobispada, aka the SHCP Museum of Art, and the SH stands for Secretaria de Hacienda. The SHCP is also on my list to see, and we were right there without knowing it :( We’ll go back there tomorrow.
We headed in the direction of Palacio de Bellas Artes, to check out a couple more places. Along the way we grabbed some excellent street food from taco vendors and some fries.
There were riot police all geared up and staging in the side street we were walking down. They just ignored us and other locals carrying on their business. It made for additional detours though.
We had an espresso and a cake in a Sanborns, which supposedly had great tiles. We had the wrong Sanborns though (they’re about as prevalent as Tim Hortons in Toronto), at least the espresso was good :)
The Palacio Postal was behind barricades and not accessible :( we did find the right Sanborns after extensive detouring. They didn’t mind us not eating and instead just looking at the tiles, just like the Moon guide suggested.
The Palacio de Mineria was also barricaded, so that will have to wait until Thursday as well.
Walked back up to the Zócalo and browsed through some side-street local markets. The police activity was increasing in advance of the protests, so we called it a day. On the way back to the hotel, stopped in at the restaurant I’d booked online for dinner, just to make sure they were actually open tonight. The restaurant is in a complex surrounded by boutique shops so we browsed around.
Our street was barricaded at the Zócalo end, which meant it was now effectively a dead-end street with low foot traffic. That made it easy for us to get through to our hotel.
Later we figured the large police presence and strategically placed barricades act as effective deterrents to crowd violence.
We were also impressed with how fast the feel of the Zócalo changes. One moment there’s 50k people protesting in the square; two hours later we looked outside and the square was empty and clean. When we went for dinner the barricades were still up between our street and the Zócalo; 90 minutes later we came back and they had vanished. It’s crazy how fast the scene changes.
We had dinner at Azul Historica, just around the corner from our hotel. It was traditional Mexican dishes, in a nice atmospheric courtyard.
We were quite full after eating so walked into the Zócalo for a few minutes. It’s nicely illuminated at night. Saw the monumental flag being lowered for the night and then getting carried away by soldiers, which was cool.
We finished our breakfast and hurried out to see stuff before the blockades went up.
First up was Templo Mayor, just off the Zócalo. The extent of this UNESCO site was discovered in 1978 by electrical workers digging a hole. It’s now an active archaeological site, with suspended walkways for tourists. It also contains an excellent museum within the grounds. It took us 90 minutes to wander through, and we skipped quite a bit. Templo Mayor is really impressive, a must-see in CDMX.
We then stumbled across Colegio de San Ildefonso, which was on my list, we just weren’t looking for it just then. It’s considered the birthplace of Mexican muralism. Its walls are filled with murals by Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco and others. We had the place pretty much to ourselves.
Navigated the crowd barricades to get to Museo de la Secretaría de Hacienda, where you get tickets to the National Palace. Unfortunately the National Palace has been closed to tourists for a while with no plans to reopen :(
Later I realized the Museo is also called Antiguo Palacio del Arzobispada, aka the SHCP Museum of Art, and the SH stands for Secretaria de Hacienda. The SHCP is also on my list to see, and we were right there without knowing it :( We’ll go back there tomorrow.
We headed in the direction of Palacio de Bellas Artes, to check out a couple more places. Along the way we grabbed some excellent street food from taco vendors and some fries.
There were riot police all geared up and staging in the side street we were walking down. They just ignored us and other locals carrying on their business. It made for additional detours though.
We had an espresso and a cake in a Sanborns, which supposedly had great tiles. We had the wrong Sanborns though (they’re about as prevalent as Tim Hortons in Toronto), at least the espresso was good :)
The Palacio Postal was behind barricades and not accessible :( we did find the right Sanborns after extensive detouring. They didn’t mind us not eating and instead just looking at the tiles, just like the Moon guide suggested.
The Palacio de Mineria was also barricaded, so that will have to wait until Thursday as well.
Walked back up to the Zócalo and browsed through some side-street local markets. The police activity was increasing in advance of the protests, so we called it a day. On the way back to the hotel, stopped in at the restaurant I’d booked online for dinner, just to make sure they were actually open tonight. The restaurant is in a complex surrounded by boutique shops so we browsed around.
Our street was barricaded at the Zócalo end, which meant it was now effectively a dead-end street with low foot traffic. That made it easy for us to get through to our hotel.
Later we figured the large police presence and strategically placed barricades act as effective deterrents to crowd violence.
We were also impressed with how fast the feel of the Zócalo changes. One moment there’s 50k people protesting in the square; two hours later we looked outside and the square was empty and clean. When we went for dinner the barricades were still up between our street and the Zócalo; 90 minutes later we came back and they had vanished. It’s crazy how fast the scene changes.
We had dinner at Azul Historica, just around the corner from our hotel. It was traditional Mexican dishes, in a nice atmospheric courtyard.
We were quite full after eating so walked into the Zócalo for a few minutes. It’s nicely illuminated at night. Saw the monumental flag being lowered for the night and then getting carried away by soldiers, which was cool.
Tuesday, October 01, 2024
Chapultepec, CDMX, Mexico
Today was Inauguration Day in Mexico, a newly-created public holiday. While planning, I had read that the new president, Claudia Sheinbaum, would officially take office today, but hadn’t realized how big a deal it was until we got here.
The official ceremony was held at the Legislative Palace of San Lázaro, about 1.5km east of our hotel.
The Zócalo was the focal point of the people’s celebration. We watched tens of thousands of people stream into the Zócalo starting at 9am. Some wore their traditional clothes and danced up the street, as well as several marching bands. I couldn’t find any news reports on the crowd size, however last Sunday they had over 70k for a rebroadcast of a musical performance, and I’m sure this was more.
The large crowds in and around the Zócalo as well as it now being a public holiday meant we had to rejig our plans for the day. (Having a new holdiay created after I’d checked timeanddate.com for holidays is a new one for me).
We had tried to get into the Cathedral for their 9am daily pipe organ performance, but the Cathedral was barricaded from the public (we’ll try again later this week). I called the National Anthropology Museum (MNA) and they confirmed that they were indeed open today.
After breakfast, we watched a bit more of the incoming crowds from our balcony, and then headed out to the MNA.
We walked about four blocks away from the Zócalo and got an Uber. It was slow going due to temporary road closures for the inauguration. Took about an hour to get to the MNA, which normally would be a 20 minute drive.
The first view after entering the MNA is of El Paraguas, a giant art installation in the middle of the courtyard. It’s become a symbol of the MNA.
Decided to have lunch before seeing the rest of the museum. We’ve had good luck at museum restaurants, and it continued here. It was also fairly quick service.
We then started touring through. It’s a large museum, with 11 archeological rooms grouped by region. Our favourite was the Mexico room (ie city of Mexico), which contains the enormous Aztec Sunstone, and several other large artefacts dug up around Templo Mayor, just off the Zócalo. The Teotihuacán room was also impressive. It’s definitely a museum requiring multiple visits.
After, we caught an Uber back to the Zócalo. Traffic was still a mess so we just asked the driver to get us anywhere within a 20 minute walk. We were walking upstream the whole way back to the hotel, although it was just the last 50m that were squished.
We arrived back in time to catch the latter half of President Sheinbaum’s speech. It was pretty cool to see the size of the crowds, from the comfort of our balcony.
We were pretty much done for the day. Watched the VP debate (Canadians watching a US election debate while in Mexico), had some tacos from across the street, and called it a night. Hopefully no more sound checks tonight!
The official ceremony was held at the Legislative Palace of San Lázaro, about 1.5km east of our hotel.
The Zócalo was the focal point of the people’s celebration. We watched tens of thousands of people stream into the Zócalo starting at 9am. Some wore their traditional clothes and danced up the street, as well as several marching bands. I couldn’t find any news reports on the crowd size, however last Sunday they had over 70k for a rebroadcast of a musical performance, and I’m sure this was more.
The large crowds in and around the Zócalo as well as it now being a public holiday meant we had to rejig our plans for the day. (Having a new holdiay created after I’d checked timeanddate.com for holidays is a new one for me).
We had tried to get into the Cathedral for their 9am daily pipe organ performance, but the Cathedral was barricaded from the public (we’ll try again later this week). I called the National Anthropology Museum (MNA) and they confirmed that they were indeed open today.
After breakfast, we watched a bit more of the incoming crowds from our balcony, and then headed out to the MNA.
We walked about four blocks away from the Zócalo and got an Uber. It was slow going due to temporary road closures for the inauguration. Took about an hour to get to the MNA, which normally would be a 20 minute drive.
The first view after entering the MNA is of El Paraguas, a giant art installation in the middle of the courtyard. It’s become a symbol of the MNA.
Decided to have lunch before seeing the rest of the museum. We’ve had good luck at museum restaurants, and it continued here. It was also fairly quick service.
We then started touring through. It’s a large museum, with 11 archeological rooms grouped by region. Our favourite was the Mexico room (ie city of Mexico), which contains the enormous Aztec Sunstone, and several other large artefacts dug up around Templo Mayor, just off the Zócalo. The Teotihuacán room was also impressive. It’s definitely a museum requiring multiple visits.
After, we caught an Uber back to the Zócalo. Traffic was still a mess so we just asked the driver to get us anywhere within a 20 minute walk. We were walking upstream the whole way back to the hotel, although it was just the last 50m that were squished.
We arrived back in time to catch the latter half of President Sheinbaum’s speech. It was pretty cool to see the size of the crowds, from the comfort of our balcony.
We were pretty much done for the day. Watched the VP debate (Canadians watching a US election debate while in Mexico), had some tacos from across the street, and called it a night. Hopefully no more sound checks tonight!
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