Mexico City's miracle mile (or two)
"Wait," she protested. She bent over the crouched photographer busily framing the pleasant scene for posterity, his camera at the ready, shutter cocked. She spoke loudly into his ear. "Wait!"
On the v...
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The Aztecs speak - part 3
Quetzalcoatl was coming. Moctezuma had already sent wizards, magicians and seers, to cast spells that would destroy or at least deter the Spaniards from continuing toward his capital. Their failure had...
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Did You Know? Mexico in the Guinness world records: part two
An earlier column described several Guinness records and their connection to Mexico and Mexicans. This month's column examines four more very different Guinness records which do not involve quite as mu...
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Trotsky's Ghost
I am not now, nor have I ever been a member of the Communist Party (although I did subscribe to the Daily World during the wild and woolly Sixties), but a visit to Leon Trotsky´s house in Coyoacán ha...
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Feliz Navidad from Mexico City
In a winter devoid of snow and blistery winds, one has to work a little harder to bring the Christmas spirit to life.
In the latter part of November, Ajijic holds its annual nine-day fiesta in celebra...
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Planting the seeds of democracy in Mexico City
"El ombligo del universo" the ancient Mayas used to say about Mexico City. "The bellybutton of the world." Within this city of 17 million, there are many central spots, but, in my opinion, none stand o...
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Mexico City: Urban deconstruction
Calle Moneda in Mexico City dead-ends at the zocalo, and is virtually a pedestrian walkway.
© Rick Meyer, 2001
With a population oscillating at around 20 million, streets jammed with cars, and bui...
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A writer's education from the mean streets of Mexico City
Plaza Garibaldi, 2 a.m., and the mean streets are bopping.
Beers flowing. Flowing friends. Tequilas, too. Maybe a few too many.
What the hell. You'll get a taxi ...
You are a writer and this is a fi...
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Mexico City Memories
There is absolutely no place in this world or any other quite like Mexico City. I don't quite understand why so many people avoid it. One of these days, whenever I can get together enough money or land...
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The best Mexico City markets
Does anybody have a preference for a market? I'm after the plastic oil cloth and the brightly colored plastic mesh market bags which can fit into the suitcase on the way home. Cheers from down under.
read moreA walking tour of historical Coyoacan
Walking through Coyoacan, I imagine how it must have looked in the early 1900s, when Frida Kahlo was born in the now-famous "Blue House." At that time, Coyoacan was a small country town. Even though ...
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A return to the city: How Mexico seduces
I recently returned from three weeks in North America’s highest and oldest capital— La Ciudad de México, La Capital, el Distrito Federal, or simply “ De Efe” for short—researching Mo...
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Around and about in Mexico City: Tlalpan, a hidden spot
As I become familiar with Mexico City, I've come to believe that this city is best taken in small pieces. To try to understand the whole city, one can easily become overwhelmed and jaded by the urban s...
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Mexico City taxi robberies
For tourists, perhaps the most serious crime problem in Mexico is taxi robbery in Mexico City. This problem is more or less unique to Mexico City, so many tourists are not aware of the problem. The governments of the US, UK, Canada, and Australia warn travelers of taxi robberies. I have also read several first person accounts of taxi robberies, via the internet and in the media. read more
Mexico's autumn antiques shows: A lot of fun
When I was growing up in New England, the autumn months were always full of weekend antiques shows. This type of event is not as common here in Mexico, but the coming months do offer collectors some su...
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Taxi driver in Mexico City
Entering a Mexico City taxi means entering the special world of cabbies - a place where two traffic lanes can swiftly become three, seatbelts generally are very few and far between, and where there app...
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It's a man's metro in Mexico City
Some of the longest lasting and most useful lessons in life come at the worst of times and in the most dreadful of ways. It's because life is so unpredictable, I suppose. We become all the better for i...
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The summer of '57 in Mexico City
We had come down on a chartered bus from LSU with our professor to study Spanish. A classroom had been rented and arrangements made for us to stay in private homes. Classes were held in the morning and...
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On learning about Mexico: Life in the capital
I have walked around Colonia San Juan and observed women in small groups chatting and laughing and men leaning against the walls, sunning themselves and talking and laughing as though they didn't have ...
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Mysteries of the Fifth Sun: the Aztec Calendar
Tenochtitlán, the great island city, capital of the Mexica empire, lies cloaked in darkness. An eerie silence pervades the vast ceremonial center — the Teocalli or Templo Mayor — spreading out over Moctezuma's splendid palace, with its botanical gardens and well-stocked zoo, across the market places, canals, aqueducts, and within each of the humble abodes in the residential wards. For five full days, activity in the normally bustling metropolis has ceased.
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Liliana, mi corazoncita
Corazoncita, or little heart, is a Mexican expression of affection, similar to 'sweetheart'. This is a story of my first visit to Mexico, and how a sweet, little Mexican girl became mi corazonci...
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A three mile stroll through Mexican history
I’m going to sound like something of a museum freak – which I’m definitely not. There’s a limit to the amount of "tourism" I can handle when I’m travelling. My strict ration is one castle, or one cathedral or one stately home per day. All of which is my way of saying that by far the classiest, the biggest and the most elegant museum I’ve ever seen is in Mexico City - The National Museum of Anthropology.
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Maldita Vecindad y Los Hijos del Quinto Patio
A riotous image of a storm of people bolting down a wide Mexico City avenue, in the midst of a live Maldita Vecindad rock performance from the back of a moving truck, comprises one of many memorable vi...
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The great pyramids of Teotihuacan, Mexico: Place of the gods
Teotihuacan is one of the major tourist attractions in Mexico City — a place that’s full of attractions. I urge you to go. It’s easy to get to. There are decent eating places out there and lots to see and do. There’s a museum and a cultural center and plenty of places to buy souvenirs. And if you’re feeling energetic, try the climb up to the top of either pyramid.
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