Chile Seed Pipian: Pipián de Semillas de Chile
It is customary for Mexican cooks to save the seeds they remove from dried chiles and store them, mixing several varieties in the same jar. This traditional recipe from El Bajio restaurant in Mexico Ci...
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Treasures in Heaven, a Novel by Kathleen Alcala
Here's an interesting novel set in turn-of-the-century Mexico City. It's a story that's mainly concerned with women's rights, which were just about non-existent in those times, and the political turbulence preceding the Mexican Revolution. Estela, a rather attractive and spirited lady, lives in a small rural town with her infant son, Noé. We meet her at the point in her life when she is leaving her husband and heading for Mexico City. Essentially she's looking for her former lover, Dr. Victor Carranza.
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Mexico's Olympic memories
It's showtime in Athens. The Greeks are all stirred up about the Olympic Games, worrying about terrorist threats and who's going to pay the bills when the party is over and everybody goes home.
Thirty...
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The renovation of Mexico City's Historic Center
Mexico City is one of the world's largest urban centers, and its population continues to grow at a rate unequaled by any other area in the nation. The Mexico City region has long been the center of eco...
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Dining in the DF: food and drink in Mexico's capital
A look at the myriad dining experiences to be had in the capital itself, Mexico City, commonly known as "el D.F.," short for Distrito Federal.
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Travelling in Mexico City's Zona Rosa
The Zona Rosa is located conveniently close to Mexico City's Centro Histórico . It lies on the northern side of the famous Paseo de la Reforma (a long tree-lined street modeled after the Champs-Elysé...
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Patrick Dennis, art lover
Patrick Dennis found me in Sullivan Park, just behind El Monumento de la Madre in Mexico City, one fine Sunday, and changed my life.
His buddy, Nina Olds, Gore Vidal's mother, and my mother's buddy an...
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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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