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| Madchen Quote | Reply | This message was updated on 10/26/2005 4:45:57 PM by Madchen | Mexico City Report posted on: 10/4/2005 12:44:53 PM Here is my original inquiry thread with opinions and hostel info: http://www.chatarea.com/Backpackers.m3169044 Hostel Mansion Havre. Can definitely recommend for safe, basic, budget accommodation. It's in the Zona Rosa (GLBT area) so we two girls felt safe as kittens. We got a private room for $15 (USD) per person/per night with en suite bathroom. The room was great--it had a main entry, then folding doors outside the bedroom that we could lock separately. It felt like a lot of charm for $15 a night. The beds, however, were quite a surprise: it was a mattress but it felt like a cement slab with a folded blanket over it as far as comfort went. I just had to laugh--I really didn't care but still. Quiet enough but one day we had a yappy dog in a nearby courtyard somewhere. It wasn't enough to keep us awake though. $100 peso refundable deposit for the key. No lock-out. Good shower. Clean. Daily housekeeping service (they make your beds and empty garbage). No food allowed in rooms; only drinks. Very helpful desk staff. Breakfast is 4 floors up (no elevator). Croissants, cold cereal, orange juice, coffee and tea. There is also a 24-hour shop across the street, which is nice when you need a huge bottle of water after a night out sampling margaritas. Zona Rosa Our hostel was in the Zona Rosa and was close to shopping, restaurants, and the Centro Historico (city center). At night, it's got a totally hot club scene. Lots of strip clubs too. After dinner each night we'd slowly wander back to our hostel and peek at some live music in various patio venues. The performers covered a lot of American music and they looked and sounded great. Food We were taken to Fonda el Refugio on Liverpool for lunch by our host, Marco. It is one of the oldest restaurants in Mexico City. I had tortilla soup with chicken. There was a lot of fat in the broth but still it tasted good. It came with fresh hot corn tortillas, which were heavenly. We were introduced to sopes and mole poblano, and after the meal, Mexican Coffee (regional coffee with cinnamon sugars, vanilla, and possibly nutmeg) served in a rough, beautiful terra cotta cup. We also ended up eating at two Italian restaurants in the Zona Rosa and both were excellent. We didn't eat anything that felt particularly Italian at either one--chicken and spinach and cream sauce, pork dumplings, and shrimp risotto (OK, that is Italian) with red sauce. The margaritas were out of this world--tart and heavy with lime, perfection. Chapultapec Park Chapultapec is a massive park off of Paseo de la Reforma. Inside is a castle (which we sadly missed because it had closed already on the day we were there), museums, amusement parks, a zoo, and lakes. The Museo Nacional de Antropologia e Historia is located inside of Chapultapec Park and houses collections that represent the numerous indigenous cultures of Mexico. Exhibits include Puebla, Toltec, Mayas, Gran Nayar, Purepecha, Otomi-Paive, Oaxaca, Pre-Classical, and Mesoamerica. The exhibits that show Teotihuacan pyramid artifacts and architecture are amazing. The next time I'm there the castle will be first on my list of what to see. Apparently an Aztec King began the construction of the castle but after the Spanish Conquest, Cortez lived there. In 1530 the castle became a public park, but during the French invasion in the 1800s the castle became home to the Emperor Maximilian of Hapsburg and his wife Carlotta (daughter of Leopold I, King of Belgium), who were placed on the throne as Emperor and Empress of Mexico by Napoleon III. The Mexicans weren't down with foreign rulers and Maximilian was eventually executed in 1867. Carlotta was in Europe at the time and remained there. Teotihuacan The Pyramids of Teotihuacan are about an hour outside of the city center by bus (tour bus that is, we did not take the local bus although we were assured by our hostel staff that we could easily take a city bus to the site). We only had 3 days in Mexico City, so we needed to get to our two main points of interest inside of one day and found a decent tour deal that would take us to The Basilica de Guadalupe (old and new) and The Pyramids at Teotihuacan. The archaeological site is dated to around 500 AD. The pyramids were used for human sacrifices that were practiced on certain astrological occasions. Before we ran off on our own, our guide told us that the site was only discovered about 10 years ago.* It had been grown over and covered with grass. When we arrived, there were about 50 costumed dancers and drummers at the base of the Pyramid of the Sun. The drumming was that chest-thumping all-encompassing sound--the sort of stuff you heard on Scooby Doo when a bad guy was on the run and the gang was about to get into trouble. The costumes were amazing--huge feather plumes and bells and hides and body art. I noted to my friend as we approached that if I was a stranger who had just wandered into this place back in the day, I probably would have shit myself coming across this scene. It was impressive and thrilling; menacing and disconcerting all at once. I just hopped up on one of the minor platforms at the base of the pyramid and watched. My friend climbed the Pyramid of the Sun. The ritual went on for at least half an hour. I was grateful to have seen it--this group isn't always there. The distance between the Sun and Moon pyramids is a good 20-minute walk. All along the way you see smaller buildings with steep narrow steps that lead only to platforms. In some of the enclosed areas of former buildings there are paintings still visible on the walls. Jaguars, birds, flora, and geometric designs. I noticed a pattern in the mortar between the stones--the masons had put black dots of stone at measured intervals in all of the visible light-colored mortar. I've never seen that anywhere else before. After a while it occurred to me that this was consistent with the pattern on the artistically ubiquitous creature in the region, the jaguar. Continuity. There was nothing unintended in this magnificent place. Basilica de Guadalupe I have a thing for churches--especially basilicas. The Basilica de Guadalupe is cool. There is a new version as well--Nuevo Basilica--because there were just too many enthusiastic believers to squeeze into the old one. The new one did nothing for me--the silhouette alone put me off--it's shaped like a gigantic circus tent. It's meant to represent Juan Diego's robe. He's the guy who saw the Virgin Mary's likeness in a blue mantle, then told Bishop Zamarraga and was promptly told to bugger off. Juan needed proof, so he asked the Virgin how he could convince other people. She told him to gather the roses that sprung up at his feet. He did. He returned to the bishop and "... the image of the Virgin was miraculously emblazoned on the rough-hewn cloth. The bishop immediately ordered the building of a church on the spot, and upon its completion, the cloth with the Virgin's image was hung in a place of honor, framed in gold. Since that time, millions of the devout and the curious have come to view the miraculous image that experts, it is said, are at a loss to explain." Juan gets a lot of recognition in the region. The old basilica is beautiful. It also happens to be sinking. Here's the best I can do for a photo reference at this time. At the site we had the opportunity to visit other buildings and sites relevant to the church: Bautisterio, Capuchinas, Iglesia de Indios, Iglesia del Pocito, and Campanaro Reloj Astral. Outside of the area is a massive marketplace selling an outrageous assortment of religious curios. I think one of my favorite memories was the wall of life-size Jesus-on-the-Cross mementos. White ones, black ones; some with Jesus grimacing and bright red blood dripping around the crown of thorns; others appeared to be crucifixion lite, with a minimal of pain and suffering being depicted. I couldn't choose, so I just left it. I did however buy a--how can I describe this--it's a paper folded thingy with a litho of a Virgin Mary painting, and when you pop it up, it has two eye holes. You look through them and you see an image of the new basilica. Basically it's a Virgin Mary ViewMaster. Acaso no estoy yo aqui que soy tu madre? Kidnapping? (a.k.a. Advice on Taking Cabs in the City) I'd heard it explained before but it didn't click with me what it really was in a practical sense. Marco, my friend's friend, a Mexico City native, told us never to just hail a cab on the street. We assumed his enthusiasm meant they will see we are foreign and overcharge us. Ah, no. The concept of "kidnapping" in Mexico City is this: People posing as cab drivers pick you up and hold you against your will and force you to empty your bank account and/or take them shopping on your credit cards. If there are two of you it's even easier for them because they will likely pick up a colleague and hold one while the other is forced to "go shopping." I always assumed kidnapping had to do with masked thugs finding out how wealthy someone was, snatching them, and asking for a ransom. In that respect I'd be safe as a kitten--no wealth to speak of. But Marco told us his father had been kidnapped 2 years back and his family DID have to pay to get him back. Unreal. The solution? Just have a proper hotel hail you a cab. That way they know which firms are reputable and licensed. We used his advice and got around problem-free. * I want to look this fact up to confirm it. |
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hper
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Mexico City Report
replied on: 10/4/2005 1:33:26 PM I remember hearing this while I was in DF. We called cabs and had them pick us up whenever we needed a ride rather than hailing them. A bad story I don't think I've posted before because I don't like the idea of scaring the easily-disturbed away from the great city DF is, BUT...one of the American women at the university I was at hailed a cab, was raped, robbed, and beaten up. For the rest of my trip I was afraid of going out at night, especially on my own, and felt safer using the paseros than taking a cab. But nothing bad happened to me...it always seems to be "a friend of a friend" kind of thing. |
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petiteparis
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Mexico City Report
replied on: 10/24/2005 3:34:09 PM your hostel sounds cool Maddy. My mum used to work for UN/Patrimonio Nacional, and worked at Museo de Antropologia and the archeological sites off the Basilica, pyramids and catedral - after the '85 earthquake. Templo mayor is buried under the Catedral, and there are amazing things underneath other churches and sites as well. Kidnappings are crazy. The latest are the "secuestros express" - Say you go out with your friends for a movie. You're being watched, so when you go into the cinema, the kidnappers contact my fam and say that I am killed if they do not come up with $$ in less than an hour. Meanwhile, while you enjoy your movie, your fam goes nuts, kidnappers have the cash and it all happens in less than 90 mins. This actually happened to two friends of mine. |
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Madchen
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Mexico City Report
replied on: 10/24/2005 4:23:01 PM Speaking of the earthquake--they had a huge photo exhibition up along the gates of Chapultapec Park. We looked at them all as we left. I was in tears. They were huge black and whites. They showed all of the destroyed buildings, people being rescued, rescue dogs getting stuck, relief workers dirty and tired.  It was really powerful.Were you there during that earthquake? |
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