MEXICO Taste
Mexico City is the oldest city in the Americas and with a population of 21.9 million, the 5th most populous city in the world. And a hell of a contrast to serene Miami, where we came in from.
We arrived in the evening and the uber dropped is off up at a checkpoint a few blocks from our hotel as the area was closed to traffic. It was 11pm and we were a bit nervous wheeling our small suitcases - ‘tourists here’ neon arrow pointing to our heads around the mean streets of Mexico. I had read that Celaya, in the Mexican state of Guanajuato was the murder city of the world. So it was very reassuring when we saw crowds of police everywhere as Mexico City has one of the highest ratios of uniformed police officers to residents in the world.
However, later on in the holiday we were stopped by police for speeding, they took Julian’s drivers license and said they would keep it unless we paid an extortionate amount directly to them. We stood our ground and demanded a formal ticket and their identity number via a heated argument comically over google translate. Nuance was definitely lost with furious thumb typing followed by turning the phone back at the other person to read the retort. Escalating due to translation creep. All the while me dually thinking are they colluding with drug cartels and also AI – are you ok, why so dramatic and angry ?
Thankfully they backed down and let us go with no payment – but in hindsight probably should have paid it. They all had guns.
Anyway yes Mexico City. Urban, stylish, vibrant, noisy and delicious.
Mexico City has a London on steroid vibe. But unlike London, everyone wore masks as it doesn’t quite have the health service to pick up the pieces of indulgent conspiracy theorists.
Our hotel Gran Hotel Ciudad De Mexico was a little fusty and oldie worldly but with a spectacular Tiffany glass atrium – featured in a number of films including the recent James Bond. And it was right by Parque de bolsillo Zocalo and the Catedral Metropolitana, the largest and oldest cathedral in the Americas (building started in 1573). Built using the remains of Aztec temples (the floor of the square as well) with a series of underground catacombs which lead to the Templo Mayor. This rich fusion of Aztec and Spanish Colonialism permeated everything in Mexico.
On the square, there were a lot of oversized mega Christmas decorations, a stage overlooking fairground rides and many many stalls selling nik naks. We looked down from our hotel terrace and by 6pm there were probably 100000 people milling around queuing for rides and shopping. It was the festive season and there was certainly a party atmosphere. We had become unaccustomed to crowds, it was a little bit terrifying.
There is an overwhelming amount to do in Mexico City - it is a world centre of culture, with the largest number of museums (151) in the Americas and the second largest number in the world, only to London. The Anthropological Museum already mentioned in the Identity section is the best in the world. And the history is everywhere where you look. Just on the outskirts, there are the nearby Teotihuacan Temples (not pyramids which are only Egyptian). Incidentally, Teotihuacan was the largest city in the pre-Columbian Americas, with a population estimated at 125,000 or more making it at least the sixth-largest city in the world in it’s heyday (1 AD to 500 AD). These astounding temples had many rituals associated to them and literal associations with the Sun, Moon and number of days in the year. Incidentally there were a few tour groups of European/American women in white floaty garments doing the eat pray love re-birthing shamanically. Not judging but curious about spirtual enlightenment tourism … there’s a business idea there.
Teotihuacan Temples, Mexico, December 2021
INTERVIEW
This area only started to form into Mexico City, when in 1325, the Mexica people (Aztecs) founded twin cities Tenōchtitlān and Tlāltelōlco (1337) on an islet in Lake Texcoco, within the Anahuac (Valley of Mexico). They expanded it into an artificial island with an irrigation system with dams and canals to provide drinking water, support agriculture and to control the level of the lake. In 1521, the Spanish destroyed all of this and in an effort to control the flooding, drained most of the land which led to centuries of ground water extractions and consequent ecological disaster, subsidence (it’s definitely sinking) and reduced native species including the Axolotl (cute limb regrowing minecraft amphibian featured creature). There are campaigns to restore the last remaining wetlands – called Xochimilco a pre-hispanic Aztec site still in use, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The area rich with nutrients, was cultivated with canals and Chinampas (floating gardens) to grow food, planting symbiotically including Cannabis. To find out more, we joined an amazing biologist Paco from the conservation and research not for profit group - https://regenerationinternational.org/2020/06/03/a-vision-for-the-social-and-ecological-regenerationof-mexico-citys-xochimilco-wetlands/
We also got to try the salad from the organic farm we had been walking through. All very relaxing and chilled out. Oh except for the blow your head off chilli sauce.
If you hadn’t noticed chilli condiments came with everything. One of our group mentioned that they even add chilli to sweets not just chocolate. They can’t eat food without chilli.
And elsewhere on our trip I would say Mexican food was super high octane with such depth of flavour and interesting too. Really I had never tasted such interesting combinations of ingredients. Someone please open a decent Mexican restaurant in London.
We decided to check out a recommended restaurant Balcón del Zocalo, around the corner from our hotel. Outrageously good.
Oaxaca
Oaxaca (pronounced Wahaca) is 6 hours drive through stunning mountain ranges South West of Mexico City. It’s the heartland of indigenous peoples such as the Zapotecs and the Mixtecs. And consequently a culinary adventure. We were there for Christmas day. It’s a beautiful city set up for tourism and the food was exceptional.
Oaxaca is known as the land of the seven moles. Mole is a “…a style of sauce made from roasted ingredients that are then ground together and slow simmered to allow the varied flavors to blend and play off one another in a way that no single ingredient might be detected. The result: rich, complex, diverse, complementary flavors,” and more crickets, and salads with cactus. So much chilli and chocolate which by the way was first referred to in Mexican text as part of a special drink drink in 1580, and the word Chocolate comes from Nahuatl language of the Aztecs … tchocoatl is derived from two words that mean "bitter water":
Other sites of interest nearby were the Monte Alban Temple complex; swimming in natural springs overlooking mountains Hierve el Agua; and the widest tree in the world - the 2000 year old tree of life in Santa Maria del Tule.
And of course the Radish Festival.