Mexico City: Spanish lessons, Teotihuacan, Frida Kahlo, Chapultepec, food, murals, bicycles, exploring, kittens

Mexico City. Densely populated city of contradictions. Stunning buildings adorned with tiles, beautiful wrought ironwork, stone carvings. Art deco houses sprinkled liberally throughout the suburbs; huge, evocative murals on municipal buildings; tiled explanations of the etymology of suburb or street names peppered throughout the city. Street vendors on every corner, aggressive restaurant touts and security guards outside any respectable store. Delicious Mexican cuisine, from fine dining to cheapo street food. Crazy drivers, kamikaze buses, no respect for road rules. Such a huge leap from my experiences in the USA, but after four months I was ready for the change.

I had planned to spend some time outside of the capital (locally called 'DF', for 'Distrito Federal') but as my friend Paul had generously agreed to let me stay in his spare room I was lured by the promise of free accommodation and stayed in DF for my entire two weeks. Not that I was short of things to do: it's a huge city with a staggeringly large population of 22 million (yes, equal to that of the entire country of Australia!) and dense built-up urban areas. Paul and his partner Gerardo live in La Condesa, a funky suburb replete with cafes, bars, fashionable stores and tree-lined avenues, reminiscent of Potts Point or Surry Hills. Their home is also home to four adorable stray kittens, Cuautemoc, Diego, Simon and Matteo, who were wary of me at first but eventually agreed to hang out and play.

La Condesa building

Loved the lettering on top of this building

My place for 2 weeks!

Paulo y los gatitos

View up from their courtyard

View from the other courtyard

Cats lounging in the courtyard

Lounging in the courtyard

Gerardo in the cafe

Tree 1: Pavement 0

Traditional barber

Car & unusual carport

Roof art

Street seller dicing with death

The boys welcomed me to the city with a meal at their favourite restaurant, with Paul and I enjoying cocktails in a rooftop bar beforehand. He left Sydney five years ago so we had lots to catch up on! Gerardo is from Mexico City so it was interesting hearing his views about Mexican history and contemporary politics. Paul works as a journalist for Reuters and covers the whole of Latin America so his knowledge of local politics and culture is robust and detailed. I really enjoyed our conversations during my stay.

Stunning rhubarb crumble

My primary goal during these two weeks was to brush up on my Spanish enough to be more confident once I reached South America. The local International House had free Spanish lessons four times a week for Intermediate learners (for the benefit of their Mexican students gaining Spanish teaching qualifications). I signed up immediately and structured my time around the lessons. I also made sure I played on Duolingo for at least an hour a day (this is a wonderful language learning app which gamifies the learning of languages and is lots of fun). And I listened to my Collins 'Teach Yourself Spanish' audio course while doing my morning runs or walks. I felt as though this was an intensive enough approach! Despite my extensive lessons I still committed many faux pas while out and about. The one which makes me cringe the most was when in a cafe after having eaten a delicious breakfast, the waiter came up and asked me if everything had been okay. Without taking the time to mentally translate what he had said I assumed he was asking me if I wanted anything else. I emphatically said 'no' and shook my head, and only realised my mistake as he walked away in despair. Oh well, it will get better!

Between the lessons I managed to see a lot of different aspects of the city, and life here in Mexico. Paul took me out to see the Pyramids at Teotihuacan, stunning Mesoamerican ruins which cover a vast area of land outside the city. We rode on a bus for about an hour, past the barrios of Mexico, brightly-painted square stone houses covering the hills outside the city. Apparently these houses are illegal but there are so few places for these people to go, the government turns a blind eye. Although I know life in the barrios is very basic and people often have to go without water, I found these slums strangely beautiful to look at, probably because so many of them had painted them bright blue, or pink, or yellow. The pyramids were my first experience of the impact of being at this altitude. We are at 7,945 feet here, and I'm shocked at how fatigued it is making me feel. I was out of breath after only walking up one flight of stairs, and I feel as though I need a deep sleep at around 3pm every day! It's also making me very thirsty all the time. Hopefully I will get used to it before I arrive in Cusco for the Inca trek.

The plinths, on which once stood temples or houses of wealthy residents

These stairs nearly killed me!

Some of the residential ruins

Original stone carvings

Pyramid of the Sun

With my host, Paulo!

Looking down to the Temple of the Moon

Teotihuacan is believed to have been established around 100 BCE, and at one time it was the largest city in pre-Columbian America, with around 125,000 inhabitants. The remains are the most-visited archaeological site in Mexico. The Pyramid of the Sun is the third largest pyramid in the world, and it sits on the city's broad central road, named the 'Avenue of the Dead' by the Aztecs, because they assumed the ceremonial plinths lining the road were for tombs. Recent archaeological theories claim they were more likely for ceremonial purposes. There are several other temples, smaller, residential ruins and market squares. The city's urban grid is aligned to precisely 15.5 degrees east of North. One theory is that this is because the sun rose at that same angle during the same summer day each year. Settlers used the alignment to calibrate their sense of time or as a marker for planting crops or performing certain rituals. Remaining stones still show in part how colourful the city must have been when in its full glory. Once we'd finally made our way to the top the views were spectacular. Well worth the battle with altitude sickness!

Paul at the summit

On Saturdays there is an artisans market in a lovely suburb called San Angel, filled with cobbled streets and old colonial buildings. Working on the assumption it would be like markets back home in Sydney I was up and out straight after breakfast to make my way by train to the suburb. I had thought I would arrive when the market was in full swing, but no, at 11am they were only just setting up. Yes, I need to learn about 'Mexican time'. Things are different here. The markets were really interesting and I loved the innovation and beauty of the paintings and arts and crafts there. Once again, if my budget and luggage allowance weren't so meagre I would have loved a few of these beautiful things for my future home. But I resisted, instead taking ideas and enjoying browsing round the many stalls and soaking up the atmosphere. After a while I made it round some of the little streets to see the houses – predominantly large, smart colonial houses Spanish-influenced in style. Many of them had large front gates and were built round pretty internal courtyards. I followed my nose and came to a small park where I spent a while reading my book on a bench, observed only by the geckos and hummingbirds which also explored the park. A very tranquil day.

San Angel market stalls

Religious iconography on buildings

Angels on buildings

My lovey bench for the arvo

Cute bike park

Flame trees! Home from home

A visit to Mexico City is not complete without a pilgrimage to the house and studio of Frida Kahlo, perhaps its most famous artist. She lived in The Blue House (La Casa Azul) with her partner Diego Rivera, locally an extremely famous muralist and painter but I don't think as renowned internationally. Their house was wonderful, with interesting photos and historical art on the wall, a great collection of Mexican Folk Art and a well-appointed (for its time) kitchen. Upstairs was Frida's studio, with the paints and brushes laid out as they were just before she died. It was fascinating to see her easel and the view she had while painting. They also had an extensive book collection and many sculptures from local artists. Frida had a 'day bed' where she rested during the day (and on which she passed away), and then her own bedroom next door. The view from her day bed was of their lovely garden, filled with plants and sculptures and which gave her studio so much light. I would love to have a 'day bed' like this in my life one day.

One of Frida's puppet theatres

The woman herself

Frida's studio

Frida's paints

Frida's ashes are in the brown urn

Sculpture in the garden

Dedication by Patti Smith

Frida as a young girl

Frida had suffered from a number of ailments and accidents in her life which left her wearing a body brace and with one leg much shorter than the other. She was bed-bound and ill for much of her life but didn't let it stop her creativity. I loved reading about her attitude and her feistiness: what a character. And of course her art is incredible – but sometimes knowing more about the story behind the artist can really enhance one's appreciation of their art.

Frida and Diego had housed Leon Trotsky when he fled Lenin to Mexico City in the 1930s, so I popped around the corner to the Trotsky Museum, in a house in which Trotsky had also lived while in exile here, and in which he was murdered. This museum really tested my Spanish as most of the signs were only in one language, but I picked up enough to understand the story. The house was almost perfectly as he had left it, with his toothpaste and soap in the bathroom, his bed still made, his study and the office all featuring the elements used for him to still write while in exile. The windows were bricked up half way for his safety, with the most exposed side of the house bricked up entirely. His desk was as he had left it, when he was struck in the head from behind with an axe. Shocking!

Trotsky with Frida and Diego

A young Trotsky

He drank Twinings tea!

The work room in his house. Note the half bricked up window on the left

Trotsky's bathroom

Trotsky's bedroom

His desk, where he was killed

In my first week in DF I met a girl called Julieta who was carrying out some research for a potential business she's thinking of setting up, to run bicycle tours round Mexico City. We got on so well we decided to hang out a couple of times while I was in town. One day she took me by bus to the University so I could see the library mural by Juan O'Gorman, and we ventured to the MUAC contemporary art museum for some fascinating exhibitions by Mexican artists. We also explored the Polyforum, an auditorium in the city which features a huge three-dimensional mural by David Alfaro Siqueiros, called 'La Marcha de la Humanidad'. The faces in the mural were expressive: anguished, exultant, ardent. The huge hands at either end of the auditorium stretched out ambiguously, as if either begging or offering something to you. Julieta told me she had seen the Stone Roses here only a few months previously and I could imagine them playing in a venue such as this. I loved it.

Outside of the Polyforum with the World Trade Center in the background

Mural inside. Hard to convey the 3D nature but it's amazing.

Juan O'Gorman mural at the university

Want this table!

Want this clock!

Another place I explored and loved was Chapultepec castle, a beautiful castle on a hill in a huge centrally-located park. 'Chapultepec' stems from the Nahuatl word 'chapoltepec' which means 'on the grasshopper's hill'. There were several tributes to grasshoppers in the castle, including stained glass windows and a garden fountain. This beautiful castle was used in Baz Luhrmann's film of Romeo and Juliet, as were several other locations I visited in the city.

Tribute to Los Heroes Ninos

Gates of Chapultepec

Guarding Chapultepec

Mexico: old and new

Murals in Chapultepec

Old London-Mexico bank notes

Grumpy soldier

Amazing ceiling mural

Staircase

Cuautemoc, the final Indigenous Mexican chief

The Virgin of Guadalupe

More murals

Castle exterior

Beautiful stained glass windows

Carriage

Fountain

Carriage details

The terrace

View from the terrace

View from the terrace

Dining room

Light fitting

Beautiful tiles

View over the city

Grasshopper fountain

Lazy lion

Grasshopper window

Manicured gardens

Beautiful windows

Mexico city is equipped with an easily navigable and efficient transport system – I enjoyed taking both the train and the metrobus. 1.6 billion people take the metro train each year. Interestingly it has sections of the platform and train for women and children only. The metrobus had its own lane on the hectic roads so it could sail past the traffic jams. My favourite thing about the train was that each station had its own little logo, usually related to something in that area, so it was really easy for a newbie with limited language skills to navigate. The logo for Chapultepec was, you guessed it, a grasshopper. I think Sydney's rail and bus network planners could learn a lot from the Mexico City transport system! It's good that the city has such impressive public transport because the roads are crazy. Car drivers are a law unto themselves: apparently there is no driving test here, you just have to apply for a licence and you get it, a fact which is immediately apparent as a pedestrian. Parking is also kamikaze, and after the calmness of North American roads the reality of Mexican traffic was a rude awakening. Despite my increased confidence as a driver I don't think I would like to be behind the wheel here in DF.

I also headed into the main downtown area one day, to Zocalo. This is where the huge palace and ornate cathedral are, on two sides of the main city square. The buildings round here were incredibly impressive – built over the original Aztec temples and city of course. Here I visited the Palace of Bellas Artes where I saw an interesting exhibition of the work of French photographer Robert Doisneau. I also spent a few wonderful hours in a marvellously-curated exhibition of the history of Mexico City architecture, from 1900 to 2010. It was great to see the original plans of buildings I had already seen, and to see photos of buildings I wanted to see. There were also some fantastic examples of product design and town planning, such as bicycle stands which I had seen peppered throughout the city. It certainly gave me lots of inspiration. I also wandered into a myriad of churches and saw heaps of opulent gold altars and over-the-top gruesome statues.

The hotel which the Grand Budapest Hotel was based on?

Divine ceiling

Hotel bellboy

Foyer parrots

Palace des Bellas Artes

Very art deco interior

Art Deco light

Tiling

I spent a great few hours on this terrace

Gorgeous courtyard

Tiaras

The cathedral

In the centre of the city round the back of the palace was my first experience of how full-on the Mexican street vendors can be. The streets were lined with people selling anything and everything they could, some with just a blanket on the floor and a few simple, shoddy old items they desperately wanted to sell. Others had a more professional-looking outfit, with handwritten signs of texter on fluro card, advertising bras and undies for 10 soles. I walked up and down the streets marvelling at everything. Tiaras and ballgowns do a surprisingly good trade, and you could probably get a knocked-off version of any brand you like while you were here.

Street vendors

Amusing store name

C&A!

The Cathedral at dusk

Looking out to the palace at dusk

Awesome building typography

Mexico City rental bikes

After travelling in the USA for four months there were certainly aspects of life in Mexico City which came as a culture shock. For example there really is an incredible gulf between the rich and the poor, which is apparent every day. Although I was staying in a 'nice' suburb, people all over the city were constantly trying to sell me things, all sorts of things, in order to make a living. Incredibly resourceful people exploiting any opportunity to make a buck, but clearly in great need of this income as they don't have a lot of choice. On the trains people would walk up and down announcing in their monotone voices what wares they had that day, selling things like batteries, chewing gum, recipe books. It was my first experience of the very clear divide between different races and social classes within the country and it's something which played on my mind a lot while I was there, not least because I was reading Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's 'Americanah' at the time, which deals with the theme of race in the USA. I felt so conspicuous being white, made super-aware of it for probably the first time in my life, and wished I could escape what I felt to be the erroneous cultural signifiers my skin colour automatically gave off.

There were other culturally interesting things about Mexico City. The rubbish (trash) gets picked up at indiscriminate times each day, with the garbage man calling out upon arrival and people hastily dashing out of their homes with their rubbish bags. Another daily ritual was the woman who roamed the streets on the back of her large van, calling out 'we buy mattresses, we buy furniture' etc. Goodness knows if she ever made any business, but her voice was irritatingly monotone.

Etymology tiling

Local juice bar guys

Sneaky photo of lamps I want

Tiles: want!

Windows: want!

Ceiling light: want!

Interesting cafe

More tiles

More etymology

Love!

Pavement carving

More etymology tiles

On my last full day in the city my new friend Julieta and her friend Blue took me on a bicycle tour of the city. Riding round DF is not for the faint-hearted, as the roads are filled with noisy, hurried, contemptuous car drivers for whom road rules seem to be optional. Luckily my time commuting in Sydney and London prepared me somewhat for the experience (or at least made me more confident to deal with it!). Blue led the way as he knows the city like the back of his hand and we sped through some lovely suburbs, Polanco, Las Lomas, Carcamo. They took me back to the Chapultepec park but to a section I had not seen, where large round plateaus each featured a spired building and were circled by stone carvings of serpents. We stopped off at a beautiful tiled sculpture by Diego Rivera and Juan O'Gorman in a pool of water, of a man sowing seeds, best viewed from the air. Rivera had also created huge murals in a building nearby telling the story of water and how it gives us life. To be honest I'm not crazy about his painting style (probably a controversial opinion in this part of the world but there you go) but his subject matter is always interesting.

Snakes

Agua: a constant issue in Mexico City

Sculpture

Diego Rivera mural

Rivera mural

Sculpture

The army on their training

 Riding along

Tyres!

We stumbled upon these old people dancing

More dancers

We then rode over to a huge market called Mercado San Juan, where all manner of things could be purchased. In true Mexican style the place was chaos and we wheeled our bikes through the narrow lanes in the market, oggling at the seafood, strange meats, fruit and veg and all manner of produce. There were also adjacent markets for different kinds of wares. We stopped off for some traditional Spanish meats, bread and sangria to give us sustenance for the rest of our ride. Blue had no English and my Spanish is of course pretty basic so Julieta did a great job translating between us all day. Although of course it's astonishing what information hand gestures and intonation can convey.

Mercado San Juan

There's even a shrine at the Mercado

My bike buddies

Con Julieta

Gruesome church door

Jesus and his crown of thorns

Bike wall

Mexican family TV show mural

This cafe owner loves bikes

Virgin of Guadalupe with bike chains

Hospital del Jesus

Check out the mariachis

Jesus graffiti

Water seller

Bandstand

Squat

We bumped into a couple of chefs in their whites, fresh from a Guinness World Record attempt of the highest number of chefs in any one place, which we'd cycled past earlier. They obligingly posed for a photo.

Guinness world record chefs!

I returned back to La Condesa very happy, although a little sunburnt! This 'two-hour' bike ride which I had thought would be 10am-12pm actually finished at 6pm, we had been enjoying ourselves so much. Clearly I'm getting used to being on Mexican Time.

I committed another travel #fail while in Mexico City, but luckily it didn't end up in disaster. My daily rituals included a jog around the hippodrome in La Condesa and lounging at one of the local cafes which had free WIFI. On one such day I accidentally left my phone on top of the paper dispenser in the cafe toilet. The perils of keeping one's phone in one's jeans pocket! I noticed about half an hour later but by the time I dashed back to the cafe it wasn't there. My heart missed a beat and I asked the waiter in my broken Spanish if anyone had handed in a phone. He explained that a couple had found the phone but taken it with them, leaving their phone number behind. This seemed remarkably strange thing to do, but I duly called the number and ended up speaking with a guy whose English was pretty good. He explained that he worked around the corner and his female colleague who had found the phone in the toilet now had the phone. She had gone home for the day but I could go into their work place the following day and retrieve my phone. I was so grateful, and he explained that he would never hand a phone in at a cafe or anywhere as you can't trust the people who worked there. I thought this a little odd but when I got home Paul explained that he would act in the same way. The disparity of wages is such that my phone is probably worth more than two months' salary to someone working in a cafe. Apparently even the security guards and police are not to be trusted! Anyway, long story short, the girl forgot the phone the next day, which was Friday, and I was due to fly out of Mexico on the following Monday. Luckily she remembered the phone when I went back on the Monday, and I got it back only a couple of hours before leaving the country! Another lesson learnt.

Avenida Amsterdam, the hippodrome

My daily jogging track

After a thoroughly enjoyable couple of weeks I bid farewell to my wonderful hosts and packed up for Peru. Mexico City was definitely a great stepping stone from the USA to South America in many ways, and I left feeling rested, well looked-after and much more confident about my Spanish.

Postscript: coming from a secular society I was astonished at just how many open examples of Catholicism there are in Mexico: a very Catholic country. I started to collect photos of the Virgin of Guadalupe and shrines which I saw in the streets. Here are just a few of my favourites.