Merece lo que sueñas
Octavio Paz

Mexico City, or DF as it is known there, is the oldest capital city in the Americas and one of the two capitals founded during pre-Columbian times. Founded as Tenochtitlan by the Aztecs or Mexica, it was originally located on Lake Texcoco and was pretty much surrounded by water and canals like Venice. Today, it is a sprawling city of more than 25 million people. There are so many things to see, and several hundred museums, with many different neighborhoods with different moods and architecture, big parks so much more “green” than I expected. Street art is everywhere, and it’s very difficult to find bad food. Pictures are not chronological but rather organized by general area.

Around la Condesa & la Roma

Very residential and relaxed, la Condesa and la Roma are filled with small restaurants, bars, cafes and art galleries. It’s very easy to slow down and just walk around for a whole day.

Mercado Jamaica

The city has many different markets that are open 24 hours a day and where you can find almost everything. Mercado Jamaica has a whole part dedicated to flowers, thousands and thousands of flowers.

Zona Rosa
Centro Historico

Coyoacan

Coyoacan, the place of Coyotes, used to be a separate village from the main city but is now one of the 16 boroughs. This is where Leon Trotsky settled during his exile and was ultimately assassinated. It is also where you find the beautiful house of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera.

Xochimilco

Another borough of the city is Xochimilco, where you can still find canals connected to the Lake of the same name. These days, a very popular activity amongst Chilangos (people from Mexico City) is to go spend a few hours or the full day on these very colorful “Trajinera” boats to party, relax, and listen to the Mariachi bands going around also on boats.

Lucha Libre

Lucha libre, or Mexican wrestling, is a fascinating part of Mexican popular entertainment culture. Luchadors, dressed in colorful masks, perform all sorts of very athletic acrobatic maneuvers. The “sport” has a long tradition going back the 19th century, and the athletes often come from the same families or neighborhoods.

This concludes, this visit of the “modern” parts of the city. Next is going back to Pre-hispanic Tenochtitlan, a visit of the Templo Mayor, Anthropology museum, and the Pre-Aztec site of Teotihuacan.