We spent two nights in Mexico City on our way to the Pacific coast: not enough time to see even a fraction of the sights, but very interesting nonetheless.
Found an excellent
hotel with rooms at Mexican prices - 300 pesos per night (=$30 US or £20
GB)!!! And that was for all three of us sharing a good-sized room with en-suite
shower/WC. The hotel does not have online booking, but you can phone and
confirm by Fax or letter. Details as follows:
Hotel Galicia
Honduras 11
C.P. 06010
MEXICO D.F.
3-star; 77 rooms with restaurant, bar, and events venue.
Telephone/Fax: (+52)-5-529-7791 to 7796
For other hotels, try Mexican Yellow Pages and search for "Hoteles" in the region "Distrito Federal". There are lots of other hotel resources on the Web, but you will end up paying American prices...
Hotel Galicia is on a street named "Honduras" which leads within a few metres into the famous Garibaldi Square. There you can be entertained at night by Mexican singers - "Mariachis" - while you eat outside at one of the many restaurants.
| Mexico City (Tenoctitlan) was once the Venice
of Central America. When Cortez arrived in the 16th century, he found a complex
civilisation and beautiful buildings set on canals leading into a lake. "It
is" he observed "more advanced than any city we have in Europe". There was
a complex supply chain for the city, with boats bringing in fresh produce
from farms, some of which floated on artificial islands in the lake. More history
of these islands (chinampas) can be found
here. To see what remains today,
go to my pages on Xochimilco.
An aqueduct brought fresh water from the mountains. There had to be a downside, and it was undoubtedly the barbaric religion of the Aztecs, based on propitiation of the Gods by human sacrifice. Victims were carried to the top of a pyramid, their hearts ripped out by the priests, and their bodies flung down the steps. The largest pyramid in Mexico City is now called the Templo Mayor (what little remains of it, because it was razed to the ground by Cortez and its stones used to build the cathedral dedicated to Saint Mary of Guadaloupe). |
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This picture was taken on May 4th, the day before the "Cinco de Mayo" Festival, when the Mexicans celebrate winning a war against the French in 1862. The Cathedral is being prepared for a grand military procession and speeches from the podium. |
A few "real" Indians of Aztec descent perform outside the temple for the benefit of tourists. Sadly, all the canals are long since gone, and the lake was drained centuries ago. The cathedral now sits on ground that was formerly under 3 metres of water, looking out over the largest square in the world - "Plaza Zocalo".
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The best way to get around in Mexico City is to use the Metro (subway). A flat fare of 2 pesos - 20c US/14p GB - is all you need for a single ride anywhere on the network. See the map for all destinations. The nearest station to Hotel Galicia is Allende, and for the Cathedral and Templo Mayor, get off at Zocalo.
Taxis are naturally more expensive. There are two main types of taxi - green VW beetles/bugs, and white people-carriers. The green taxis have earned a bad reputation, as they have become associated with crime. To put all this in context, each day there are 10 taxi-related crimes in Mexico City from a total of 850,000 taxi hires. The chances of getting mugged by your taxi driver are probably less than the chances of getting run over crossing the street! If you are concerned about the risk, however, you are recommended to order your taxi by phone.
Certain areas of Mexico City can be dangerous by night. If in doubt, seek entertainment as near as possible to your hotel, travel in groups of 4 or more, and do not attract attention by flaunting jewellery, etc. We ended up taking a ride in the back of a police car because we had strayed into an unsafe area one night - and sure enough, the car was pelted with cans by villainous-looking youths further on down the street! The policemen kindly let us off at our destination, insisting that we must take a taxi back to the hotel and not attempt to walk again after dark.
< Click here
to visit the floating gardens of Xochimilco |
or here, to go to Manzanillo
> |
