Mexico City

I thought I'd put most of the Mexico sightseeing into a single post but we made a few trips into the city whilst we were staying here.

Mexico City has a really good and cheap metro system, which aims to take people off the very busy roads above. It can also get quite busy especially during rush hour. 

There is some good art in the stations.

We rode it to Zocalo station. It was a really easy journey with two changes so we got a good feel of how the system works. The Zocalo is the largest main square in the world. 

The cathedral sits on the northern side of the square.

On the southern edge is this which is short for "Cuidad De MeXico". That guy was too much of a shit to move despite me making it clear I wanted a photo. So I had no choice but to include him in it.

I've no idea who this was but he wears some dope threads.

Amazing detail! This was found East of the Zocalo opposite the Palacio Nacional.

The Palacio Nacional is home to some amazing murals and we got here ahead of it opening. Note, if you're not using a guide they do take a passport as a deposit for the visitor passes and they're quite strict on what you can take in. I left my bag in the cloakroom to mitigate any lengthy discussion with the men with guns.

Inside the Palace. As you enter head to the right then make your way to the stairs opposite.

These are the Diego Rivera murals and they're amazing. He was the husband of Frida Kahlo and this piece tells the story of the history of Mexico. The detail is insane and I spent quite a bit of time just looking at the intricacies in it.

There's Frida. I have no idea who the mutant with the white eyes is!

This mural circles the stairwell wall and there are a number of pieces along one of the upper corridors.

Not much to say other than "wow, wow, wow". I knew nothing of this place and it was Thomas who suggested we visit this. I'm so glad we did.

I did notice in one of the murals there's a man holding a Sky remote, so I don't quite know how that happened given the piece pre-dates Sky.

Not all of Mexico's past was worth celebrating but I like the negative elements were captured too. Branding seems to feature quite heavily in these pieces.

A walk around the top floor opens up some further galleries and you're even allowed into one of the debating chambers, and the men with guns were ok with us taking photos too.

The fountain centre piece in the courtyard.

This is the Belle Artes which is one of the main theatres in the city. It's located to the West of the Zocalo on the way to the Alameda Park.

South of the Bella Artes is this skyscraper. We were going to save that for our final night.

The Alameda is a lovely little famous park in this part of the city.

In December it gets its own fair which looks pretty big by all accounts.

On the west side of the Alameda is this replica of a famous Rivera piece.

The original is around the corner in a museum. It's stunning.

He's painted himself in the centre as a young boy holding the hand of La Catarina, who is a symbol of Dia De Los Muertes (Day of the Dead). Kahlo is behind him.

Whilst walking around the Alameda we witnessed a woman stumble out of underpass before being struck by a car. I could sense something wasn't right and managed to get a photo of the moment of impact. She lay in front of the car for a bit before holding up an arm and saying she was ok...

...at which point the nearby director yelled "cut" in Spanish and everybody clapped. We'd stumbled into a film shoot.

More murals!

Mexico City is easy to get around and our visit was just a whistle-stop tour of the centre of it. That's really easy to reach on the metro. The Rivera pieces are a must-do and assign more time to it than you think you need. You will find yourself scouring over the photos for quite a while.

next