S/V AEOLI: Recap: Mexico City (w/pics and vids!)

Being on the mainland, we took the opportunity to take a week long trip into Mexico City. We were originally going to take the bus, but found cheap flights from Puerto Vallarta (around $180 round-trip with Orbitz on AeroMexico) that actually cost less than the 12 hour bus.

While in Mexico City, we took the Metro everywhere we needed to go (for 5 pesos per ride), including to and from the airport. The Metro station at the airport (Terminal Aerea) is from Terminal 1, and an airtrain connects Terminal 1 and Terminal 2. Note that the airtrain is outside of the secure area of the airport, but there are guards at the entrance of the terminal stations who need to see some proof (boarding pass, itinerary) that you are taking or have recently been on a flight. Also, there are almost no signs directing to the Metro station in Terminal 1: walk down to the end of the Sala A, then outside past all the taxis, then around the corner to the Metro station. When in doubt, follow the locals who look like they are getting off from work at the airport.

Accomodations
We spent 4 nights at the Hotel Isabel on Isabel la Catolica, and one night at Hotel Diligencias on Belisario Dominguez, both in Centro Historico. The location of Hotel Isabel is great, only a few blocks up from the Isabel la Catolica Metro station with plenty of places to eat and the ever crowded Av Madero pedestrian street nearby. Although the room was huge (4 double beds and a dining room table), there was only lukewarm water for showers and a constant moldy/sewagey smell in the bathroom. The room at Hotel Diligencias was much nicer with a comfortable bed and hot water, but the nearby Metro station (Bellas Artes) is not on the main Linea 1, making it less convenient. Also, the neighbourhood is somewhat sketchier than around Hotel Isabel.

Food
We have heard from many locals how great and inexpensive the food is in Mexico City and we were not disappointed. The highlights included:

Costillas El Sitio tacos and comida corrida (on Republica de Uruguay around Calle 5 de Febrero, Centro Historico)

The biggest bakery we have ever seen with all kinds of great pastries (around Costillas El Sitio, just follow your nose!)

Korean fried chicken in Zona Rosa (on Liverpool around Av Florencia)

The birthplace of al pastor tacos! El Tizoncito in Condesa (on Campeche and Cholula)

Brunch at El Cardenal starts with semi-sweet hot chocolate and sweet rolls! (on Palma around Av Madero, Centro Historico)

12 peso fresh squeezed OJ from our favourite juice guy (on Motolinia around 16 de Septiembre, Centro Historico)

Cafe con leche (like a giant latte!) at Los Bisquets Bisquets Obregon (on Av Madero around Motolinia, Centro Historico)

Argentine steak at El Diez in Condesa (on Benjamin Hill around Cholula)

Around the Zocolo (Plaza de la Constitucion)
The juxtaposition of the colonial Catedral Metropolitana next to the Templo Mayor seems to be a great representation of Mexican history.
It is thought that the Templo Mayor was the exact place where the Aztecs saw the symbol (an eagle with a snake in its beak perched on a cactus) of where to build their capital, Tenochtitlan. After the Spaniards conquered Tenochtitlan, they built the cathedral over the site of the Templo Mayor, and the ruins were only excavated in 1978 when electricity workers found a large stone-disc carving.

Based on construction work to add pilings, it is believed that several other pre-Hispanic structures exist under the cathedral

The entire courtyard in the Secretaria de Educacion Publica building is lined with murals painted by Diego Rivera in the 1920s. The murals depict the life of the people throughout Mexican history, many powerful images that do not require verbal description.

Museo Nacional de Antropologia
We spent an entire day at the National Anthropology Museum and would definitely recommend it for anyone visiting Mexico City. The museum presents a thorough and comprehensive history of pre-Hispanic Mexico. The halls are coherently classified by time periods and geography, enabling the visitor to understand how civilizations preceeded one another, and how civilizations in different regions interacted. The following is a brief synopsis of my understanding of the highlights of pre-Hispanic history.

During the last ice-age (before 8000 BC), migration occurred from Siberia across the Bering strait, and some groups continued moving south to the warmer climates of present day Mexico.

Pre-Classic Period (before AD 250)
- In the central highlands (the area around the State of Mexico) various tribes were transitioning from a nomadic lifestyle to agricultural based settlements
- Around the Gulf Coast (southern Veracruz and Tabasco), the Olmec civilization was well organized and left many artistic artifacts, including the giant Olmec heads

Classic Period (AD 250-900)
- In the central highlands, the first great civilization in central Mexico arose at the city of Teotihuacan, which grew to a population of 125, 000 people
- In Oaxaca, the Zapotecs also develop their capital Monte Alban
- In the Yucatan Peninsula the Classic Maya civilization develops

- Evidence of trade between these civilizations exists
- Teotihuacan and the Classic Maya rise and fall during the Classic Period

Post-Classic Period (AD 900-1521)
- In the central highlands, after the fall of Teotihuacan, power is divided among 4 locally important cities: Xochicalco, Cacaxtla, Cantona, and Tula. These groups are collectively referred to as the central Mexican Toltec empire and existed in the early post-classic period (AD 900 - 1150). ['The importance of Tula in Mesoamerica resided in the impetus and consolidation of militarism and expansionism']

- The Aztecs or the Mexica (originally nomads from the west or north) became the most powerful group in the central highlands with their capital at Tenochtitlan ['The Mexica era was in the Late Postclassic (AD 1300 - 1521) and is mainly associated with militarism and war dominating all aspects of the societies that lived at that time']

- The Tarascos ruled Michoacan and were the one group who managed to avoid conquest by the Mexicas
- Zapotecs and Mixtecs in Oaxaca are conquered by the Aztecs towards the end of this period

And then the Spanish came...

Teotihuacan
We took the bus from Terminal Norte to the ruins at Teotihuacan, about 1 hour from the city. There is a small museum there, but the highlight is definitely climbing the Piramide del Sol and Piramide de la Luna and seeing the view of the ruins.

Skeletons with their hands bound behind their backs, found around the temple ruins

In front of the Piramide del Sol

View from the top of the Piramide del Sol

View of the Piramide de la Luna from the top of the Piramide del Sol

View from the top of the Piramide de la Luna

Templo de Quetzalcoatl

Sites around Mexico City
When we weren't taking the Metro we were walking all over the city. We stayed mainly in the tourist districts of the Bosque de Chapultepec, Zona Rosa, and Centro Historico and felt safe the whole time, even walking around at night in the crowded areas. Particularly lovely is the walk up the Paseo de la Reforma from the Bosque de Chapultapec to the Palacio de Bellas Artes. I think Mexico City beats Paris as the city of young lovers!

Palacio de Bellas Artes

Lovely fountains at Alameda Central

A wall of people walking on Av Madero

Castillo de Chapultepec

Monumento a los Ninos Heroes

Paseo de la Reforma

Museo Frida Kahlo and Anahuacalli
We followed the crowds to the Frida museum, and since it was included in the ticket price, we also visited the Anahuacalli (the museum designed by Diego Rivera to house his collection of pre-Hispanic art). It was interesting to learn about these iconic people in Mexican modern history.

One clock has the time they were married, and the other has the time when Frida decided to divorce Diego for having an affair with her sister

Her studio

Her ashes

Reserva Mariposa Monarcha
We took an overnight trip from Mexico City into the state of Michoacan to see the Monarch Butterfly Reserve. From Terminal Poniente (Metro Observatorio), we caught the Excelencia bus to Angangueo (3.5 hours, 170 pesos). The bus is categorized as ‘semi-directo’ which seems to mean that it has only a few stops around Mexico City, but once it gets into the smaller towns, it essentially acts as the local bus. As we passed through one town, the Federales boarded and required all the men on the bus (Matt was exempted) to get out to be frisked.

As the bus neared Angangueo, we were approached by a man offering information about the Sierra Chincua monarch reserve. We generally handle such solicitations with caution, but it turned out that David works as a guide at the reserve and was very helpful. He explained that the Excelencia bus passes right by the entrance to the Sierra Chincua reserve on its way between Angangueo and Mexico City. When the bus arrived in town, he helped us to find Hotel Juarez (basic enough accommodations for one night), and we planned to meet the next morning to take the 8:30AM bus to the reserve.

Angangueo turned out to be quite lovely with a quaint central square and elevated streets providing lookouts over the town. The terrain in the central highlands is mountainous and forested. We had an unmemorable meal at the main restaurant in town, Los Arcos, near the central square.

As planned, we met with David and took the 8:30AM bus headed for Mexico City, and were let off at the reserve entrance. We walked up the road for about 15 minutes and arrived at the main buildings servicing the reserve. We then hiked for another 45 minutes, passing a few viewpoints before arriving at the sanctuary around 10AM. There were indeed thousands of monarchs around the trees in the sanctuary area, and we found that they were very active in sunnier areas. Moving slowly and quietly, we were able to get some great photos and some even started landing on us.

The monarch butterfly migration is complex: from August to November the monarch butterflies from the Great Lakes region of Canada and the US fly down to the Mexican highlands for the winter; in March they mate and the pregnant females fly north to the southeastern US to lay their eggs in milkweed; these eggs hatch into caterpillars, make cocoons, and emerge as butterflies in late May; this generation travels back to the Great Lakes where they breed and then by August it is the next generation that heads south to Mexico. So it is every other generation that winters in Mexico.

We hiked back down to the main buildings to grab a quick lunch, then hiked the rest of the way back to the road and caught the 12:45PM bus back to Mexico City. It turned out to be a logistically simple trip for the unique experience of seeing so many monarch butterflies. David was a great guide: amiable with excellent English, and open to allowing us to practice our Spanish and answering our burning questions about Mexico.