Round The World and other travels
A frequent flyer's collection of trip diaries
This is: Mexico 2019
Getting reacquainted with CDMX
The trip entered a new phase today: Bruce went back to work, albeit based in Mexico City. We managed to have breakfast together in a rather busy Club Lounge, a freshly cooked omelette being the centrepiece of mine. After completing my morning routine, I set out to update my knowledge of this destination on my own, while Bruce got on with his work.
Beginning with the immediate surroundings on
the side of the hotel that was visible from our room, I had a look
at the Auditorio Nacional and a little sculpture garden
just along from it. I also got close - without wishing to push my
luck - to a heavily guarded military parade ground. With the local
area out of the way, I then struck out along the Paseo de la
Reforma (the busy main road forming part of our view) to the
well regarded Museum of Anthropology. This was good value at MXN75
(approximately GBP3) for entry. The substantial, U-shaped building
had two levels: the lower floor concentrated on archaeology in the
various states of Mexico, while the upper level focused on people. I
thought the museum was an absolutely first-rate, world-class
facility. It managed to hold my interest for two hours. As tends to
be the rule rather than the exception these days, photography
without flash was permitted.
Following a snack at the Museum of Anthropology immediately prior to leaving the site, I crossed the Paseo and entered Chapultepec Park at the 'bookshop' gate, recognising this immediately from my previous visit - also with Bruce - in 2011. I made my way to the main lake, where I quickly spotted something I didn't recognise from my previous visit: one of the most prominent viewpoints was adorned with the four large letters 'CDMX'. I soon realised that this was probably an acronym for Ciudad de México, but didn't learn the full significance of the innovation until I investigated later. It turns out that the acronym was introduced in 2016 to help publicise an important change for Mexico's capital city. Prior to that time, the city had been a Distrito Federal, with strictly limited powers. On 29 January 2016, Ciudad de México gained a greater level of political autonomy, but stopped short of becoming a fully fledged federal state, as this is apparently prohibited by the country's constitution.
Walking eastwards from this point, I soon
found myself at the semicircular Altar a la Patria ('Altar to
the Homeland'), better known to most local residents as
Monumento a los Niños Héroes ('Monument to the Boy Heroes').
However the relative merits of the two names weigh up, the imposing
and elegant structure is dedicated to the memory of young combatants
in the US-Mexican War of the mid-19th century, with each column
containing the remains of a young victim of the war. I was
supposedly looking for the Modern Art Museum at this point, but
managed to walk right past it, perhaps partly because I found the
monument strangely compelling and moving.
Exiting Chapultepec Park, I rejoined the
Paseo and headed towards the 'Diana' fountain. Traffic was
dire, and the police were taking drastic (but
presumably well rehearsed) measures to alleviate the situation.
These included partial road closures, conversion of two-way streets
to one-way, and allowing one-way traffic to pass either side of a
roundabout (having closed the cross street to traffic). An
unexpected positive consequence for me personally was that I was
able to stand in the middle of a normally busy section of roadway in
order to photograph the Angel of Independence. This, of course, was
right next to the Sheraton hotel that Bruce and I had based
ourselves in during our 2011 visit.
I stopped for a coffee break while heading northwest towards Polanco, but soon enough found myself on the extremely ritzy Avenida Presidente Masaryk, Mexico City's answer to Fifth Avenue. It was like being in another city altogether, with so many prominent displays of very conspicuous wealth. I then made short visits to American Park and Lincoln Park, from where it was a short walk back to base at the InterContinental.
If I say so myself, I thought I had made a pretty good effort today, especially considering that (a) I never once set foot on public transport, all my movements being on foot, and (b) if Denver is the mile-high city, then CDMX is the 1.4 mile-high city. I treated myself to some well deserved relaxation on my return, and then, when Bruce finished his working day, we spent another successful evening in the Club Lounge.
