Buzz... People... Buzz and People

Greater Mexico City sometimes considered the world's largest and most populated city is the most ancient metropolis of America. Founded by the Nahua Aztec or Mexican tribe as Tenochtitlán in 1325, it rapidly became the capital of a sophisticated growing empire. Mexico City is the highest (2,240 meters / 347 ft) metropolis on the North American continent and is located in the large Valley of Mexico, also called the Valley of Anáhuac. Sheltered by the volcanoes Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl Mexico City has the best climate of the world, with an average annual temperature of 22°C.

The Mexico City population is around 28.5 million inhabitants!!! Yes, I know there are a lot of people over there... but Mexico City is the capital city of Mexico, the nerve center of the all political, financial and cultural activities and has an important relevance as the "bridge" among the United States and the Latin America.

Mexico City is also the Federal District (Distrito Federal in Spanish, and hence the abbreviation D.F. that officially follows the name of the city). The Federal District is coextensive with Mexico City: both are governed by a single institution and are constitutionally considered to be the same entity.

Mexico City incorporates 58 adjacent municipalities of Mexico State and 1 municipality of the state of Hidalgo, according to the most recent definition agreed upon by the federal and state governments.

Mexico City offers everything a modern, savvy traveler or family vacationer could ever want.

Mexico City D.F. is huge and that's why the number of hotels and accommodations are also high!

In Mexico D.F you can find luxurious rooms with services of every kind, boutique, suites, comforting low price rooms, budget accommodations and amazing colonial hotels in the historical zone...so, in Mexico City you will have so many options to choose the hotel that is just right for you.

This colossal city offers a great variety of cultural, commercial and tourist attractions where you and your family will be able to realize all kinds of activities as visiting museums and admiring its marvelous collections that reflect the historical and artistic evolution of the people of Mexico, from the pre-Hispanic epoch to the present day. Mexico City is a city with world class events, festivals, shopping, food and wine, and a fabulous arts scene.

Mexico City is one of the most important cultural centers in the world boasting more museums than any other city. It is also the fourth city in number of theaters after New York City, London and Toronto.

Mexico City Mexico has, recently, received significant attention for its incredible architecture. A mix of 16th, 17th and 18th century European buildings are found with contemporary day businesses near by.

History shows up everywhere in the city, for example, there are at least a dozen major working archaeological sites within the city limits!

Speaking of the past, you won't want to miss the Xochimilco floating gardens, which have been in existence for seven centuries, since the time of the Aztecs!

Such an experience awaits you in the Zocalo, the historic heart of Mexico City. The Zocalo is just one of many amazing spots in this vibrant and ever-changing city, though, dominated by its monumental Metropolitan Cathedral.

Chapultepec Park, the largest park within a city in the world, is a fantastic example. The park is in places exactly as it was centuries ago, but elsewhere in the park you will find a host of entertainments for adults, kids and the entire family. From mime troupes to magic shows, there's something for everyone.

And then, Mexico City offer a beautiful zone, Coyoacan. Coyoacan is an enchanting colonial neighborhood in which you can actually feel the tranquility and colonial charm of Old Mexico.

If you want to know more about the history of this marvelous nation, and not only, I suggest you to visit "The National Anthropological Museum"

México City is also a very special place for shoppers. Anything that is made in México is available here along with countless imported designer items.

Shopping in Mexico City ranges from extraordinarily varied (and frenetic) markets to swanky boutiques, department stores, and shops specializing in Mexican arts and crafts. For its numerous bazaars, squares and malls up to exclusive boutiques Mexico City offer crafts, clothes and silver jewels of every kind at exclusive prices.

Plan a visit to Polanco, especially the areas of Presidente Masaryk, Centro Santa Fe and Zona Rosa if you would like to bring home good stuff. Centro Coyoacán and Perisur, which are both located in the southern part of the city, are other very popular shopping places.

TRAVEL TIPS - Try to negotiate on the price, sometimes it gives good results :-)

What about the Mexican cuisine you will taste in this huge city?

The arrays of restaurants, of every kind, dotting the roads of Mexico City propose delicious recipes and spicy tastes! Most of the Mexicans eat meals on the street in the marketplaces, but the Mexico City restaurants range from traditional Mexican restaurants, seafood specialists, Spanish, French, Chinese, Argentinean and Italian cuisines. You will find some of the world's greatest steak houses and also some of the best tacos.

After a good tacos dinner, maybe accompanied by the typical Mariachi music, the party starts...

The Mexico City nightlife is some of the best in the entire world. You will have an almost endless choice of options. Nightlife doesn't usually get going in Mexico City until 10 pm at the earliest, and while the more sober places close at 2am, others stay open until 4 am or later. Mexico City is always alive, but at night, the vibrations pound and the parties kick into full swing.

The music scene boasts jazz clubs, loud all-night discos, Mariachi music, Flamenco, Cuban and salsa clubs, classical concerts, opera, philharmonic orchestras, romantic trios, chamber music and much much more!

TRAVEL TIPS -Check with yours and other local Hotels about public parties they may be hosting during your Mexico City Vacation. Traditional Mexican theme night parties are popular with the locals, and there's a chance you could join a really special night out!

TRAVEL TIPS - Mexico City has a reputation for danger. The average tourist is not likely to be a victim of these crimes. The first rule of Mexico City is NEVER hail a taxi on the street. Take only sitio (stationed) cabs that operate out of stands or cabs called for by hotel or restaurant staff. Major tourist areas are generally very safe, but be on your guard against petty theft, as that threat is pervasive. Mexico City has an inexpensive, easy-to-use metro, and an equally cheap and practical bus system plying all the main routes.

The amount of fun you can have in a Mexico City Vacation is impressive!

By: Elena Piccini
Travel and information about Mexico and its destinations - Mexico vacations, Mexico hotels and all inclusive resorts with many travel ideas and deals! Check our Travel News page and discover the inside secrets of Mexico.
Elena Piccini
http://www.letsgomexico.com

Hailed as the crown jewel of Latin America, Mexico City, the capital of Mexico, is a traveler's paradise that never fails to enthrall visitors. The city was the seat of Aztec seat of power and has one of the oldest urban settlements in the Western Hemisphere. In terms of size Mexico City is ranked as the world's second largest city, just next to Tokyo.

To help you learn about Mexico City’s past, you will need to visit the Zocalo, Mexico City’s central plaza. Zocalo boasts the Templo Mayor, a monument of the Aztecs and a haunting reminder of the past. You will also need to visit the Historic Center, a four-square-mile area that includes the ruins of the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan, and remnants from the colonial era. UNESCO declared the Historic Center a World Heritage Site in 1988. Interesting places to visit in the Historic Center are the Zocalo and its vicinity, the metropolitan cathedral, the National Palace, the Templo Mayor, Mexico City Museum, San Ildefonso Museum, Alameda Park and Vicinity, Madero and Vicinity, Iturbide Palace, National Art Museum and San Carlos Museum, amongst several other interesting places.

Mexico City has mild weather. Winters are not chilly, while rains characterize the summer season. The top tourist attractions in the city are located in distinct areas, and exploring each area could take of about a day or more. This means that traveling to Mexico City can be done year-round. However, some seasons offer you a better deal in hotel prices, the details for which can be provided by your travel agent.

Mexico City offers a wide array of facilities for the traveler. Regardless of the time of the year you visit Mexico City, you can witness endless cultural activities. The nightlife also provides activities like ballet, opera, folkloric shows, rock concerts, and bars and nightclubs featuring live music. Live Cuban music and tropical salsa clubs appears to be a big favorite for most visitors. One of the best places to look for local activities in the city is the Friday or Saturday edition of local newspapers. While there are many cities across the world, Mexico City is a class apart. As they say, “You haven’t seen cities, if you haven’t visited Mexico City.”

By: Eric Morris
Mexico provides detailed information on Mexico, Travel Mexico, Mexico Vacations, Mexico City and more. Mexico is affiliated with Acapulco Spring Breaks.

After our visit to the huge government-owned pawnshop, Nacional Monte de Piedad, we saw a side view of Mexico City's and Latin America's biggest cathedral: the Catedral Metropolitana. It is also at the heart of the world's largest Catholic diocese. Due to the fact that Mexico was built on the former Lake Texcoco, the cathedral is slowly sinking and scaffolding in the interior of the building attests to the efforts to try to stabilize it.

In front of the Cathedral are numerous merchants that sell all sorts of handicrafts to the tourists. The wide open public space in front of the church is called the Zócalo and it is said to be the second largest public square in the world, after Red Square in Moscow. An indigenous healer was performing a cleansing ceremony in public with a local couple. He had a variety of herbs and was burning incense for this purification ritual.

To the left side of the cathedral is the Palacio Nacional which today houses the office's of Mexico's president. One of the typical "organiceros" was stationed outside, playing his automated melody, but none of the organ grinders we saw today were willing to have their picture taken and they always conveniently looked away when a camera was pointing at them.

We had to talk our way into this beautiful building since a guard stationed outside demanded that we show identification which we unfortunately did not have on us. However, with Vanessa's feminine charm we were able to obtain a few minutes in this astounding building.

The National Palace was built on the site of Montezuma's Palace and was initially the residence of Hernán Cortés after he conquered Mexico. The building has a beautiful courtyard with arcades and a fountain in the middle. The staircase to the 2nd floor and the walls on the upper floor are adorned with a series of murals by Mexico's most famous muralist, Diego Rivera. The wall paintings illustrate the history of Mexico, from the pre-Columbian peoples, to their subjugation by Spanish conquerors, the fight for independence from Spain, revolutionary leaders, as well as the dictatorship under Porfirio Diaz which was put to an end by Francisco I. Madero.

We then walked around the crafts market just outside the Cathedral and had a look at the Templo Mayor, an imposing complex built by the Aztecs in the 14th and 15th century. It was at the heart of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec city that, like so many others, was destroyed by the Spanish conquistadors. The Spanish invaders had a habit of destroying any preexisting architecture and building their churches and palaces on top of them.

Calle Tacuba took us towards our well-deserved late lunch in the historic Café de Tacuba, a famous restaurant located in a building from the 17th century. The café itself dates back to 1912. I had a very tasty sopa de ajo (garlic soup) with some even tastier quesadillas con guacamole which were even hotter. Vanessa strengthened herself witha tamal (spicy rice cooked in a husk of corn). We needed the strength since our next adventure was a ride in Mexico City's subway.

I always love riding in public transport in other cities, particularly in subways, since they all have their own peculiar atmosphere. Mexico City's subway stations are quite utilitarian (not a lot of spectacular public art in the stations we saw) and the subway cars themselves ride on rubber wheels. This contrasts quite strongly to the metal clanking of our subway cars here in Toronto. Vanessa indicated that you have to be careful in public transit here and during rush hour the subway cars are subdivided in cars for men and for women.

We took several subway routes to the Universidad Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, a former monastery dedicated to the nun of the same name who was an interesting character and lived from 1648-1695. She was colonial Latin America's pre-eminent poet and scholar during the 17th century. Around age 19 she became a nun, declaring that only life in the monastery would give her sufficient opportunity for her studies and intellectual pursuits. Today her monastery is the Universidad del Claustro de Sor Juana and we explored this historic building and were impressed by the inner courtyard that was full of eager students and, interestingly enough, numerous hungry cats waiting to be fed by the staff.

On the subway ride back to Vanessa's parents' apartment I reflected on my first day in Mexico. It is an immense city, and the downtown just swirls with people. One thing I noticed was how ethnically homogeneous Mexico City is: the vast majority of people I saw were of indigenous or mixed indigenous / mestizo background and we both mused about how few tourists / foreigners we saw.

We saw a ton, and Vanessa is certainly a phenomenal tour guide and local expert. I just wish I had more time to explore all the historic buildings with their fascinating inner courtyards. There is just so much to see and so little time...

By: Susanne Pacher
Susanne Pacher is the publisher of http://www.travelandtransitions.com, a web portal for unconventional travel & cross-cultural connections. Check out our brand new FREE ebooks about travel.

Mexico City is the cultural epicenter of the country of Mexico. A visit to the Palacio Nacional opens your eyes to beautiful patios and halls decorated with murals, which portray Mexican history and culture. Known colloquially as D.F., the City of Mexico abounds in fascinating sites worth a look dating from yesteryears to the more modern and cosmopolitan.

A tour of Mexico City is enchanting for the simple reason that it has almost everything a visitor could aspire to experience. A lively culture, exquisite cuisine, world famous art, mariachi, traditional handicrafts, architecture and the omnipresent fiesta are the range of attractions that the city holds forth for the tourists. In addition, you can tire yourself shopping, trekking, visiting interesting museums, or entertaining yourself at theatres.

The Bosque de Chapultepec (Chapultepec Woods) and its surrounding green space is an interesting place to begin to get the feel of Mexico City. There are many museums to be found here, notable among them being the Museo Nacional de Antropologia, Rufino Tamayo Museum, Museo de Arte Moderno and Papalote Nacional de Historia. However, the main attraction in the park, which will catch your eyes, is the Castillo de Chapultepec. Not very far is the La Feria, the city’s oldest amusement park. Here, nestled among the woods, you can catch a glimpse of Los Pinos, the official residence of the President. You can also make a tour of the Auditorio Nacional, the auditorium where world famous performances are staged.

Enjoy all this and more while basking under the hospitality of Mexico City hotels where excellent services and facilities are assured to keep the guests happy and satisfied.

By: Gagan Makin
http://www.stayresmexico.com/cities-in-mexico.html.

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