Avoiding Lockdowns & Enjoying Mexico City
While the rest of the world was in the grip of a rapidly spreading virus, and various governments around the world were locking in their populations due to a massive amount of uncertainty, Mexico City, on the other hand, was taking it slow.
The president decided not to shut everything down, and let people figure things out for themselves whether they wanted to stay at home or not work.
Thus, I treated the openness of Mexico as an opportunity to continue enjoying life, as if nothing ever happened 🙂
Amazing Rooftop Views in Mexico City
Despite being prone to massive earthquakes, Mexico City continues to build upwards. Thus it was time to get a relative birds-eye view of the city from Citizen bar right in one of the many hearts of Mexico City.
When I went, there was no cover to go up there, but the drinks were priced for the view, about $10 a drink. Either way, the view was absolutely amazing!
The Volcanoes of Mexico City
Just down the street, about 2 hours from the center of Mexico City, are the massive volcanoes of Popocatépetl and Iztaccihuatl (don’t worry about how to pronounce these).
I decided to take a day tour with a group of other foreigners to get to know these volcanoes as close as possible. Popocatépetl you are not allowed to climb, because it’s still active. But Izta has regular tours climbing to the top, which usually only take about 6 to 8 hours to complete if you have the conditioning for it.
The mythical story of these 2 volcanoes is similar to the story of Romeo and Juliet. Popocatepetl is basically the warrior with a torch (hence the active smoke), keeping watch over his dead love in her tomb of Iztaccíhuatl (long story short 😉
This version of the hike was relatively easy, with mostly a straight flat road to the base, and then some wandering around the hilly terrain around it, until it was time to go back to our starting point.
Unfortunately, certain members in the group thought this would be a very casual tennis shoes and t-shirt type of hiking, and their conditioning could not keep up.
So after only about 1.5 hours at the base of the Iztaccihuatl volcano, it was time to head back down.
Frida Kahlo Museum
Pre-pandemic, this museum could be difficult to get into, since you would need to reserve your tickets well in advance before arriving. Furthermore, you would need to show up at the exact time of your pre-arranged arrival. Luckily, because of the pandemic, the volume of people was much lower, and so it was time to visit the world-known artist Frida Kahlo in the magical district of Coyoacan in Mexico City.
Anahuac Museum by Diego Rivera
Just a short taxi ride from Frida Kahlo’s home is the Anahuac museum, created by her famous husband, Diego Rivera. Diego idealized preserving pre-conquest indigenous culture.
The building simulates a pre-conquest, and modern style of architecture, and features some amazing artifacts from the pre-conquest eras.
This is the largest collection of artifacts outside of the Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City.
Diego Rivera is most well known for his beautiful giant Murals (paintings on walls), that feature various political and historical moments.
A Morning Balloon Ride Over the Ancient City of Teotihuacan
Further outside of Mexico City is the ancient city of Teotihuacan. While I was here previously a few years earlier, I didn’t quite understand anything that I was looking at.
Teotihuacan collapsed around 600 C.E. (Common Era), most likely due to volcanic eruptions causing global climate changes, thus resulting in political instability and collapse.
This time around, a couple of digital nomad friends came to Mexico City and suggested we all do a balloon ride over this beautifully massive and historic relic of human culture and empire.
The balloon ride was somewhere in the range of $100, which included transportation, and started very early in the morning, but it was well worth it!
Teotihuacan Tour from the Ground
While my compatriots decided to head back to their accommodations, I decided to stay and get a private tour explaining this long-collapsed empire.
As indicated previously, my general understanding is because of volcanic eruptions in Central America, there was a massive global climate change, resulting in lower crop yields for a city that had over 200,000 residents.
Thus, the population rioted against their kings, queens, and priestly class who promised stability to keep their hierarchical positions.
Eventually, the society started to fall apart, and various outside factions took advantage of this and started to slowly conquer and dissolve the empire of Teotihuacan.
The Fancy New Neighborhood of Santa Fe, Mexico City
Just a bit east of downtown Mexico City is the newly gentrified region of Santa Fe. This area features the absolute newest architecture you can build, some trendy shops and restaurants in development, as well as the biggest shopping center in all of Mexico City.
The park in these images was previously a massive open-air garbage dump but was eventually completely overhauled into what it is today.
Final Random Moments in Mexico City
And finally, here are a few random cell-phone shots from my time in Mexico City
Conclusion
I look forward to going back to Mexico City and living there. Over the course of many months, and almost 2 years, I had extensive adventures, experiences and memories here.
Although the city can be extremely noisy, with bad air quality, and issues with police corruption, it’s still an amazing place to live if you can carve out a good neighborhood to live in, and a story of why you would want to stay there for so long.
I will be back 😉
Salud
Leonidas
More Links
Mexico City Part 1: Is This What You Expected?
Mexico City Part 2: Adventures in Mexico City
Mexico City Part 3: Outskirts, Downtown & Basilicas
Tepoztlan Village & Climbing To The Very Top
