mexico city

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Mexico City, It's a Big Place

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Mexico City is a big place. We all know this, but unless you're right in it, a scale is just a fact that you can agree with and not much more. When you approach by plane, you get the overview and you begin to have a better impression of that fact. A city that stretches as far as you can see into the mountains in every direction.

When you land and take that taxi to your apartment, that impression may fade a bit as it becomes less apparent when you're on ground level, only going block by block. Maybe you hop neighbourhoods here and there, still only covering a small portion of the city. Roma to Condesa, San Miguel Chapultepec to downtown D.F.

Yesterday I had a day that gave me a bigger impression than flying over the city ever has. After a group breakfast, I was taken by a brewery we work with at Casa Barriles in a transport van out from the downtown area, through the city, to its outskirts and hours beyond to San Juan del Río.

The van was filled with Mexico's craft beer distributors, heading out to Cerveceria Primus for a brewery tour, some sensory training and a discussion on the state and potential of the craft beer industry in Mexico.

Thank you beer for letting us see new places and meet new people.

Driving through more of the city than we had done previously, passing out of the main district and into the countryside gave me more of an impression and made its scale more real than it seems from above. 

Heading in one direction for hours and still being surrounded by city is an overwhelming thought when you imagine zooming out. You can fit the entire city of Vancouver 14 times into one Mexico City. Going from north to south would be like getting in the car and driving straight from Vancouver to Whistler and being surrounded by buildings, intersections, traffic, pedestrians the entire time. City block after city block for 100km. Then, you realize that is just one road around Mexico City, and maybe even just cutting around the outskirts.

Mexico City is a big place, and if you want to feel small while having an adventure, put it high up on the list.

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Black and White: Some Photos I took

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The beach in Tulum by Las Lunas Hotel

It's been pouring rain here in the Mayan Riviera for the last few days. Dark clouds make the house feel almost like it's night during daylight hours. Here are some otherwise bright photos, stripped of their colour for the rainy days we're having.

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The Fall in Mexico

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A few photos from the fall here in Mexico. Nothing much going on lately other than the piling up of work on weekdays and the emptying out of some bottles on weekends. Some sailing coming up which will involve some more bottles, sunsets, sea and air.

A few of these are from Mexico City, a few are from our beach. You can do the math.

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A Trip to Mexico City: Plane, Bus, Taxi and Foot

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Mexico City is big. 8,857,188 big if you're only counting the centre (Distrito Federal). If you look out to Greater Mexico City, we're talking about 21,163,188 people. 

 As you fly in, the view is of buildings and neighbourhoods stretching as far as you can see until they become silhouettes in the distance and meet a landscape of larger silhouettes. Mountains and volcanoes surround the valley which rests in the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt. The peaks reach up to 16,400ft in elevation while Mexico City itself sits at 7,350ft.

Let's wrap that up: 21 million people, 7,350ft above sea level compacted into a valley surrounded by volcanoes.

Note: Walking and talking with a cheeseburger in your mouth causes panting. Because of the altitude!

We stayed just over a week. It was a damned fine time and I've written a bit about arriving, walking, drinking, dancing. We were married in some fake ceremony in a dive while standing on broken peanut shells by the bartender with a giant sombrero and fake moustache. We met some new friends, checked out history, shopped at markets and did some more drinking to close it off. I'll wait for the lady to also summarize some of the pieces of the trip so if you're interested in heading to Mexico City, you'll have a head start on pricing, neighbourhoods, museums and markets.

For now, take a look at some of the photos we took. All images should be clickable to enlarge.

In both the left and right above, this woman was in the Zócalo (pictured below) selling hats and traditional garbs, but mostly sleeping. When taking the few pictures we have of some unique, senior nationals who looked a bit down and out, we gave them some pesos first and asked if it would be okay to take their picture before wishing them well.

These shots are all in or near the Zócalo. That brass dome you see is the Palacio de Bellas Artes It was hard to find a horizon for that shot. That thing is sinking.

"Why is Mexico City Sinking? One bad decision after another." — Ian Sample, The Guardian

Picture of pictures. They were mostly divided into sections. Movie stars, musicians, political rebels, pioneers and builders.

There are more pictures for another post. Maybe one about prices, specific places to see and where to eat. I highly recommend Mexico City for a visit. Hell of a time.

 
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Mexico City, Markets, Skulls & Strawberries

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​We've been hanging in Mexico City for the week and with almost a week left, we're are already planning on coming back again. It's a huge fuck-off city and we've barely explored La Condesa, where we're staying.

When we're back to Playa, I'll get up a bunch of photos and info about the areas we've explored. Until then, check out these skulls for sale at the outdoor market next to our spot. I will not put these on my nightstand.