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Show Y f 0 1 ' t4 i H ' . " """" ? -r. til ,w ; ' : . . . ". i . r Metropolitan Cathedral in Mexico City. ' It has all the excitement I of a European capital !1 3 by Shirley Smith This is the final story in a three-part series on Mexico, east, west and central. This i week's focus is Mexico City. In our annual spring quest for sun and sandy beaches, palm trees and margaritas, j it's easy to forget that Mexico has much more to of- fer than seaside resorts, g Journey with us now to I Mexico City for a glimpse of what you could soon be doing all for a round trip airfare 13 of $316. To describe Mexico City is to describe Mexico. It is the political, cultural, social and economic center of the country, coun-try, a city of more than 14 million people the largest landlocked city in the world and it glitters with all the fascination and excitement of a European capital. It's a 3 vital, romantic, sometimes smoggy and traffic-clogged place of monuments, palaces, parks, broad boulevards and 3 smart boutiques. The city is one of the oldest continuously inhabited areas 3 in North America and at least a competitor for that title in the world. Some 20,000 years ago there were small Indian villages scattered scat-tered across the 570-square-mile plain surrounded by mountains. The plain, a tenth of which is covered by modern mod-ern day Mexico City, is more than 7,000 feet above sea 1(3 level, the mountains that ring it another 3,000 feet. To the southeast are the twin capped volcanoes Popocatepetl and Ix-talcihuatl, Ix-talcihuatl, known affectionately affec-tionately as Popo and the Sleeping Lady. Each is more than 17,000 feet and provides challenging climbs. Despite its size, Mexico (as locals call the city) is manageable to the visitor since its top attractions are, for the most part, concentrated concen-trated in several distinct areas, each of which could be explored in a day or so. Foremost to many people is the historic area surrounding surround-ing the Zocalo, or main square, the very heart of the city. A bit away from the heaviest traffic and therefore the noise and the fumes, this is a great area in which to stay. Try the Hotel Majestic with 85 rooms, many of which face the Zocalo itself. The hotel nas a lobby of stone arches, brilliant tiles and warm colors and a rooftop patio restaurant high atop the square. All this for $24 for a double. .'. For something really luxurious, go around the corner to the Gran Hotel Ciudad. Upon walking through a rather unprepossessing unprepos-sessing doorway, you find yourself underneath a brilliantly glistening crystal chandelier. You ascend a short flight of stairs to the lobby, four stories high, ringed with fancy metalwork balustrades and crowned by a magnificent stained glass canopy. At either end are semi-elliptical "birdcage" elevators. Lighting in the lobby is provided by brass and crystal lamps, each with ten milk glass globes. The rooms are similarly elegant and range from $35 to $55. (The interiors of this grand hotel were featured in the recent movie "Missing.") Around the Zocalo itself (the second largest square in the world after Red Square in Moscow) are the imposing National Palace (Palacio Nacional) with its magnificent Diego Rivera murals, the Metropolitan Cathedral (Catedral Metropolitana) whose cornerstone cor-nerstone was laid in 1573 and which took 250 years to complete (the huge edifice thus reflects popular architectural ar-chitectural styles of the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries) and the Great Temple (Templo Mayor), accidentally unearthed un-earthed in 1977 by the Mexican Mexi-can Light and Power Co. From the Zocalo it is but a few blocks walk to the downtown down-town or Alameda area, and another modest but charming charm-ing hotel selection, the Hotel de Cortes at 85 Avenida Hidalgo just across from Alameda Park. Rooms of the two-story hotel originally a 17th century monastery circle an open air inner courtyard filled with trees and a small foun- and became very wealthy. When he acquired this lovely house, he had every square inch of the facade covered with white and blue tiles. It is now a restaurant and makes an inexpensive and elegant lunch stop. Few people come to Mexico without visiting Chapultepec and indeed it is easy to while away more than one day in this huge park filled with museums, restaurants, a large zoo (with one of the few pairs of pandas outside of Red China) and a children's zoo as well as playgrounds, miniature trains and a large amusement park with a frighteningly high roller coaster. Getting to Chapultepec from either the Zocalo or the Alameda is a snap and one of the world's best transportation transpor-tation bargains. Metro (the subway) tickets cost one peso apiece (about of a cent) and a single ticket takes you from one end of the city to another. After a day at the park the Anthropological Museum on its outskirts, the pyramids of Teotihuacan north of the city, the Sunday bullfight, or one of a dozen markets in the city you're ready for a little night life. The city abounds in inexpensive inexpen-sive and delicious restaurants, restaur-ants, but for that "big splurge" take a taxi to the Hacienda de los Morales housed in an impressive tain. iMotning could be more peaceful in the center of a city of 14 million than to roll out of your room on a sunny morning and have breakfast surrounded by birds in song. Rooms rent for about $30 here. Within walking distance are some of the city's finest attractions. Just across the street is the gracious, colonial park Alameda Central Cen-tral which leads to the Palace of Fine Arts (Bellas Artes) at the far end. This lavish, stunning opera house seats 3,500 people in opulent splendor and is famous for its striking Tiffany stained glass curtain. The Ballet Folklorico a definite must see performs here on Sundays Sun-days and Wednesdays. Just up the street is the Casa de los Azuelos (House of Tiles), originally constructed con-structed in 1596. History says that the son of one of the Counts of Valle de Oregaba was considered a ne'er do well by his father, who once chastised him with the remark, "You will never have a house of tiles," that is to say, "You will never make good." The son set to work meticulously restored letn century hacienda. The atmosphere at-mosphere is wonderful and the international menu excellent. ex-cellent. On a recent evening for $20 apiece we had before-dinner before-dinner cocktails, oysters on the half shell and pate, superb duck and flaky, fresh pompano, accompanied by a most pleasant Mexican wine and topped off by a very special Mexican coffee. If you want to really make a night of it, head next for Plaza Garibaldi, a few short blocks from the Bellas Artes, to see and hear the dozens of mariachi groups that frequent the square each night. The musicians strut proudly in their flashy outfits out-fits and play when the mood strikes them or someone orders or-ders a song. The plaza is surrounded by places for drinking and singing. We spent a memorable evening in the Tlaquepaque bar where for $1.50 a drink we got great margaritas and all the mariachis we could listen to. Don't delay. Now's the time to go. Average temperature tem-perature this month in Mexico City is 70 degrees! |
