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From the moment in
1519 when the conquistadors first looked down upon a jewel-like
island in Lake Texcoco, Mexico City seized the world's imagination.
Over the next 500 years, conquest, trade, revolution, cultural riches
and romance fueled waves of international attention upon a maturing
and indeed exotic culture. This fascinating blend of the indigenous
and international has created, today, a city that is both familiar
and breathtakingly foreign. Just as archaeologists discovered an
Aztec Temple beneath the massive Zocalo Cathedral, surprises can
be found anywhere . . . |
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But first, the obvious:
Mexico City is big - a vast cosmopolitan hub with a population so
large that no one seems to know the actual numbers - anywhere between
17 to 24 million people. At an altitude of 7,349 feet, surrounded
by mountains, teeming with vehicles and heavy industry, the city
is plagued at times with a serious pollution problem. But this same
locale and altitude often conspire to create days that are often
magnificent, and in no way a deterrent to modern day explorers.
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Some tips for city
wanderers: many of the Colonias, or typical neighborhoods, possess
charming Spanish colonial town squares and narrow cobblestone streets
that lead to European style boulevards or to speeding highways built
centuries later. The enormous metro system transports its 4 million
daily riders past ancient pyramids discovered while tunnel making.
Amid the Tiffany glass and marble of the art deco Palacio Belles
Artes, massive modern murals by Rivera, Orozco and Siqueiros depict
an Amer-Indian culture in vibrant color. Where else but Mexico City
is there a Plaza de las Tres Culturas that hosts - on the same site
- an Aztec Pyramid, 16th Century Church and modern office building?
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The surprises? No stranger
can truly visualize the kaleidoscope of colors, sights and aromas
of a Mexico City market. Nor so many supposedly obsolete VW Beetles
cruising the streets as taxis. Music comes upon one on any corner
played by street musicians, in concert halls or throughout the Plaza
de Garibaldi with its bands of Mariachis strolling till dawn. And
in a city with so many pasts, state-of-the-art hotel complexes are
the equal of any to be found in the world's great cities.
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One of the nicest surprises
of all - discovered after dining on a meal fit for Montezuma or
while shopping in the trendy Zona Rosa or strolling the miles of
museum corridors - is how little it all costs. |
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