Although it is tempting to try to catch the reader with a more tabloid headline, in the style of a 48 hours in Mexico City (without dying trying), in Conde Nast Traveler we are not trigger happy (or click baiting) and much less to promote prejudices that distort the idiosyncrasy of destinations.
That is why I would like to start this article by explaining that, as a woman, a journalist and traveling alone, at no time did I feel a greater danger than being trapped forever by the charms of is vibrant megacity that keeps its chilanga essence well collected in its monuments, gastronomy and museums, but that never ceases to surprise us with its creative proposals, those that look askance at the past facing the future in an acrobatic way, like in a Mexican wrestling match.
We are sorry, we have no antidote against the impotence generated by knowing that during our express trip we will be missing a lot of things in this endless city (much less since there are applications to move safely in private cars), but we have done an exercise of (mega) condensation so that no one leaves unsatisfied from a place that, on the contrary, has all the necessary ingredients to satisfy body and soul alike.
Sunrise from the JW Marriott Hotel Mexico City.
FRIDAY AFTERNOON
Being close to everything in Mexico City seems impossible, so when choosing a hotel the main thing will be find the perfect location for the task that concerns us: know what is essential.
As our first stop will be the Chapultepec forest, The JW Marriott Hotel Mexico City in the Polanco neighborhood is presented as a more than successful option: you can walk there in less than five minutes and, in addition to comfort, it will give you from its highest floors an incredible view of the infinite mass of vegetation that it is one of the oldest and largest urban parks in Latin America. Those desiring a more casual, edgy, and creative lodging can always reserve a room at its (door-to-door) neighbor and sister: the W Mexico City.
A full-fledged walk through history awaits us in Chapultepec. Here Moctezuma ordered the construction of an aqueduct, Hernán Cortés embarked on the conquest for the Spanish Crown and the Children Heroes defended the Castle against the North American invasion, the one that today welcomes the Nacional History Museum, but in the past it served as accommodation for viceroys, archdukes and even Porfirio himself.
Gala carriage.
Although it is true that the building itself is a baroque and neoclassical jewel in itself, it is the interior spaces of this ancient fort those who stand out for their correct musealization, where paintings, drawings, prints, furniture and household items compete to attract the visitor's attention. A gala carriage and a marble bathtub here, a Mayan codex there, and even a tzompantli or wall of skulls exposed unabashedly to remind us that there was a time when the pre-Hispanic Indians had to defend Tenochtitlan against European conquest.
Now, they are the colorful murals and altarpieces that portray the different historical stages of Mexico the owners and lords of the fortress of Chapultepec. The battles, the constitution, the dictatorship... and the revolution, so well portrayed by the master David Alfaro Siqueiros, one of 'The Big Three', along with José Clemente Orozco and Diego Rivera. Let us remember that the objective of the most outstanding artists of Mexican muralism was to try bring art closer to the people through these great interventions in public spaces, something impossible with easel works.
From Porfirismo to the Revolution.
More than 400 m2 measures the mural From Porfirismo to the Revolution by Siqueiros, which covers different walls showing a absolute unity and playing wonderfully with the vanishing point in the composition to create a perspective described as “bold” by experts. It disturbs as much as it astonishes the way in which the forms (and the realism of the characters) surround us when we face him.
It's time for dinner and, since we'll sleep in Polanco, it's time to explore the neighborhood: A traditional dish by chef Edgar Núñez at Comedor Jacinta or perhaps a tomato, chard and cheese tamale at Eno, the freshest option of the award-winning Enrique Olvera? Although we can also choose to stay on the restaurant terrace Xanat from the hotel and try some of their Mexican classics. eye! Which can also be ordered a la carte in the morning. Green Chilaquiles and Huevos Rancheros, that really is love (for breakfast) Mexican style.
Tacos at Xanat restaurant.
SATURDAY MORNING
Today is the highlight of the visit: the Zócalo or Plaza de la Constitución and the rest of relevant monuments of the historic center, such as the Metropolitan Cathedral, the Palace of Fine Arts and the Main temple, where a spectacular offering has just been discovered composed of a female jaguar dressed as a warrior and hundreds of starfish, shells and corals.
Dedicated to Aztec god of war, Huitzilopochtli, according to the archaeologists, this latest find would come to demonstrate the Mexica control over the Gulf and Pacific coasts, as well as the importance of its trade routes back in the year 1500.
But there are many more impressive archaeological remains, such as the huge and faded monolith of the goddess Coyolxauhqui (chemical traces have revealed evidence of red, ochre, blue, white and black pigments), the skeleton of a wolf pup surrounded by unusual gold pieces or that of a child, buried next to several flint knives and who was allegedly sacrificed via cardiectomy (removal of the heart), as an offering to the god of war.
Main temple.
With the intention of ensuring rain, harvests and victory in wars, the Aztecs they used to offer human sacrifices to Huitzilopochtli, that translated into Spanish would be something like 'Left-handed Hummingbird' and interpreted by the Franciscan friar Bernardino de Sahagún in his General History of the things of New Spain (1499-1590): "a necromancer, friend of the devils, cruel, inventor of wars and enmities and cause of many deaths".
In front of the National Museum of Anthropology you might run into another god, only more alive and kicking (with a headdress and feathered clothing). He calls himself Mictlantecuhtli (or god of the underworld and of the dead), although in reality his real name is Victor and he performs these dances and shows to entertain the public, while he sells crafts or amulets made by hand with cattle bones.
Countless deities share the limelight in this museum that is impressive in size and content. In fact, in the creation myth of some pre-Hispanic peoples four gods usually participate, creators in turn of as many cosmogonic suns (corresponding to the four elements: earth, wind, fire and water). Created and destroyed by nature itself, they are prior to Nanahuatzin and Tecuciztécatl, the sun and the moon of the fifth creation.
Sculpture of Ocelotl-Cuauhxicalli and Stone of the Sun or Aztec Calendar.
What I am going to tell you is not very appropriate, but I recommend skipping the ethnographic rooms on the first floor, not for lack of interest, beware! but of time. On the ground floor, not one world awaits you, but many worlds to discover: the room of the Toltecs, the one of the Mayans, the one dedicated to the cultures of Oaxaca… And the one of the Mexicas, the most powerful group in Mesoamerica.
In the room of the Mexicas, to which you will go quickly and, surely, you will return more calmly, the Stone of the Sun or Aztec Calendar is the main object of desire (especially photographic), but I invite you to stand in front of the tremendous fertility goddess Coatlicue, so grandiose with her entwined serpents, so powerful with her bare sagging breasts, so brutal with her animal claws… “And so imperfect for Renaissance archaeologists!”, as I heard a guide tell.
But no, the fact that she was dug up and reburied several times has nothing to do with her 'monstrous' appearance of her little related to classical tastes, but with the fact that in 1790, the year she was found, she was still being venerated by the indigenous people. And, of course, idolatry was incompatible with evangelization.
Colonia Narvarte.
SATURDAY AT NOON
The safest thing is that in any travel guide they recommend you to eat at La Roma, the most well-cared neighborhood in Mexico City. A ceviche at Lalo!, a sandwich of white bread with albacore tuna salad and muentster cheese at Belmondo or a dish with fair trade ingredients at Máximo Bistrot Local. But since we do not like to be among those who go where they are expected to go, that is why we are travelers and pioneers, We invite you to discover the Narvarte hill, with its art nouveau buildings, its Californian neo-colonial architecture houses and that decadent atmosphere that we appreciate so much.
Considered the chilango taquero paradise, in this residential neighborhood (to which everyone wants to move nowadays) the (gastronomic) surprises come on a corn or flour tortilla. make your first stop at Tacos Tony to try the suadero tacos (fatty meat from the beef's belly and brisket) and then go big with a chela or two! in the Vilsito: mechanical workshop by day, taqueria by night. When the sun goes down, they change the tools for the top of meat and start serving tacos al pastor and gringa with everything as if there were no tomorrow.
Tacos in the Vilsito.
SATURDAY AFTERNOON
Back in Polanco, we will take the opportunity to make one of the oldest and most authentic rituals of the indigenous cultures of Mesoamerica: the temazcal, whose structure represents, according to traditional medicine, the womb. That is why the person who enters returns reborn. The only one that exists in Mexico City is in the spa at W Mexico City, so everything is perfect, since then we will stay at the hotel to try their new Sunset Drunch, like brunch, only in the middle of the afternoon, before the sun goes down.
Accompanied by a shaman and in front of some embers to which water infused with aromatic herbs is poured to create steam, There are four doors that we have to cross in the temazcal ritual: one related to intelligence, another to the heart, in the third we will invoke the goddess and the god of death and in the fourth we will work on the subject of the will. I do not consider it suitable for highly sensitive people (although it may be the opposite); neither for unbelievers. However, what I can say with certainty is that it is not a tourist and that It is done with the utmost respect for Mexican traditions. more entrenched.
Music, drinks and international haute cuisine form the triumvirate that governs the new concept Sunset Drunch by TRIVVU, the terrace of the Hotel W Mexico City, Called to become the hotspot of the summer, thanks to its live DJ and those perfectly executed cocktails.
Temazcal at the W Mexico City.
SUNDAY MORNING
Two are the most recommended Sunday plans. The first consists of visit one of the city's markets: the one from San Juan is the chefs' favourite, the one from The Citadel is full of handicrafts from all over the country and the one in Sonora is visited by those looking for everything from a love potion to a lucky charm (it's known as the witches' market for a reason).
The second option involves walking towards the northwest of CDMX, leaving behind Masaryk, the most expensive commercial avenue in the city and in all of Latin America. You may be tempted to enter one of its most luxurious stores, such as Dolce & Gabbana or Prada, or even wait in line to get one. photo for Instagram next to the cacti and the neon of the facade of the flagship from TANE jewelry, but we already tell you that "MEXICO MI AMOR" is something else.
It is in Nuevo Polanco where it awaits you an overdose of infatuation, but the real one. You will love the Head of a Bearded Man by the Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens, you will desire the Wiping Woman by Edgar Degas, you will be charmed with The Thinker by Rodin and you will want to be part of the Landscape at Giverny that Monet painted. All these works, and thousands more, are part of the private collection of businessman Carlos Slim and are exhibited free of charge at the Soumaya Museum, built by the Mexican architect Fernando Romero.
It's time to leave and you may leave with the feeling that you still have a lot to do, such as visiting the Frida Kahlo Museum in the very precise neighborhood of Coyoacán, navigate in trajinera through the channels of Xochimilco or walk along the Calzada de los Muertos that is next to the pyramids of Teotihuacan. But we only had 48 hours to discover this fascinating city that is well worth a new visit or two!