LATIN AMERICA MEXICO CITY DESTINATIONS T
hree days into my Mexico City trip, I’ve acquired a
taste for mezcal. This potent spirit, made from the maguey plant, is smokier and richer than its distant cousin, tequila. It’s a cliche, but I sip my first shot to the strains of a mariachi band on the roof terrace of the Museum of Tequila and Mezcal, where there are bottles shaped like bulls and even skulls. But Mexico City is more than
just mezcal and mariachi, as visitors to this huge metropolis will soon discover. This is a city full of surprises. I never knew, for example, that the northern area is riddled with canals. The Unesco-listed Floating Gardens
of Xochimilco are all that remain of the network of waterways that connected the capital – once an island – to the mainland. The commercial flower gardens that border these canals produce millions of blooms every year, and waterways double as motorways for flower-filled barges. During a leisurely boat ride, we also passed several party boats – barges decked out with balloons, filled with groups of teenagers swigging cans of Tecate beer and celebrating birthdays or exam results. Another must-see is
Teotihuacan, the pre-Columbian city 30 miles to the north. The site is dominated by the Pyramid
The Unesco-listed Floating Gardens of Xochimilco are all that remain of the network of waterways
of the Moon and the Pyramid of the Sun, which visitors can clamber up. If you’ve ever walked up the stairs at Covent Garden Tube station, multiply that level of exertion by 100. And these aren’t steps, either – they’re huge, knee- high stone blocks. The sheer scale
of the complex is mind-blowing, and there’s a visitor centre, where you can learn how mezcal is made and find out about the many uses of the agave plant. Mexico City’s National Palace can be found in the Plaza de la Constitucion, one of the world’s largest city squares. More commonly known as the Zocalo, it’s home to the president’s offices, but most visitors come to admire the enormous Diego Rivera murals depicting Mexico’s history. For more ancient history, the
National Museum of Anthropology has 12 halls dedicated to pre- hispanic Mexico. Highlights include the Aztec Sun Stone,
5 November 2015
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FAST FACT
The currency is the Mexican peso, and there are about 25 to the £1
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