Bienvenidos a Mexico City!

Our crazy family at Teotihucan pyramids with our 18 month and almost 4 year old outside of Mexico City

Mexico City is home to Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, and over 22 million Mexicans, making it the 10th largest metropolitan area in the world!

Art Deco apartments with fancy retail shopping and a courtyard with a fountain near our AirBNB in Polanco.

Located above 7,000 feet on the central Mexican plateau, Mexico City is surrounded by mountains. Originally it was build on an island by the Aztecs in the 14th century and soon became the capital of their territory. The Aztecs were powerful and eventually their rule expanded from the Gulf coast to the Pacific Ocean. However, when the Spaniards came in 1519 what started as a friendly relationship soon turned into war. The Aztecs tried to push out the settlers but the Spaniards regrouped and began a siege of Tenochtitlán (former name of Mexico City) in May 1521. For three months, the Aztecs suffered from the lack of food and water as well as the spread of smallpox brought by the Europeans and the city was basically razed after the attack. The Spaniards renamed Tenochtitlán to Mexico City because it was easier to say and rebuilt with indigenous laborers, starting with Catholic churches being built on top of all the old Aztec temples. Mexico City grew quickly and became the capital of New Spain until Mexico declared its independence from Spain in 1824. Many of the buildings in the city date back to this period, and some churches are from the 16th century. The concept of nobility in Mexico was not political but rather a very conservative Spanish social one, based on proving the worthiness of the family. Families who made fortunes in New Spain through trade outside of the city itself would spending the revenues in the capital, building churches, supporting charities and building extravagant palatial homes, which is why it Mexico City is sometimes called, "The City of Palaces." Many 18th century mansions have been renovated and are now design stores and upscale restaurants.

A typical mansion-turned-design store near where we stayed in Polanco

The historic center of Mexico City is called the Zocalo and is the oldest part of town. The Aztecs believed it was the center of the universe and today includes one of the largest plazas in the world (52,000 m2). In the center is an enormous Mexican flag and the National Cathedral is to the north, the Presidential Palace to the east, Federal buildings to the south, and the old Aztec Temple de Mayor. We exited the subway and found ourselves among thousands and thousands of people. It was incredible!

A typical Saturday afternoon in El Centro

We navigated through the crowds and around all the people selling random items on the sidewalk. After three blocks, we took a much needed refuge in the courtyard of the national palace where we saw a dozen Diego Rivera murals along the palace walls. Designed during a time where most of the country was unable to read, these murals were painted between 1929 and 1935 and cover 4800ft2. Titled "The Epic of the Mexican People" and cover the period between 1521 to 1930 and are amazing at showing rather than telling you the history of this city.

The courtyard in the palace

Amazing murals

One of a dozen murals at the national palace by Diego Rivera

Frida Kahlo painted into a mural

Ancient Aztec civilazation

The final mural from the Spaniard colonization and the first Mestizo was born

The first Mestizo

After the palace, we headed for the Cathedral and peaked inside at the 18th century organ the size of our house before catching the 3pm tour of the bell towers. We climbed over 250 steps (Theo was first in line), and saw the 25 bells that hung from the 2 towers. Our guide only spoke Spanish (and very quickly at that) but I learned that two of the bells were from the mid-17th century but the largest bell, Santa Maria de Guadalupe, was placed "more recently" in 1793 and weighs over 29,000 lbs. We then walked on top of the Cathedral for a view of the plaza. Theo was quite scared of the high height and was grumpy for most of the tour and insisted on being put down when we tried to take his picture.

The Zocalo and the national cathedral

The Cathedral entrance

Theo on the roof of the Cathedral

After the Cathedral, we headed back to the subway and found ourselves shoulder to shoulder (well in reality Seth was two head's taller and I was one head taller) with hundreds of other people on the platform waiting for the next train. The train system is very efficient and is quite extensive but that doesn't mean that 22 million people don't use it. Every train that came by was exploding with people squished like sardines. I had never seen anything like it. We shoved our way on and Marit almost got smashed by the closing doors. Luckily we were in the section for women and those with children under 12 so it felt a little safer and quieter but it was still a zoo. We made it back to our posh neighborhood of Polanco and took a much needed nap.

The next few days I attended the World Congress of Cardiology conference where I learned about cardiovascular disease that are affecting not just us in developed countries, but those in low and middle-income countries, and the poorest billion, who continue to suffer from both infectious and chronic diseases. Rheumatic heart disease, Chagas cardiomyopathy, high blood pressure, obesity, and diabetes were common themes. I presented a poster on the "Global Burden of Bradyarrhythmias: A systematic review." It was a great networking event and a great chance to catch up with old colleagues from Peru, Brazil, India, Finland, and the USA, as well as many other places, and meet new future collaborators.

Seth and the kids hung out in Polanco by our AirBNB at the nearby playground - the largest playground I have ever seen! It had 22 slides, a climbing wall, a dozen swings, 10 towers, and lots of puddles but no bathrooms! Theo and Marit loved it and went there at least twice a day!

The playground in Lincoln Park

The climbing wall that they both could reach the top of.

After the conference ended, we headed back for more sight-seeing. We were located close to the National Anthropology Museum, which has an excellent collection of artifacts from the Teotihuacan excavations, as well as from the later Aztec culture. The building was very cool as well and had a central carved pillar that balanced a large roof over the courtyard and formed a waterfall when it rained. The kids didn't last long at the museum but Theo enjoyed learning about evolution and wholly mammoths and seeing bone from burial sites.

The museum of anthropology

Mother of pearl fox with a face in the mouth, can you see it?

At the museum

An example of the Aztec city when the Spaniards found it in the 16th century

Pre-historic people

Part of a Teotihuacan temple

The famous Aztec sun dial

After the rain there was steam on the museum steps and Theo was running through the puddles

Back in the Historic District of El Centro, we headed for the Museo de Belle Artes (Fine Arts Museum). This amazing building was the best example of Art Deco I have ever seen and was beautiful to look at. The exhibit was small and besides a few murals, was nothing special but was worth the price of admission to see the architecture! Walking along the nearby streets, 16 de Septiembre and 5 de Mayo, we wander by many old Spanish colonial buildings from the 17 and 18th centuries. We stopped in a tasty sweet shop for a quick snack before heading to get another snack at a famous churros shop where we got to watch them fry up some delicious treats that we dipped in condensed milk and chocolate. Then, we head to a small taco stand for lunch where we eat the most delicious tacos al pastor I've ever had. We tried to go up to the top of the Torre Latinoamericana building, the city's first skyscraper built in 1950s, but unfortunately the afternoon thunderstorms rolled in and the pollution made the visibility not great so we decided to take a rain check and head for the underground Metro before we got soaked.

The first skyscraper

Some local students wanted to practice their English and get a picture with the rubios (blond kids)

The Museum of Fine Arts

Diego Rivera mural in the museum

Amazing art deco building with the huge Rivera mural on the wall

The central post office with gold leaf interior

Sweets shop

Churros con chocolate!

The best tacos al pastor!

Mexico has continued to grow faster than it could sustain and the city has expanded on the tops of steep hillsides for miles and miles as we saw on our bus ride out to Teotihuacan and the Uber ride to Xochimilco. Teotihuacan is about 30 miles outside of the city and started in 100BC but flourished in the first century AD, when it was the largest city in Mesoamerica with a population of at least 125,000. We took a tour that picked us up at 6 A.M. and brought us to the gates at opening at 8. The city consists of a series of large pyramids that are still standing today! The Avenue of the Dead is a mile long boulevard that is lined with them. Initially found covered in grass, the site has been extensively excavated and restored. It also has complex, multi-family residential compounds and vibrant well-preserved murals. The Teotihuacan people exported fine obsidian tools that garnered high prestige and widespread utilization in the region and there were lots of vendors trying to sell us these today. Theo scurried up the first pyramid like a little mountain goat but on the way back down he was a little scared of the steep steps so we scooted on our butts and tried not to look down. We skipped the hike up the largest pyramid and opted for the more scenic view on the Pyramid of the Moon instead. After a long day in the sun, we were starving and thirsty finally ate a buffet lunch at a nearby restaurant with a tequila tasting room. We opted to play on the playground before heading back in the bus and sitting in the afternoon traffic trying to get back into town. Needless to say, we were exhausted by the time we got home after 5 P.M. but it was worth it!

One of the many hillsides with colorful houses and shantytowns

One of the Teotihuacan plazas and the start of the Avenue of the Dead toward the two pyramids (can you spot them?)

Old Teotihuacan pyramid with faces

Tired little girl 

Looking down on the Avenue of the Dead

Xochimilco was an old city that has now been engulfed by Mexico City. It is the historic agricultural area of the Aztecs and contains many small and large canals used for irrigation. Today it is a tourist destination and hundreds of colorful gondola-type boats take tourists through the canals to visit various attractions while mariachi bands and food vendors paddle by selling their services and goods. We first visited the local mercado to browse the fruit, vegetable, meat, fish, and other vendors and buy some snacks for the trip. Theo found his happy place in the chips and cheeto stand. We thought 50 cents would get him few puffs but it turns out 100 mg is a GIANT bag of cheetos! We headed to the Embarcadero to find a boat and I made the mistake of not negotiating ahead of time and so besides getting hustled for more than the standard cost of the boat ($425 pesos rather than the published rate of $350 pesos, which is about US$50), we had a pleasant cruise down the main canal and saw how some of the rural Mexicans live. People who live on these islands commute to work, school, the mercado, etc. by boat. Their trash get removed by boat as well. We only stopped once to see the reptile exhibit with a rare pre-historic salamander and numerous snakes and a baby crocodile. Otherwise, we ate our enormous bag of cheese puffs that we got for 50 cents and some fresh corn on the cob. Our trip back to Polanco involved some communication errors on my part and we spent 40 minutes on a bus, to get to the subway and then another 30 minutes on the subway and a 10 minute walk and then we were back home.

Chicken heads and chicken feet

A tortilla making machine

Hand crafted candies in the shape of fruits and veggies for 50 cents each!

Cheetos anyone?

The Embarqadero with hundreds of boats

The main canal

A boat with a big pot of corn on the cob - yum!

Selling Bonsai plants

Mommy and Marit

The reptile exhibit where Theo got to hold a snake and pet an alligator

Our boat, Juanita!

On Saturday we took an Uber to El Bazaar Sabado (The Saturday Market), an upscale artesenal market in the San Angel neighborhood of Mexico City. We spent a few hours poking around the small shops both inside and on the sidewalks of the adjacent square and bought a few pieces to bring home. There was a traditional dance performance as well that the kids enjoyed and Theo found a Lucha Libre mask and cape of the Luchador, Rey Mysterio (Mystery king). We walked through the old cobblestone streets to the Frieda Kahlo and Diego Rivera museum that connected their two houses and studies but had a walkway on the third floor between their bedrooms.

Our hand crafted skull we bought from a local artist

Theo the Luchador!

Music anyone?

Traditional dancers dancing on pots

Marit and Mommy

Pollution continues to be a problem but is nothing like we experienced in Beijing and apparently much better controlled today after aggressive efforts to clean up the city and close industrial plants. The pollution is now similar to Los Angeles and less than three times what it was in the 1990s. Overall, we have a wonderful trip and would definitely go back! The people were friendly and it felt very safe. The city is full of history and culture and the architecture is incredible. The food was delicious and besides a few afternoon showers, the weather was perfect. It's no wonder the New York Times rated it the #1 place to go in 2016.

Leaving on the jet plane, don't know when I'll be back again (hopefully soon!)

Lazy Theo getting pushed by Marit. They fought over this stroller all week.