http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/fabulous/6840928/Seven-reasons-to-visit-Mexico-City.html
autor: Laura Millar
If you're thinking about taking a trip to central America, Mexico City is an essential destination. Besides the hustle and bustle of a city that boasts over 21 million inhabitants, there's an abundance of culture from world-famous art through to impressive Aztec temples, traditional wrestling and amazing food. So what are you waiting for?!
1. HIGHBROW ART
One of Mexico’s most well-known artists is the fantastically mono-browed Frida Kahlo – visit the blue house where she lived and worked with her husband, fellow artist Diego Rivera, to see photos and her paintings, entrance £4.70 (Museo fridakahlo.org.mx).
Diego himself painted huge murals – his famous Dream of A Sunday Afternoon In Alameda Park is on show at nearby Museo Mural Diego Rivera, entrance 80p (Museomuraldiegorivera.bellasartes.gob.mx).
2. CELEBRITY SQUARES
For such a sprawling metropolis, Distrito Federal (AKA Mexico City, population around 21 million) has dozens of large, elegant squares.
The main one, Zócalo, in the Centro Histórico, featured in the opening of Spectre – in which Mr Craig dangled above the impressive 16th-century Catedral Metropolitana (pop in to be dazzled by the gold-leaf-covered Altar del Perdón) – and houses the government’s huge Palacio Nacional. It also hosts Day of the Dead celebrations every November.
Later, head to Plaza Garibaldi, home of the mariachi band. Day and night, you’ll find musicians dressed in sombreros and black costumes strumming folk songs on guitars.
3. GATSBY DECOR
The beautiful Palacio de Bellas Artes cultural centre has a pretty yellow and orange roof with art and exhibitions inside (Palacio.bellasartes.gob.mx). A chance to see the interior alone is worth the £1.70 entrance price, with its stained-glass ceilings, walls covered with murals and magnificent staircases like something out of The Great Gatsby. If the interior has inspired you, head to Zona Rosa to browse the markets, such as Plaza del Angel and its antique shops.
4. GRASSHOPPER GRUB
Several of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants are in Mexico City and, thanks to the favourable exchange rate, you’ll pay less than £50 for a seven-course meal from the Michelin-standard menus. Try Quintonil for exquisite dishes such as smoked crab tostado (Quintonil.com). For classic Mexican food, try the 24-hour
Café el Popular, where three courses cost under £8 (Cafeelpopular.com.mx). Don’t miss the street food, including tamales – dough with sweet or savoury fillings. Be ahead of the trend and grab some chapulines – fried grasshoppers with salt and lemon (strangely moreish).
5. MASKED MEN
Don’t miss seeing a lucha libre (wrestling) match, held every Friday at the Arena México. It’s more theatrical than WWE, with rounds between two – or more – men or women. Divided into goodies and baddies wearing shiny masks, spandex trousers and lace-up boots, bodies are thrown, shoved, tripped over or simply sat on, while the crowd goes crazy.
Tickets cost from £25 and include a mezcal shot plus a souvenir mask (Viator.com). Keep the drinks flowing at La Botica, a laid-back mezcal bar in the centre of town (Labotica.com.mx), or try a papa diablo (with vodka and chilli) at Connor’s in the stylish Polanco district.
6. JULIET’S CASTLE
Up on a hilltop in Chapultepec Park, one of the city’s main green spaces, is the romantic-looking Chapultepec Castle. Once an imperial palace and presidential residence, it has gorgeous grounds and now houses the natural history museum.
The castle also featured in the Leonardo DiCaprio Romeo + Juliet film – the main stairwell was one of the settings for the Capulets’ party scene.
Entrance costs £2.50 (Castillodechapultepec.inah.gob.mx).
7. AZTEC ATTRACTIONS
Mexico City was founded in 1325 by the Aztecs, and the city is peppered with the remains of temples and palaces. On one corner of the Zócalo is the museum of the Templo Mayor, where they held their most important ceremonies.
View the remnants of the giant pyramid, which had shrines dedicated to Aztec gods and sacred animal carvings, such as snakes and jaguars, plus a sinister wall of carved skulls, a reminder of their human sacrifices – yikes. Entrance costs £2.50 (Templomayor.inah.gob.mx).
Want more? Take a day trip to the ancient city of Teotihuacán, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that’s a 40-minute drive from Mexico City, to spy dozens of fantastically preserved pyramids and temples dating from 650 AD.
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