The Mexico City And Its Three Cultures

It happens sometimes that you are sitting at home, spending time of the boring evenings, there is nothing but gray colors outside of the windows and the nasty rain drizzles, and autumn, having taken the control of her possession, casts easy grief and here you think... that somewhere it is warm and the sun is tenderly braided in your hair, the wind bears an easy breeze from ocean or the sea... There is such a place where the sun shines almost every morning, where now, today, tomorrow is great because from October till January is the best time for traveling to the cradle of the ancient civilization of the New World - Mexico.

The land of Aztecs and of the ancient civilizations of Maya represents today a bright and unique interlacing of past and present, combines fantastic mountains, impassable jungle, tremendous beauties of the landscapes, broadest plains and graceful pyramids.

Mexico represents rich history, bright colors, proud and openhearted people - all of this will subdue you and will amaze you by it's frank hospitality.

I will pass a little bit to the facts, that would probably reveal you something new and would make you come to this country and get lots of pleasure and impressions, as they did to me.

So, the West of Mexico is washed by the water of the Pacific Ocean and of the Californian Gulf, the East is washed by the waters of Mexican Gulf and the Caribbean Sea. It borders with Guatemala and Belize in the south.

The capital of Mexico or The United Mexican States is The México City, the one I’m going to share about my impressions. This is a Latin-American Megapolis that appeared on the ruins of Aztecs capital. This is the biggest city in the world and the oldest one in the New World that surprises by the abundance of pre-Hispanic and Colonial monuments.

They say cities have souls; the soul of Mexico City and of its millions of citizens is hidden under the big area paved with dark plates of Plaza de la Constitution, Socalo. Those who have been in Venice can compare Plaza de la Constitution to the Plaza of Saint Mark in Venice, and with the same exactitude imposing buildings, among which the Governmental Palace with the famous signature of Diego Riviera and the biggest baroque cathedral of Latin-America, rise on its edges.

Another great place is the Chapultepec Park, where a lot of points of interest are located such as The Museum of Modern Arts, The National Anthropological Museum, The Zoo and the Chapultepec Castle.

In general The Mexico City embodies several cultures and is at the same time the keeper of three of them - The Indian culture, The Hispanic culture and the arisen from the previous ones, the Mexican culture. That is why the museums are full of treasures belonging to the great Indian governors, the Hispanic style can be observed on the Square of Saint Dominique, where one of the most beautiful baroque churches in Mexico is located, in its turn the Europe in its period of classicism can be observed on the magnificent boulevard of Paseo de la Reforma, and the modern style can be observed in the Palace of Fine Arts.

Probably everyone has seen movies about Indians and their living, but here only 40 km away from the Mexico City you will find yourself among the most popular and mysterious monuments of Indian culture: the archaeological reservation of Teotihuacan with the Pyramids of Sun and Moon, the Street of the Dead and the Temple of Quetzalcoatl (the Feathery Dragon). Occupying a territory of 23 square km. this city is the biggest archaeological zone of America.

And as the opposite to antiquity, a kind of symbol of modernity is a 117 meters tall tower of Torre Latinoamericana. You definitely should get on top and the picture of the numerous buildings illuminated by millions of lights will stay in you mind for a long time. When getting down and coming to the Garibaldi Square you will surely meet bands that play the mariachi music till late at night for everyone who is ready to give them some pesos.

In general it is very pleasant not only to walk in the city, to visit the museums and architectural monuments, but also to sit in a cozy small restaurant or a small cafe. Believe me, it is not less interesting, and the main thing it is tasty. For example I, and a lot of people all over the world, admit that the Mexican cuisine is one of the most diversified and tastiest in the world. The most well-known national dish which is worth trying and which you can easily find in any cafe and even in a street booth is tortillas (corn flat cakes), burrito, fagots, quesadilla. One should be very careful, after all the Mexican cuisine likes to introduce very hot pepper chili, but in many tourist places, sharp sauces are offered separately. Regarding the drinks I will not be original and I will tell that the national and world famous drink is tequila, and they drink there also beer and mescal.

If you still have time after having jammed with tasty things then there is a place that is worth your attention - the house-museum of one of the brightest, contradictory and tragic figures - Trotsky.

The house-museum of Frida Kalo - the famous Mexican artist, the wife of the well-known painter Diego Rivera, whose unbelievable unique creativity, mysterious nature cause till now genuine interest and attract the fans of painting to Mexico City. Several decades after her death, Frida Kalo became a cult figure of women’s movement. Her difficult life (she endured a poliomyelitis in the childhood, a lot of times she was on the surgical table) has given to her image some fantastic force.

To finish the visit of the Mexico City - I would recommend to take a walk along the Xochimilco canals. This is a marvellous place with flowers, in other words - floating gardens. The ancient canals of the Aztecs - Chinampas - remind about the remains of the lake Texcoco that is nowadays covered with the city itself. So, to end-up the picture of the city will help a trajinera boat walk, listening to the Mariachis, systematizing all the seen and getting pleasure from the image of such diverse and at the same time harmonic city that is so much not like the others.

However, if you still have money, before saying goodbye you will certainly go to shops and benches with souvenirs like silver products, American Indian motives, carpets and handmade fabrics, poncho and «sarape» capes, sombreros of course, leather products, wooden masks and figures, onyx and obsidian products and ceramics.

Somehow in Mexico City music and noise, colonial palaces and skyscrapers, slums and world famous museums, green lawns and dirty air co-exist in an inexplicable way ... But all of this is alive, is truthful-touching and real and because of it we admire, get surprised, we study and we rejoice the moment this city gives us! Whether to trust my stories and impressions or not? You decide, but the only way to check this out is to go there where besides a fine rest on the seaside, you will get in touch with the fascinating events of the past, starting your trip to the very heart - to the Mexico City.