Saturday 12 September 2015

Mexico City: Contemporary, Vibrant and Colourful City -Part 2

After all of the sights and sounds of Mexico City I had experienced it didn't seem possible that we were only half way through our stay!  If you want to catch up on Part 1 click here.

It was Saturday and the place to go was to San Angel area, with its beautiful homes and which was once a separate village, where the Saturday bazaar and art market currently sell clothes, paintings, jewelry and more.
We enjoyed lunch at Saks, a busy restaurant opposite the square which provided us with a feast to restore us so we could enjoy the market further.

The next stop on our day was the home of Diego Rivera, one of Mexico's most famous artists who created many of the outstanding paintings and murals in the city.
The afternoon finished with an introduction to coffee tasting, hosted by the President of the Association of Specialty Coffee and Coffee Shops where we learned all about the coffee history and production in Mexico and then a lesson on tasting known as 'cupping' four different blends.
After a privately hosted evening and relaxation we returned to our hotel to sleep and start again in the morning.

Sunday morning we visited the Chapultepec Castle, high above the city centre with amazing views below helping us to get our bearings of the stretch and enormity of the city.
You can walk to the top or you can take the little train, remembering that Mexico City is already over 7,000' above sea level!
A short walk from the Chapultepec Castle was the National Anthropology Museum.  This museum holds a fantastic collection of authentic Mayan and Aztec artifacts, a subject that has fascinated me since grade school.  I was walking around in a daze completely immersed in the past that I had studied so many years ago at school.
After another lunch we visited the Museo Soumaya which houses over 66,000 pieces of art and holds the largest collection of sculptures by Auguste Rodin outside of France, seeing such fantastic pieces really made my experience as I have long been a fan of Rodin.
Hard to believe but we woke up on the Monday and it was our last day.  We started with a breakfast meeting with the Mexico City Minister of Tourism, Miguel Torruco Marques who was interested in our opinions of tourism in the city as seen by foreigners and what they could do to keep tourism up to date and fresh, encouraging more visitors to Mexico City.

As the rest of our day was free until late afternoon pick up for the airport one of the other members of our group, Anita and myself set off to visit MUCHO Chocolato Museum, run and curated by a lovely woman I met on my recent trip to Grenada Chocolate Festval.
Anita and I also managed to get reservations for lunch, our last meal in Mexico City, at the Pujol restaurant, one of the top 50 restaurants of the world.  We had a truly unique meal which I will be telling you about in much more detail soon.
I have tried to give you a taste for the diversity and excitement of Mexico City in this post and in Part 1. We never really scratched the surface of this fascinating part of the world and I really hope to re-visit to carry on where I left off.

I was a guest of Mexico City Tourism. All photos and opinions are my own.

12 comments:

  1. Love Mexican food.. Sounds like there is lot to explore and experience..

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    1. There was so much there, much more than we could experience in a week!

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  2. Beautiful place.. I visited the cuty 10 years ago.. Love the Mexican food too.

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    1. I can't wait to go back again - there is so much to discover.

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  3. So, so envious. Desperate to go loose myself in the sights and sounds of Mexico.

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    1. I enjoyed every minute but it was hard work - press trips are not a jolly!

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  4. I can;t believe how much you crammed into your trip Heidi! So glad you had fun :)
    Janie x

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    1. We didn't have much down time until the last day and then we fitted in loads!

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  5. Wow Heidi, you are really getting around this year. Mexico is one of those places which I've never been to, but just know would be incredible.

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  6. It was so different from what I expected - want to visit other parts now.

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  7. Oh Mexico looks lovely!!! I would love to visit!
    Thankyou for sharing with us :)

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  8. It was a fantastic experience - I have lots more to write about the trip!

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