Small Fish Leaves the Big Taco.....

Only temporarily!! It is the summer holidays and I am taking off, sadly (or not) without my laptop! My itinerary for the next 7 weeks is:-

Mexico City, New York, Washington DC, London, Prague, Split, Croatian Islands, Dubrovnik, London, Stratford-upon-Avon, Glasgow, Edinburgh, London, Mexico City..........

So no time for blogging myself, but will have time, of course, to check in with and comment on all my favourite blogs. Will be back blogging in the Big Taco from mid-August....

Jeff Koons - Sacred Heart on the Roof of the Met, NY, 2008

I am sure that in true Aztec style much of my heart will remain here in Mexico City over the Summer. Happy Holidays everyone!!

Shadow Shot Sunday 19 - Huamantla - Four lamps and a Corona sign....

Huamantla is another charming "pueblo magico" in the State of Puebla about two and a half hours East of Mexico City. It has a picturesque zocalo and colonial historic centre, and is perhaps most famed for its August festival which includes a Pamplona style running of the bulls through the cobbled streets. It should perhaps be famed for the highest number of colonial lamps attached to walls anywhere in Mexico, which coupled with the very long afternoon shadows of a very hot day, create this week's shadow shot post...

For more interesting shadow shots from around the world this week click here for Hey Harriet....enjoy!

Magical Malinalco...El pueblo magico

Mexico has a wonderful system of designating charming tucked away places as "los pueblos magicos" (Magical villages) and Malinalco most certainly falls into this category. Only a couple of hours from Mexico City, few people have heard of it, as it is truly off the beaten track, and thus, I am just a little reluctant to let you in on this best kept secret...but oh well...here goes!!

Snuggled in an alluvial valley with its own microclimate, Malinalco is surrounded by tropical flowers, lush greenery and temperate forests; a veritable verdant natural paradise...

Everywhere conveys a sense of space, green fields, volcanic crags and beautiful views...


You can start an ideal day by having a leisurely traditional Mexican breakfast...

Wandering through the market full of carefully stacked pyramids of tropical fruit and vegetables...

Meandering along quiet cobbled streets past colonial buildings, churches with bunches of bananas hanging over the doors, and traditional cantina bars with swing saloon doors...

Don't forget to pop in and visit the 16th century Augustinian convent...

before heading up the winding stone path fragrant with bougainvillea, jacarandas, and both pine and palm trees, that leads to the hilltop 16th century Aztec archaeological site with commanding views of the whole valley...

If you are lucky you can be treated to a conch-blowing ceremony that a local guy just likes to perform here, communing with Nature and the ancient history embedded in the site...

Malinalco is the perfect chilled weekend retreat from Mexico City easily reached in two hours from Observatorio bus station. Boutique hotels and trendy restaurants are beginning to creep in but it is still essentially right off the tourist map. You can visit.....but ssssssssssssssshh please don't tell absolutely everyone!!!

Topiary for the masses...........

One of the things I was least expecting to find in Mexico City when I moved here was..............topiary!! In England it is confined to the sedate and highly rarified elitist world of Stately Homes and Knot Gardens a la Hampton Court, but here it is quite literally everywhere...

Cast your eye over any surburban street, supermarket carpark, garage forecourt, restaurant garden, school playground, motorway verge and you will find topiary... be it in the form of spaceship trees, giant leafy cockerels, antlered deer or tiny pigs quietly snuffling at the side of the road...

Turn any quiet corner on any suburban street and you will be as likely to be confronted by a piece of topiary as anything else...So what's the story?? Is it simply that the box tree grows rampant here and is begging to be clipped?? Is it that Mexican culture has such a strong penchant for Surrealism and magic realism?? Or a nation of frustrated Edward Scissorhands?? Please let me know - I am dying of curiosity here......................

For more gorgeous glimpses around the world this week click here for My World Tuesday postings..........

Shadow Shot Sunday 18 - Cementerio Frances

Last Saturday I was on my way to the department store Liverpool to spend a birthday voucher, when I got sidetracked by this place Cementerio Frances, a stone's throw from the shopping mall Parque Delta. Scrolled in wrought iron above the gate were the welcoming words "Heureux qui meurt dans le Seigneur", and so in I went......

It was a scorching day with an intense blazing sun, the metro had been hot and stuffy, the cars were honking, and I was looking forward to the relative comfort of an air-conditioned mall, but instead I was provided with something a whole lot better - a tranquil haven, a shady oasis of dappled shadows and silence.....what a refuge!!

I spent a good two hours wandering around, totally alone, taking photos, and soaking up the serene ambience....

Originally this cemetery had been a burial place for the French community here, but today the names on the graves are all Mexican apart from a small handful of very old tombs. I could only find one French resident named as Mme Louise Horr born in Brittany in 1917, and another very old grave simply read "souvenir"...

As I left, I was just taking a final photo near the cemetery gates, when suddenly a security guard came rushing over to tell me that photos under no circumstances were permitted....Oops! Too late!!

Cementerio Frances is just across the road from Metro Station Centro Medico and Parque Delta Centro Commercial...and no I never made it to Liverpool after all!! These shots are all colour shots...the place was monochrome that day! For more shadow shots from around the world this week click here for Hey Harriet.

Is DF becoming a more bike-friendly city?

Four years ago, when I first moved here, the simple answer to this question would have been a loud and resounding NO! In fact I would have classified Mexico City as the least bike-friendly place I had ever lived in or visited; and statistics revealing that only 1% of journeys are taken by bike would have supported this perspective. That 1% is perhaps best represented by this image of a lone cyclist braving the empty roads during the height of the Swine Flu crisis....

But things are definitely beginning to change, all thanks to Mayor Marcelo Ebrard's 15 year Green Plan for the city, which is aiming to increase daily trips by bike to 5% by 2012. There are already many visible signs of this sea-change on the horizon.....

The partial road closure of Reforma on Sunday mornings for cyclists has proved increasingly popular lending a festive holiday atmosphere to the route. Twelve free bike rental stations have sprung up along the route; all you have to do is leave ID......Plus, they are operative all week from Tuesday to Sunday 10am - 6pm.

Hotels are also beginning to follow suit with free bike rentals for guests, and bike racks are proliferating all over the city...

Future plans, however, are going beyond leisure, and are really aiming to convince commuters to cycle - 20 km of protected bike lanes are planned for Reforma, San Cosme and Buenavista, 900 more bike racks will be set up, as well as parking facilities for 400 bikes at Constitucion Metro. An urban cycling school is also on the agenda to teach interested riders about safety on the road. This is vital as at present both drivers and cyclists show a flagrant disregard for pedestrians, and I have almost been mown down twice recently by two-wheelers hurtling towards me the wrong way down a one way street. Unfortunately much of the appeal of cycles and motorbikes on busy roads is to break all traffic rules to avoid jams... But hey, in the meantime, we have our own brand new bicitaxis whizzing gleefully around the zocalo in their own bike lane...

And who knows...maybe we will start to catch up with Copenhagen, currently the leading Western city for cycling with 36% journeys taken by bike. Maybe Mexico City will even begin to look like this recent art installation by Betsabee Romeo which shows the bicycle taking over the car...quite literally

Anyway, I am actually seriously considering getting a bike! Four years ago? Totally unthinkable!!

Mexico City on the Move.......

Mexico City's new motto is "Capital en Movimiento", and DF residents, like Gandhi when asked about Western civilisation, think this would be a very good idea!! It is all part of the mayor Marcelo Ebrard's 15 year Green Plan for the city which also includes introducing bicitaxis around the zocalo and more bike friendly policies. (More on this in Thursday's post.)

One of the easiest ways to get Mexico City moving again has to be to attack the "Car is King" culture and get people out of their cars and onto Public Transport which is safe, reliable and cheap. It is a rite of passage for teenagers to start driving their own cars at 15, and commuters are happy to sit in 5 hours of traffic everyday - two and a half hours each way, but of course it is the paid driver that takes the strain whilst they are getting work done on their laptops!! Chauffeurs can be hired here for unlimited availability for as little as 6,000 pesos per month (500USD)

The Metro celebrates its 40th anniversary this year (1969-2009) and, with its bright orange French trains, it is fast and functional costing only 2 pesos (15 cents) per journey whatever the length. At rush hours it can get very crowded, and reports of pickpocketing and groping have led to women and children only carriages at these times (recently infiltrated by a 46 year old engineer dressed as a woman in the worst wig and dress ever...Check out David Lida's blog for the video of the arrest). But these problems seem few and far between, plus there are Security guards standing aloft on Vigilancia boxes to help you out, and it really is the quickest and most convenient way to get around....

There is a terrible class snobbery here that public transport is only for the poor and working class, people who can't afford to own or run a car or hire a driver. Tourists and expats are warned off and told that public transport is another of DF dangers to avoid at all costs, but these myths need exploding. I have travelled extensively here, independently, by a combination of bus, pesero, metro and taxi, and have never felt the need to have a car (unlike when I am living in London!!) People are friendly and helpful, and I have never experienced any problems in 4 years whilst travelling about by myself...

We recently had a taste of Mexico City really on the Move at the height of the Swine Flu crisis, when closures resulted in an amazing reduction in cars on the road, and the traffic flowed freely, plus road deaths (currently around 50 per day) were pretty much zeroed. As a final plea for Public Transport where else in the world can you stop to view an ancient pyramid site whilst changing lines on the Metro?? (Pino Suarez Metro Station)

What can other cities from around the world teach us about this issue?? For a glimpse into other parts of the world this week click here for MyWorld Tuesday posts...

Shadow Shot Sunday 17 - Pie de la Cuesta

These are all shots of the pattern of shadows made by various cacti and potted tropical plants around the pool of Hotel Nirvana in the tiny beach resort of Pie de la Cuesta, half an hour out of Acapulco. Only the first shot however is displaying natural colours. For the rest, I have been experimenting with different tints and colours....

And of course there is always the more purist black and white monochrome option...

What do you think?? Any preferences?? For more glorious shadow shots around the world this week check out Hey Harriet by clicking here...

Earthquake-proof? Torre Latinoamericana....

With two 5.9 earthquakes rocking Mexico City in the past couple of months, causing my apartment to shake and pictures to fall off the walls, here is one of the first buildings to be built to earthquake-proof specifications in 1956. It has withstood several earthquakes, the most notable in 1985, and in the viewing gallery are striking photos of this being the only building standing in a sea of rubble for as far as the eye can see.....

Once the tallest building in Latin America at 44 floors and 182m, it is now the fifth tallest in Mexico City today. Views from the observation deck on the top floor are quite spectacular on a clear day. I had never realised for example that all the street stall awnings were so colour coordinated!!

The Latin American Tower is located in the Centro Historico on Eje Central Lazaro Cardenas and Francisco Madero. It has a recently revamped cafe, restaurant and shop, and costs 50 pesos (4USD) to visit. The other safest place in the city during an earthquake is supposedly the Metro!

Masks and the Mexican Psyche....

No this is not another post about the Swine Flu Crisis..(we seem to have moved on from that fortunately) but more of a musing on masks and the Mexican psyche. I managed to avoid wearing a face mask at any time during the crisis (even when I was supposed to at school during the student health checks) but saw my fellow Mexicans embrace it without any hesitation .....

David Lida on his blog was the first recently to make the link between Mexican culture and masks by referring to Octavio Paz' analysis of the Mexican essential character in his classic "The Labyrinth of Solitude" whereby he devotes a whole chapter to the deep-seated characteristic of always putting on a mask. Check the full posting by clicking here. So this weekend I decided to see what evidence I could gather for this supposed national trait.

First up is this wonderful exhibition "Otros Rostros" (Other Faces) currently along Reforma displaying the photographs of anthropologist and folk art collector Ruth D Lechuga ( 1920 - 2004). Taken mainly in the 1970s and 1980s they depict festivals around Mexico, and of the hundred or so photographs every character is masked...

Next I strolled through Chapultepec Park with its many stalls selling the Lucha Libre wrestling masks....

Children and teenagers were all running around with their masked faces courtesy of the face painting stalls advertising these kinds of options...

I have never been in a country with more costume and fancy dress shops called "tiendas de disfraces" ( shops for disguises), and, thus, I leave you with this final famous portrait, currently in an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, of the legendary Lucha Libre wrestler "El Santo" who would never allow himself to be seen let alone photographed without his mask...

So plenty of seeming evidence on show, but how any of this translates into an insight into the Mexican psyche or character, I don't really feel qualified to comment as I haven't been here long enough to really know, but it is an interesting concept to think about...Maybe I should read Octavio Paz again...

For other musings around the world this week click here for MyWorldTuesday postings...