Mexico – Page 3 – GringoPotpourri

Photo Locale of the Month – December 2015

December is one of my favorite months for being in Mexico City. Although the nights and early mornings can be quite chilly, the sun shines gloriously most days, and the Christmas decorations and noche buenas (poinsettias) are displayed in abundance. Additionally, it seems that each Chilango you meet (and there are many – roughly 21 million) has a twinkle in his eye and a smile on his face as he sips an atole (a warm corn beverage, vaguely similar to hot chocolate) or ponche (fruit punch, flavored with whole chunks of fruit) in between rounds of holiday shopping at any of the city’s mercados or galerias.

As regards public gathering spaces in Mexico City, the city’s Plaza de la Constitución – or Zócalo – is ground zero. This is the unofficial geographic center of the city, and the third-largest square in the world, after Tiananmen Square in Beijing and Red Square in Moscow. Mexico City’s Zócalo is home to the location of the country’s presidential palace, its largest cathedral, one of its most important Aztec sites, and the capital’s city hall.

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Celebrating Feast Day in Mexico City

The Basilica of Guadalupe, in northern Mexico City, is the world’s third-most-visited religious pilgrimage destination. It is here that the Aztecs worshipped at a pre-Colombian temple atop Tepeyac Hill. It is here that indigenous monk Juan Diego saw several visions of the Virgin Mary. And it is here that a series of churches exist today in honor of the Virgin’s first appearance.

Today is Feast Day, a spiritual celebration of the Virgin’s first appearance in Mexico, and a day when thousands – millions – arrive in reverence. Each December 12^th, the street leading up to the basilica is closed to vehicular traffic and overtaken by pilgrims, many crawling the last several hundred meters on their knees. Mass is conducted around-the-clock, volunteers feed the homeless at a food station behind the basilica, and Aztec drummers keep the rhythm in the adjacent plaza while others dance in a haze of incense. The energy is infectious at any time of year, but doubly so on Feast Day and during the days leading up to it.

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Holiday Travels – Part Six

I have no idea where the year went. Thanksgiving has come and gone, and December is only a few days away! I have been working some sweet overtime lately, but as it happens, I was off on Turkey Day and got to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner GringoPotpourri-style – stuffing, long grain-and-wild rice, cranberries, peas, brown-and-serve rolls, and Cornish hens instead of turkey. In other words: a real smorgasbord! 🙂

If you have been a long-time follower of this blog, you know that I often wax nostalgic about past holiday travels. At least five out of my last 15 Thanksgivings have been spent in Mexico, and those particular Turkey Days remain especially memorable. For all of my holiday travel blog recollections however – Scandinavia in 2010, Rome in 2008-09, East Tennessee in 2011, Québec in 2008, London in 2006 – I have never actually written in much detail about any of my holidays spent in Mexico…until now.

Thanksgiving in Puebla, Mexico (2003)

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Barrios Bravos: Santa María la Ribera

The barrio bravo, or “tough neighborhood,” of Santa María la Ribera is a place in transition. It is located far enough west of Greater Tepito, and close enough to prosperous Reforma, to be in the “safety zone,” but it also abuts Buenavista Train Station, which connects Mexico City’s Distrito Federal with a dozen cities and towns in adjacent, sprawling Estado de México.

Santa María la Ribera is most famous as being the new, permanent home of the Kiosco Morisco, or Moorish Kiosk. The reddish kiosk/pavilion was originally built by Mexican engineer José Ramón Ibarrola for the 1884 World’s Fair in New Orleans. Post-exposition, it was moved to the Alameda Central (Central Park of Poplars) on the western fringe of the Centro Histórico. The kiosk was eventually relocated to Santa María’s own Alameda de Santa María during the presidency of Porfirio Díaz, who ordered the building of a monument to Benito Juárez in its place at the Alameda Central. Residents of Santa María beamed with civic pride, and volunteered to look after the kiosk. At that time, their neighborhood was one of Mexico City’s wealthiest.

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Four Days in Cuernavaca

My love affair with Mexico has lasted for many years. It was over 12 years ago, in April of 2003, when I made my second trip to Mexico City, with my eyes set on an extended weekend destination one hour to the south of DF: Cuernavaca.

Often called the “City of Eternal Spring,” Cuernavaca sits in a 5,000-foot valley south of Mexico City’s volcanic southern slopes, and features a wonderful year-round climate. Cuernavaca has been a long-time weekend destination for many wealthy Chilangos (Mexico City residents), and I’ve heard – but have not been able to verify – that Cuernavaca has more swimming pools per capita than anywhere else in the world. Fun fact: according to Wikipedia, the Shah of Iran once had a house in Cuernavaca!

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40 at 40 – A GringoPotpourri Q&A

I turned 40 two weeks ago. The feeling is a bit surreal. On the one hand, most people tell me that I look young for my age. On the other hand, I can’t believe that I’ve completed four decades of living, and I’m disappointed that I’m not “where I should be” in my life considering that I’m a college graduate who has traveled around the world. At least that dreadful phrase “Over the Hill” has become passé.

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Five Days in Guanajuato

I was up late the other night, channel surfing like a zombie, when I stumbled upon the 2002 film Once upon a Time in Mexico. This action movie, the third in director Robert Rodriguez’s El Mariachi trilogy, packs more plot into its 100 minutes than four normal action movies.

I decided to watch the remainder of Once upon a Time in Mexico, and came into the film at the beginning of the movie’s climactic shoot ’em up. I did a double-take, however, when the University of Guanajuato’s main building flashed across the screen. This building, located in Guanajuato, 4.5 hours north of Mexico City, features one of the country’s most recognizable exterior façades. I already knew that portions of the movie were shot in the mid-sized cities of Querétaro and San Miguel de Allende, but I was not previously aware of lovely Guanajuato being another film location.

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Confessions of a Former English Teacher

As my current tax season job winds to a close, I am reminded of the fact that just one year ago, I was waking up at 4:30 every morning to begin the arduous commute to my rewarding, but short-lived, job as an English teacher in Mexico City.

I have mentioned that job before in passing, but wanted to share some humorous anecdotes with you, Loyal Reader – albeit in a more structured manner than the few bullet points I shared here about my current gig as a tax company waver and marketer.

Today’s entry will be longer, as I taught English in Mexico for 18 months and simply have more stories to tell.

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Barrios Bravos: Doctores

The next Barrio Bravo that I have decided to revisit digitally is south/southwest of the Centro Histórico. Although the “tough neighborhood” in question is neither as sprawling as Iztapalapa, nor as dense as Tepito, nor as jam-packed with history as Tlatelolco, it houses several hundred thousand Chilangos and has just enough points of interest to merit a few paragraphs in this blog series.

Doctores is so named because several of its streets are named after various doctors of some renown. Dr. Olvera, for example, was an 18^th-century forensic scientist. Roughly speaking, the large colonia stretches runs from Arcos de Belén in the north to Viaducto in the south, and from Avenida Cuauhtémoc in the west to Eje Central in the east. The entirety of Doctores lies within Cuauhtémoc delegación (borough), which also governs the always-bustling Centro Histórico.

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Photo Locale of the Month – January 2015

I have decided to introduce a new feature on this blog that I hope to turn into a monthly recurrence: the Photo Locale of the Month.

Each month, I’ll highlight a particular place from my travels – not just a city but a specific site within that city – and I’ll introduce it to you through pictures.

As always, all images are the property of GringoPotpourri unless credited otherwise.

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For the first month, I thought I’d feature a favorite place from what is perhaps my favorite city in the world. The place is Chapultepec Castle and the city is Mexico City.

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