23rd December 2007 - January 4th 2008
For Christmas and New Year I went with Paud and Kitty down to Mexico. We met up with my parents over from England in the quiet beach town of Akumal on the Yucatan, just north of Tulum and had a much needed rest.For New Year I left Kitty with my mum and dad and took off with Paud to Mexico City to meet up with our friend Jerry Stafford who was on a road trip.I really loved Mexico City;if slightly wary at first about it being a bit rough we didn't see many signs of it ( well apart from being woken up by machine gun fire ). There is such a huge amount of art, history and culture to pack in, and the architecture is an interesting sprawl of the old colonial city and decaying late-sixties modernism.
Arriving in Mexico City. It's vast, smoggy and surrounded by mountains.
First stop was the Saturday craft market shopping frenzy in the very pretty and slightly bohemian area of San Angel.
How cool were these! Loved this embroidery technique,very Matisse.
The local skater boys all had a good look of their own. Here at the obelisk to General Alvaro Obregan.
Me and Paud outside Frida Kahlo's house where she was born, lived much of her life and died, in Coyoacan.I've never been a huge fan of Frida Kahlo's paintings but what is really interesting to me is her and her amazing life.The house is really well preserved and insightful; it contains everything from her work, her clothes, furniture, knicknacks and memories of her love with Diego Rivera to her wheelchair.
Me in Frida Kahlo's garden.
The splendid Christmas tree in Santa Catarina square.
Paud outside the Iglesia de Santa Catarina. We discovered a great old bar here too called Cantina la Guadalupana.
Finally Jerry and writer William Middleton arrived, yey!I'd bumped into Stella Schnabel and her mum that day at the market and we all met up for dinner and a gossip at the Four Seasons.
Jerry Stafford and Stella Schnabel.
Jacqueline Schnabel.
Early the next morning we went to the enormous indoor market, Mercado de la Merced. Feeling a bit hungover this wasn't such a good move; it was pig head heaven!
Cacti at the market
The traffic lights are hysterical. The go sign is a man running really fast.
This is the main square in the heart of the old city centre, the Zocalo. The Catedral Metropolitana is the largest in Latin America and is really magnificent, although sinking.
Christmas decorations in the square.Tasteful!
Paud still with a thumping headache getting serenaded right in his ear at the Cafe Tacuba.
I knew I'd ordered the wrong thing for breakfast there.
These old green VW Beetles are the taxis.This is in front of one the 1968 Olympic stadiums.
Xochimilco. This is a network of canals and islands in the suburbs but really worth the trek. On Sundays it turns into a bit of a fiesta. Families rent out the painted punts, have a picnic on board and hire a Mariachi band ( also floating on their own boat) to play.
Jerry on board, fitting right in.
Paud and me .
Feral Afghans roaming on the shore. Who knew?
Being punted along and serenaded by La Cucaracha.. (it was the only song I could think of!)
Loved the hotel where we stayed, the Camino Real in Chapultepec. It was designed by Mexican architect Ricardo Legorretta in 1968 and is a huge 900 room legacy to the style of Mexican modern architecture of that time... and now has a China Grill inside!
This is Paud in the Blue Bar ( literally on water).
The bubbling Noguchi fountain in the hotel.
One of my high points in Mexico City was going to see the Lucha Libre wrestling. William was writing an article on it and got us really good tickets ( he had a backstage pass..all the wrestlers arrive for work with their masks on!)The audience also wear masks...and it can get a bit rough ( they took my camera away to protect the identity of the wrestlers). It's also really camp!
These are the masks for sale outside.It was another shopping frenzy for us.
Kids in masks outside the Lucho Libre arena.
William, Jerry and Paud at the newish cool design hotel Condesa DF. We were all freezing having dinner in the lovely but roofless courtyard restaurant.
Jerry outside the architect Luis Barragan's house..it was closed on Dec 31st ( as was a lot of Mexico City)
Teotihuacan. This trip we did was just amazing. About an hour outside Mexico City is this site of relics from a mysterious ancient civilization from around the same time as the Roman Empire.The entire population disappeared. You couldn't help but think about some form of space craft landing at the site...which is enormous and quite unearthly in it's appearance.
The Moon pyramid.
Me and Jerry at the Sun pyramid. Jerry and Paud intrepidly climbed to the top of everything possible ( I have really bad vertigo so sat happily at the bottom with the Mexican jewellery seller in her pink velour faux Juicy tracksuit).
The view from top.
Paud and Jerry outside Diegio Rivera's house. Also closed! Our timing was impeccable.
It was New Years Eve and we decided to start off the night with a civilised dinner at nearby restaurant.
Jerry in party spirit.
The rat appetiser!
We then went onto the gay club Living for midnight. I was living for Living, until they confiscated my camera, yet again. Fun though. This is Paud making new friends!
Me back at the hotel.Knackered.
New Years Day with Paud by the hotel pool.
We didn't manage to squeeze in going to Mariachi Square by night ( meant to be a bit dodgy too), so we popped by on the way to the airport and only managed to see a few lone, leftover Mariachis that no-one had hired...
Back to the tranquility of Akumal. On the beach with Paud and Kitty.
Me with my parents on our last night.
