There aren’t many tours I choose to take twice. Culinary Backstreet’s food tour of Xochimilco is an exception. The town of Xochimilco is one of the last remaining bits of the lakes that once covered most of Mexico City. It’s only about seventeen miles from Mexico City’s historic center, though getting there feels longer. Mexico City traffic rivals New York … Read More

The Museo Soumaya’s architecture alone makes it worth a visit, even if art museums aren’t your thing. The windowless, metallic six-story building looks a bit like a surrealist hourglass covered in thousands of gleaming silver tiles. It’s impossible to ignore. It’s the centerpiece of Nuevo Polanco, a very modern, very wealthy section of Mexico City that’s still growing. The museum … Read More

If you collected many of my favorite things, folk art, outrageous color, quirky objects, and wonderful craftsmanship, and out them into a museum, you’d have the Museo de Arte Popular. It’s one of my favorite museums in Mexico City, and I have several. Though relatively small, I can spend many happy hours there. On this visit, there were two special … Read More

There’s something exhilarating about flying into Mexico City. As the plane descended yesterday, the city seemed to stretch forever, a vast carpet of buildings spilling toward the mountains. Mexico City is enormous, one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world, but from the air what struck me that unlike New York, relatively few skyscrapers puncture the skyline. Instead, enormous … Read More

Yesterday was mostly consumed by getting to the airport to meet my friends and get the van to drive to Ixtapan de la Sal. Ixtapan de la Sal is located southwest of Mexico City in the mountains. It’s about fifty miles as the crow flies, but seventy-five miles to drive there. You wouldn’t think that it would take very long, … Read More

The Museo de Arte Popular has been on my radar for a while. I’m a great fan of folk art and any museum dedicated to exhibiting the “people’s art” is one I must check out. It was better than my wildest hopes. After three hours I’d done a quick sweep of all the floors. I could have stayed for a … Read More

I arrived in Mexico City early yesterday afternoon. The first order of business after checking into the hotel was a siesta. When I woke up, the sky was ominous looking. Within minutes lightening and thunder made their appearance with great gusto. I could hear hail pounding against the window. Staying in and eating at the hotel’s restaurant seemed prudent. It … Read More