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 swaths of low-rise buildings, many topped with red roofs, spread in every direction.
I was back in a city I love.
I got through the airport and into an Uber in record time. Then it took forever to get to the hotel. Traffic in Mexico City is awful; it has that in common with NYC. Plus, being the weekend many streets were closed to traffic and transformed into pedestrian areas filled with shoppers and vendors. That necessitated some creative detours by my driver, GPS didn’t account for all the closures.
Eventually we reached my hotel in the Centro Histórico, and after checking in and finding a late lunch, I went out for a short walk. This is one of the things I love about Mexico City and something it has in common with NYC. You don’t have to be headed anywhere special. Just walk out the door and something interesting will find you.
The historic center is filled with elaborate buildings, enormous plazas, shops, food stands, people, noise, color, and endless activity. Taquerias were doing a brisk business, Several groups of musicians in costume passed by me on their way to perform. I hadn’t gone far when I stumbled across an exhibition tracing Mexican ceramics from prehistoric times to the present.
Ceramics.
For someone who began her professional life as a ceramicist, it felt as though Mexico City had arranged a little welcome-back present.
Traffic jams, street closures, gorgeous architecture, and an unexpected ceramics exhibition, all within a few hours of landing.
Yep. I’m definitely back in Mexico City.