Travel plans/Summer 2009 (Mexico)

Mexico City

Hotel:

• http://www.choicehotelsmexico.com/hotels/hotelServices?hotel=MX046

Possible things to do:

• Teotihuacan
• National Anthropology Museum / Mexico City Zoo
• NYTimes has a full list
• Palacio Nacional and the Diego Rivera Murals
• Mercado de La Ciudadela, crafts market
• Mercado de la Merced, food market
• NaCo
• Desierto de los Leones National Park
• Ride in a gondola
• Apparently there are free concerts at 7pm by the Orquesta Sinfónica del Conservatorio Nacional de Música
• Coyoacan
• Lucha libre Fridays and Sundays

Food:

• Gold Taco
• other Vegetarian restaurants
• Mercado de la Ciudadela

Centro Historico

wikitravel link

The city center, there is a lot of interesting stuff around the zocalo (Plaza de l/a Constitucion).

• "Templo Mayor": the old temple of the aztecs around which the city was built. The temple is thought to be on the exact spot where the Aztecs saw their symbolic eagle, pearching on a cactus with a snake in its beak - the symbol of Mexico today.
• Museo Nacional de Arte

Alameda central

West of centro historico.

• Palacio de Bellas Artes

Notable building incorporating pre-Hispanic motifs in neoclassical & art nouveau styles. Lots of murals: 2nd floor, Mexco de Hoy and Nacimiento de la Nacionalidad, 3rd floor west end is Diego Rivera's famous El Hombre en el Cruce de Caminos originally commissioned for the Rockefeller center (destroyed for its anticapitalist themes), north side David Alfaro Siqueiro's La Nueva Democracia and Rivera's Carnaval de la Vida Mexicana, east: La Katharsis.

• Museo de Arte Popular
• Mercado de la Ciudadela: A favorite destination for various good stuff from all over Mexico. Worth seeking out are Oaxaca alebrijes and the Huichol beadwork ranging from masks to bowls and jewelry. Prices are generally fair even before you bargain. If it's a Saturday, you can learn a few dance steps at the Plaza de Dazon, southwest of the market.

Bosque de Chapultepec

wikitravel link

• Museo Nacional de Antropolgi Tues - Sat, 9AM - 7PM (closed Mondays)
• Zoologico de Chapultepec

Xochimilco

wikitravel link

• Canals

Take one of hundreds of boats (trajineras) through the canals which is all that is left of the lake on which Mexico City was built.

• Parque Ecologico de Xochimilco (M$20 9am-6pm), boats also tour this ecological park.

• It's also possible to take one that goes to the Island of the Dolls (creepy!!!) from the Cuemanco landing, four hour round-trip.

• Museo Dolores Olmedo Patino (M$40, Tue free, 10am-6pm Tue-Sun)

Large Diego Rivero collection, some Frida Kahlo

Teotihuacan

wikitravel link

50km from Mexico City, 1 hour. Although there are hotels in the area, this is best done as a day trip, returning back to the city in the same day. There's an information booth near the southwest entrance (Gate 1).

From the Lonely Planet: There's an information booth near the southwest entrance (Gate 1).

Crowds at the ruins (admission M$45, 7am-6pm) are thickest from 10am to 2pm, and it's busiest on Sunday and holidays. Bring a hat and water - most visitors end up walking several kilometers, and the midday sun can be intense. Afternoon rain showers are common from June to September.

Getting there by bus: Autobuses Mexico-San Jan Teotihuacan runs buses from Mexico City's Terminal Norte to the ruins every 15 minutes from 7am to 6pm. (Make sure your bus is headed for "Los Piramides", not the nearby town of San Jan Teotihuacan.) Buses arrive and depart from near Gate 1, by the southwest entrance to the site.

Puebla

Hotel:

• The driving guide recommends "Palas or Palace, on 2 Oriente, a block from the zócalo and about four blocks from Los Sapos" as a cheap hotel
• Orbitz has a list, most hotels are around $100/room/night
• Lonely Planet has a map of the area and list of hotels, their pick is Hotel Colonial

Oaxaca

wikitravel link

Drive:

• http://www.howtodothings.com/travel/how-to-drive-from-mexico-city-to-oaxaca

Possible things to do:

• Ethnobotanical garden
• Oaxaca Monte Alban & Atzompa community market (home of the chia pet)
• Walk around the Zocalo

• Mercado Benito Juarez is nearby

• Abastos Market
• see a big tree
• Go to Mitla. About 1 hour from the city.

Food:

• Eat grasshoppers!
• Vegetarian restaurants

Dates

August 14

• 3:50 PM Chris & Madeleine arrive

August 15

• Alameda Central?

August 16

• Xochimilco

August 17

• Chris and Mad go to Teotihuacan

August 18

• Chapultepec: National Anthropology Museum & Zoo

August 19

• Chris and Mad explore the Centro Historico
• 10? PM Mako arrives
• Get rental car at airport while waiting for him
• ~11PM - midnight: Drive to Puebla de Zaragoza

Hotel:

• Palace
• 2 Oriente # 13 Tel +52-222-242-4030

August 20

• morning: drive to Oaxaca (~ 3.5 hours not including stops)

August 21

• Oaxaca stuff
• get in car to head back by 5pm, no later than 7pm because Chris & Mad have to leave the next morning.

August 22

• 7:04 AM Chris & Madeleine leave