Reap Your Holiday Treasures from the Land of Mexico

What you take Mexico as, is what the country gives you. For some, Mexico is just to stroll and marvel at the most ancient wonders and listening to the birds’ chirping around. A few consider that Mexico, it to be the ideal territory for relaxing at the palm-fringed beaches and chilling in its azure waters of Pacific. These are all generic experiences, but the most specific ones are dining with a chrysanthemum salad at a fusion restaurant and kayaking at sunrise in Mexico.

The excursion and sightseeing options are as huge as its geographical size – a large country spanning many tropical zones and 10,000 km of coast along with a city of 19 million people. Ah! That’s too much to provide any visitor with all that he/she wants.

However, I could only explore the Mexico City, as I did not have much time to stay and discover. But even that, was memorable in itself.

Mexico Tourist Attractions

Mexico City

Mexico city is the third largest urban area on the planet filled with a highland basin to lift you up at 2240 m. Right from the spring climate to hustling streets to cultural sites, the city has a lot of mosaic scenes to offer to its visitors. Here, we visited the following Mexico places to visit.

• Alameda Central:
  This is the city’s only extensive park enclosed by a few most charming buildings and museums. Set in the 1500s by the Viceroy Luis de Velasco, the park’s name comes from the alamos (poplars) cultivated on its rectangular land. This is the famous picnic spot for the locals especially on Sundays.
• Anahuacalli:
  This is a fortlike museum at 3.5 km south of Coyoacan developed from a single dark volcanic stone. It was planned by Diego Rivera to store his pre-Hispanic art items. An inscription on the door says: ‘To return to the people the artistic legacy I was able to realize from their ancestors.’ Upon clear atmosphere, do have the view from the top across the city.
• Arena Coliseo:
  This is a museum of crime! The mansion is full of violence, anguish, and extreme brutality, of course, in terms of exhibitions three nights a week. Lucha libre is the famous fun activity, which is the Mexican meaning of pro wrestling.
• Basílica de Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe:
  According to a legend, in December 1531, a local Christian named Juan Diego came on Cerro del Tepeyac (Tepeyac Hill) and is supposed to have seen a wonderful lady in a blue cloak of gold. The lady asked him to go to the bishop, Juan de Zumarraga, and say that that he saw Virgin Mary and that a shrine must be built there. However, the bishop did not accept this myth. But, Juan Diego could see the lady several times on the hill after whose fourth appearance; her image was incredibly inscribed on his cloak that made the myth a reality and leading to a development of a cult.
• Biblioteca Central:
  Enter the north of the campus from Insurgentes to easily locate Central Library of 10 floors and with no window, but enclosed with colorful and intricate mosaics by Juan O’Gorman on its each side. The south wall here has two famous zodiac wheels and exhibits colonial times. On the other hand, the north wall covers the Aztec culture.
• Biblioteca De Mexico:
  Originally a tobacco factory of the 18th century and later a prison, this tough compound is called as ‘The Citadel’ and is famous for its scene of the Decena Tragica (Tragic Ten Days) wherein the rebellion defeated the Madero government in 1913. Currently, there is a National Library offering more than 2,60,000 volumes and good periodicals along with art displays in the central hall.
• Bosque de Chapultepec:
  Here, Chapultepec means Hill of Grasshoppers in the Aztec language and it was once the sanctuary for the wandering Aztecs after which it became a forest reserve. Its second section is to the west of the Periferico that offers family attractions and lake-view restaurants on the Lago Mayor and the Lago Menor.
• Capilla De Las Capuchinas Sacramentarias:
  This is a chapel of a convent for Capuchine nuns planned by modern architect Luis Barragan in 1952. The altar is quite simple without any common iconography and has only gold panels. The best time to visit this chapel is in the morning to stun at the light streams trying to penetrate through the stained-glass window.
• Casa De Azulejos:
  This is one of the treasures located as a block in east toward the Zocalo. Made in 1596 A.D., it was for the Condes (Counts) del Valle de Orizaba. Its tile work is magnificent that decorates the outside walls right from the 18th century. Despite the fact that these tiles exhibit the Spanish and Moorish style, much of them were made in China.
• Casa Verde:
  Situated in the periphery of the city, this new gallery set in 2005 A.D. offers incorporated modern sculpture with the natural environs covering a hectare of verdant and pure natural parkland and gardens.
• Castillo De Chapultepec:
  This is the castle atop the Chapultepec Hill whose construction started before 1785 A.D., but could not be completed even after independence and became the national military academy. Then, this fortress was gradually converted into the home of Mexico’s presidents until 1939 A.D. Finally, President Lázaro Cárdenas made it the Museo Nacional de Historia (National History Museum).
• Catedral Metropolitana:
  Located on the ruins of an Aztec temple complex, this huge building has been in the state of collapsing erratically after its construction that has brought about fissures and cracks. The construction of the cathedral’s structure started in 1573 A.D. that continued until two and a half centuries. Except for the Mass time, visitors can freely roam around and spend some time here.
• Centro Cultura De Casa Lamm:
  A private art college, this is a wonderful Art Deco building that is worth a visit. It offers courses, video club, cafe, bookshop, library, and an ideal art gallery displaying the talented modern works of the artists such as Cuban Eduardo Roca Salazar (Choco).
• Centro Cultural Universitario Tlatelolco:
  Launched in 2007 A.D., this holds the former Foreign Relations Secretariat building (now in the Plaza Juarez complex on the Alameda Central). It is the cultural center adorned with two charming fixed exhibits. The Coleccion Andres Blaisten on the first floor offers the largest collection of 20th century art of the city and is owned privately.
• Centro De La Imagen:
  Located at the Balderas entrance to La Ciudadela, this is the photography museum attracting visitors with its innovative stages and exhibitions related to the documentary views of a few sharpest observers of the country on the Mexican life. Take a copy of Luna Cornea – a photography journal of this centre, from the bookstore.
• Centro Historico (Historic Centre):
  This offers superb colonial buildings and historic sites. One of its main attractions and the heart of the city is Zocalo, the Plaza de la Constitucion.

Best Time to Visit Mexico

• July and August
• Mid-December to early January

Mexico Accommodation

• Del Prado Hotel – $77
• Eurostars Suites Reforma – $66
• Quality Inn Torre Lindavista – $59
• Mision Reforma Hotel – $70
• Embassy Suites Hotel by Hilton Mexico City-Reforma – $118