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| Thursday, May 11, 2006 |
| Ciudad de México or Mexico City or No.14 !! |
During my research about this city, I found out some bittersweet things. No.1, Mexico city has more pollution, more traffic, more homelessness and much more crime and corruption than Mumbai. Is that a good or bad thing?
I guess Mexico City doesn’t have much of a choice about the pollution cos the mountains and volcanoes surrounding the city trap polluted air in the city. The scariest news I read was about the numerous kidnappings that happen, not only for ransom but also to be able to access the person’s ATM accounts. Victims are kept overnight in order to bypass daily withdrawal limits.
Apparently no one trusts the police force there either… but the people  there instead of taking it silently like we do revolt. e.g. a crowd in burned two undercover officers alive, because they were apparently confused with child abductors!!
Did I do wrong by giving the gloomy stuff first … sorry... here goes the rosy stuff
Mexico was actually an original pre-Aztec city known as Tenochtitlan(pronounced teyo-ti-wa-kan) - built by the Toltecs (predecessors to the Aztecs) and is the site of several pyramids, including the world's third largest pyramid!! Then it was taken over by the Aztecs  and then the Spanish. And then came the U.S. invasion which led to Texas being given to the states and also led to Mexicans wrapping themselves in the Mexican flag and jumping to their deaths to keep the Americans from taking them.
by the by ... the Aztecs used to sacrifice something like 20000 people per year to their god Huitzilopochtli (the hummingbird god????) nice pastime yea?
 Famous landmarks in Mexico City include The Zócalo which once contained the pyramids and palaces of Moctezuma and was the exact center of the Aztec empire. Within walking distance are the ancient Aztec temple ruins Templo Mayor which was found while digging to place underground cables.
Bellini is a revolving restaurant which is on the 45th floor of the World Trade Center and offers great views. There is the beautiful Angel of Independence on the elegant avenue Paseo de la Reforma. There are many places here, where you will feel like you are in a different world.
The Chapultepec Park houses the Chapultepec Palace museum and other monuments and the national zoo. The Bellas Artes Palace, which is gradually been sinking into the ground below, is also situated here. 
The colonias, like Condesa and Lomas de Chapultepec and the suburbs of San Angel and Coyoacan along with the Floating gardens of Xochimilco are all beautiful. The ancient floating gardens have been around for about 700 years and still operate, as they did in Aztec times. In addition there are several restored Haciendas that are now restaurants such as the San Angel Inn, and the Hacienda de los Morales, which have the best food in the world. %20Mercado%20de%20flores.jpg)
There are bullfights (which should be completely banned … poor bulls), charreadas or Mexican rodeos which people here watch for amusement. For my kinda amusement, namely, shopping there are the Mercados which are range in size from small, flea markets to outdoor ones to elaborate buildings with 200 or 300 stalls. Sometimes, shops are located in converted colonial mansions which sell curios and trinkets, custom jewelry, fine gold and pearls.  Diego Rivera and his wife Frida Kahlo (thats her in the foto)lived in the southern suburb of Coyoacán, where several of their homes, studios, and collections are open to the public.
DÃa de los Muertos is the festival of the dead in which family members bring marigolds, light candles and decorate the graves of loved ones. During this time, edible coffins and sugar skulls and bones, as well as papier-mâché skeletons are all available. YUMMMMM
I also found out that Mexico city is built on a lake and keeps sinking cos of it and every year .. more steps are added to the angel monument!!! And lastly … check this out!!!
Now... about the food!!!!
Tortillas are the staple food here and are commonly made of maize. Often served alongside a meal as like rotis, tortillas can also be rolled and baked for enchiladas, fried for tacos or grilled for quesadillas.
Frijoles or beans are most commonly boiled and then fried.
 A Salsa is actually just a sauce, although it is most commonly associated with the red or green mix of tomatoes, onion, chili and coriander.
Tequila is most commonly served to tourists in the form of a margarita – mixed with lime juice in salt-rimmed glasses. It is actually derived from the maguey plant – a spiky bush often seen growing in fields.
Mezcal is a cruder form of Tequila traditionally served with a worm – the worm should be eaten when the drink is finished!
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posted by Ipshi @ 5:23 pm   |
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| 10 Comments: |
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too many interesting things to comment about. lemme start with the killigs, uff crazy yaar. well i hope ur blog is not read by indian robbers, this idea of kidnapping ppl for their money in ATMs shudn't reach them.
considering the current situation, dunno when we'll be able to visit Kashmir's floating gardens, so guess will have to go to Mexico for that :)
And Tortillas, yumm... absolutely love it with salsa sauce and cheese. But the idea of a drink with a worm, yuck!!!
Also, i didn't know there were pyramids in other parts of the world except for Egypt. hmm...interesting
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i just loooooooovvvvvvveeeeeeee the pictures. and the blog is damn interesting. btw.....does egypt feature in the top 20....i wanna go there :))
Mexico....i made dad read it......hes pressurizing us to go to mexico now :D All thanks to u......such a fabbb piece of blog :))
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Thanks for ur support smita.. Will try my best to keep up the work.. :)
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Sugar coffins and skulls!! eek. I don't think even with 20 or so sweet teeth in my mouth I'd get near that. And no worms either.
Shopping out of mansions sounds like fun. I liked the idea of the floating gardens but couldn't understand the concept. As in, is it like a pond with lots of flowers and plants growing in it?
And ya, I'm checking your blog from home and can see all the pics. So its just our stupid office comps I think. I liked Frida. And Salma Hayek who played Frida in the movie seems to actually look like her. Much prettier tho.
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Hi!
After I watched Frida Kahlo's movie,I thought I would like to go to Mexico someday.
I could know about Mexico because of your blog.
Thank you!
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I guess of all your posts till date, Mexico has been a perfect balance of the good, the bad, and the food (food is food, always!).. very very interesting! The pics on the blog make it all the more interesting, each one is worth a praise!
I second eisha's opinion.. no indian taxiwalla/bhai getting to read this all-informative write up! neither did i know about pyramids outside egypt!
Steps being added to the angel monument, annually, is a very scary thought..
As discussed, Mexico, i guess has a lot of voilence deep down to the grass root level, it was founded on voilence, to top it all its surrounded by volcanos, people have suicidal and homicidal tendencies and spicy mexican food to act as a catalyst! Hummingbird God, again in itself shows a lot of indecisive and restless behaviour!!
A 45-storey high revolving restaurant, floating gardens and Angel of Independence are sure shot attractions for me! Likewise, Tortilla and salsa take the cake, rather are the cake here! On the contrary celebrations of the festival of the dead and Mezcal with the worm are a big no-no! Tequila, however is already on my to-do list, the one which each one of us have, wanna do it atleast once in a lifetime kinda!
Honestly, im very confused about Mexico City, still contemplating whether or not to go there, ofcourse if you agree to join me there, it'll be a different story altogether!
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Apologies for the incresing size of my comments.. As you know, i'm not a minimalist when it comes to words and in unison have this need to express my thoughts, no matter how crappy they might be!
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cud finally see the images, loved..... it.
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Nice idea with this site its better than most of the rubbish I come across.
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What a great site, how do you build such a cool site, its excellent.
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 - Name: Ipshi
- Location: Dubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
It is only in my 30s that I have realised I will never be the elegant lady who can wear white without spilling something on it. I recognise my blessings like my family, my friends & my job & I am letting go of my fears of writing & just jumping in. I love my job. It has given me the opportunity to live in a city where I am surrounded by the most amazing friends in the world & the most surreal experiences. It also gives me the opportunity to read great books & travel to fascinating new countries. Join me as I share these with the world.
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too many interesting things to comment about. lemme start with the killigs, uff crazy yaar. well i hope ur blog is not read by indian robbers, this idea of kidnapping ppl for their money in ATMs shudn't reach them.
considering the current situation, dunno when we'll be able to visit Kashmir's floating gardens, so guess will have to go to Mexico for that :)
And Tortillas, yumm... absolutely love it with salsa sauce and cheese. But the idea of a drink with a worm, yuck!!!
Also, i didn't know there were pyramids in other parts of the world except for Egypt. hmm...interesting