Mexico City, Mexico, Dec 2019
After our long trip through Central Asia (Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbeksitan) in Sept-Oct 2019, we decided to spend 2019-2020 New Year’s eve timeframe to explore Mexico City. We stayed initially at the Intercontinental Hotel in the Polanco area; which was a nice, upscale, area.
Mexico City is the capital and largest city of Mexico, as well as the most populous city in North America. It is located in the Valley of Mexico (Valle de México), a large valley in the high plateaus in the center of Mexico, at an altitude of 7,350 ft. The population of Greater Mexico City is approx. 22 million, which makes it the sixth-largest metropolitan area in the world, the second-largest urban agglomeration in the Western Hemisphere (behind São Paulo, Brazil), and the largest Spanish-speaking city in the world.
Mexico’s capital is both the oldest capital city in the Americas and one of two founded by indigenous people. The city was originally built on a group of islands in Lake Texcoco by the Mexica (Azteca) in 1325 as Tenochtitlan. It was almost completely destroyed in the 1521 Siege of Tenochtitlan and subsequently redesigned and rebuilt in accordance with the Spanish urban standards. In 1524, the municipality of Mexico City was established. Mexico City was the political, administrative, and financial center of a major part of the Spanish colonial empire. After independence from Spain was achieved, the Mexico City federal district was created in 1824. On 29 January 2016, it ceased to be the Federal District (D.F.) and is now officially known as Ciudad de México (or CDMX)
Some images of parts of Mexico City we visited are below









After a couple of days, we decided to move closer to the happening area, so we moved to the Marriott hotel on the Paseo de la Reforma which is a very wide boulevard running from the city center to the outskirts. And right outside our hotel, on the large roundabout, there was a big stage being built and the main streets cordoned off; we assumed for New Year’s celebration.

From here, we were able to take the local bus or subway or taxi’s/Uber to get around easily. Some places we visited are below













Celebrating the end of 2020
Good times outside our hotel

The next day, we decided to go to Xochomilco (pronounced so-cho-mil-ko), which is the last remnants of a vast water transport system built by the Aztecs, just outside Mexico City. To get there, we should have only had to take the subway and train, but since there was some maintenance issue, we ended up having to take the subway, bus and train to get there. Some scenes on the way and at Xochomilco.


Once at Xochomilco, we found a gondola to take us around, and boarded with other passengers. Some gondolas had sitting on the edges and others had tables and chairs on them. Some scenes below




Live music was a must
After this festive day on the water, we went back to Centro Historico area the next day to the Torre Latino tower to get a bird’s eye type of view of Mexico City. This tower is 43 stories high, and the top 2 floors (1 is enclosed, the other is open) provide panoramic views of Mexico City


Then, we met up with our friends Martha & Ricardo who we had met during our trip to Aruba, and their kids at the Anthropology Museum, which was very interesting learning about the history of Mexico


After the Museum, we went for a short visit to the zoo opposite, and then Martha & Ricardo took us out for a very nice meal and ice cream with the family, a most enjoyable time. Thanks to Martha & Ricardo.
We finished off our trip with a visit to the Mercado de San Juan…








And so ended our trip to beautiful Mexico City. We felt very safe in Mexico City, and never felt unsafe or threatened. All the people we came across were friendly and helpful at helping us or directing us to where we wanted to go. Everywhere we went was always clean and sanitary; bathrooms everywhere were clean & functional. Taxis and Ubers were cheap and easy to get around, as was the public transportation of busses, trams, subways and trains. All in all, a great time and we need to remember that their civilization started way before the Spaniards ever set foot in the Americas.
This entry was posted in Mexico, Mexico City 2019, North America
Lovely documentary. Very professional. Thanks Mr Ali
Most welcome Mr Nick; thanks for the feedback.
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Thanks for sharing. In fact my daughter just left for Mexico City this morning.
I forwarded your email to her. It will be very useful to her.
Regards to Dilshad.
Hi Sultan, thanks for the feedback.
Hopefully it will be useful for her during her vacation there.
It is a beautiful place; we really enjoyed it.
Beautiful Ali. You have done a wonderful job on your blog. Wow you are so talented. Keep up with the good job. I hope I will get to visit Mexico City. I loved the pictures you have taken.
Thanks Yasmin, for the kind words; I really appreciate that
As usual a wonderful blog to read. Looks like you went all out on this one-Intercontinental and Marriott!!!!
Cannot get away from Ismailis even there lol.
LOL; thanks Mahamud.
RE: hotels; unfortunately, we are getting older (mid 60’s now) and so we look for more comfort than we used to 🙁
So we do miss out on some local interaction at B&B’s.
I look forward to reading your blogs and pictures.
Nashir Rajan
Thanks Nashir for the feedback. So glad that you are enjoying my blogs
Thanks again for letting me know
Asante Ali, Loved it..
Love to Dilshad.
Love, Light & Cheers
Thanks Muslim 🙂
Beautiful piece once again! Truly enjoyed reading it. Its amazing how you meet families during your travels and maintain that friendship. Martha and Recardo seem like a very sweet couple with Beautiful kids. Fresh fruits and vegetables looked so yummy, habaneros were amazing definitely colorful 😋. Thank you for sharing your beautiful experiences with us.
HI Rozmin, thanks so much for the feedback; so glad you enjoyed traveling with us 🙂
Looks lovely
Hi Mumtaz; yes it is indeed a very nice place; definitely worth visiting
Thank you both very much
I enjoyed reading & watching very much
Nice!
Wow! I loved this travel diary, Ali. Mexico is such a lovely country and to me, it seems almost like a home closer to the US than home in India. Your blog was so interesting and inviting, I can’t wait to visit Mexico City!
Thank you so much for sharing your experience and excitement with us. As in all your blog posts, the photos are fabulous.
Thanks Vineeta; so glad you are enjoying my blogs. Thanks for the feedback
Thank you for including me! Your information and pictures are outstanding. Much appreciated!
Thank you Ken; so glad you are enjoying traveling with us 🙂
Appreciate the nice feedback
Excellent pics
Thanks Nailla