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Height of EleganceHigh on Life in Mexico CityBy Marguerite Jordan
High up on a wooden platform, more than 100 feet in the air, were five dark-haired men in bright red and gold costumes, their shapes faintly outlined by a black fringe. One of the birdlike men is sitting cross-legged on the platform, and begins to beat a drum and sound out a plaintive cry on a reed pipe. His role as pace-setting musician keeps him there, perched in the sky.
Here on the grassy grounds of Mexico City’s National Museum of Anthropology, an important piece of historic recreation is being acted out while tourists gaze upward. Eating ice cream and freshly chopped mango and coconut, we spectators rest on logs in a clearing among dark green firtrees. MORE DARING THAN BUNGEE JUMPING
Like a four-bladed helicopter, the Voladors circle the pole 13 times, “flying” gracefully. As their ropes swing wide, the eerily enchanting music of the pipe and the drum tells an ancient story. They fly like ancient birds, their colors brilliant, their arms outstretched, their fringed shirts fluttering like feathers, all the while, their bodies upside-down.
It is important to see the Voladors close up. When they land we can see that there is a very spare elegance to the looks of them, indigenous people who have lived in Mexico for thousands of years. Later, in exhibits within the Anthropology Museum, I would see pictures and drawings of their ancestors. Their performance, as well as many others a visitor sees in Mexico City, reveals the dramatic nature of some of this huge city’s numerous symbols, events and fiestas. A MONTH’S WORTH OF WORLD-CLASS MUSEUMS
Even though, as Juan Carlos of the Mexican Tourist Authority points out, the average U.S. visitor to Mexico spends just three days in this city, it would take at least a month to see all of the museums and monuments. There are more than 85 museums and there are thousands of monuments and archeological excavations. SCALING THE HEIGHTS…NOT!
The entire city where the pyramids are found is laid out around a ceremonial center that I am afraid I was too faint to see the first time I visited, over twenty years ago.
MEXICO CITY IS SCINTILLATING
“FIESTAS ARE OUR ONLY LUXURY”
The very best time to observe the exuberance of the city is on the weekends. And, even when there is no official fiesta taking place, a visit to the city’s many public parks and open squares makes you feel as if you have walked into a special celebration, a kind of parade of humanity, especially on Sundays, when it seems that every family in the city goes for an outing.
Riotous colors, street performers and musicians, crazy traffic patterns and tumultuously busy streets and parks give this capital city a buzz that is hard to ignore. Everywhere you turn, it seems, there is a carnival-like atmosphere, a kaleidoscope of activities that seem richer and noisier and busier than almost anywhere else. Saints’ Days Markets run throughout the year, and these are notable for the “small-town” feel, and the active participation of the local people. A MINIMALIST HOTEL—SO UNEXPECTED AND SO RIGHT!
I am not sure if it was the ambience, the view (the miniscule pool was also backlit, one story below; and the city was spread out at our feet), the company, or just the charms of the night air in Mexico, but my friends and I all thought that the Margaritas at Habita were the best we had have ever had. They were served in huge martini-style glasses, rimmed in salt and filled with the freshest, liveliest froth of a drink. Viva Mexico City! ENJOY YOUR VISIT TO MEXICO CITYLearn more about Mexico City before you travel. Go to http://www.mexicocity.com.mx/mexcity.html To find out more about Mexico City’s many fiestas, log onto: http://www.mexicocity.com.mx/celebrat.html Book your stay with Habita at www.designhotels.com Text and images © Marguerite Jordan |
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TM
Haunting music called us from the outdoor canopied
lobby of the beautiful Museum of Archeology, located on the grounds of
Mexico City’s Chapultepec Park. Following the sounds, we walked to an
opening in a grove of pines nearby.
In a pattern established hundreds of years ago in
ancient Nahua and Totonic tribal rituals, the five Voladors (“flying men”)
begin to play out a drama both magical and scary.
On the platform, the other four men, mere specks in the
sky, tie lengths of thick rope around their waists. In unison, the
percussive music almost pushing them, the Voladors jump off and fall into
the sky above our heads. The audience gives a great collective gasp, their
snacks forgotten. 
To those of us on the ground, it is truly a ‘Leap of
Faith’, something way beyond bungee jumping. The Voladors complete 52
turns, symbol of the 52-year cycle of their calendar, gradually lowering
themselves to the ground toward us. 
When the Museum of Anthropology was built in 1964, it
created an enormous stir, both for its contents and its architecture. The
lobby leads into an interior patio, where a huge canopy-fountain and a
reflecting pool capture your attention. Poetry-engraved walls adorned by a
carved lattice enclose this patio. Within the massive structure, exhibits in
24 halls begin to tell the fascinating story of the Mexican culture, itself
more than 20,00 years old. It is a breathtaking place, and it is impossible
to see everything in just one day. Although you can visit it on your own, it
is more comprehensive, at least the first time, with a trained guide. 
Aztec, Nahua and Totonic and other cultures had created
systems that predate the arrival of Europeans by more than five thousand
years and it is only recently that this recognition has come to the early
cultures. The exhibits show how indigenous peoples created a very
sophisticated, rich mix of music, dance, art and astronomy long before the
arrival of the Spanish. A consummate museum lover, I think this is one of
the very finest museums anywhere in the world. In addition to showing
exhibits that feature sculpture, paintings and household objects, I also
felt that the curator was carefully showing the many-layered history of a
country that has had so many proud native peoples. 
Fifty kilometers northeast of Mexico City is a set of
buildings that literally took my breath away. The great Sun and Moon
pyramids of Teotihuacan are said to be the tallest in the world. Located on
the site of what was a small city 100 years B.C., the collection of massive
buildings grew to its grandest by 300A.D. The reasons for its subsequent
abandonment and/or decline are unknown. There are still many mysteries
surrounding the building of the pyramids, and the work of restoration and
maintenance is ongoing. 
Like most visitors, I tried to climb one of the
pyramids, which are indeed impressive. Unlike most visitors, when I did so,
almost reaching the very top, I discovered that I was vertiginous. Vertigo
is thought by some doctors to be an imbalance of the inner ear, but I only
knew at the time, that if a very kindly gentleman in my tour group had not
carried me off the pyramid, I surely would have jumped or fallen. One thing
I recall vividly was seeing on that very bright day the entire beautiful
city below me, a miniature collection of pyramids, houses and other
buildings built of volcanic rock and limestone, arranged artfully over acres
of very dry land. As I was half-carried, half-dragged off the Sun Pyramid,
I remembered thinking the scene below looked just like the carefully crafted
exhibit I had just seen the day before at the Museum of Anthropology! (Of
course.)
Mexico City is one of the most crowded, most
interesting and busiest cities in the world. Everywhere you turn, some one
or some thing craves your attention. If I had to use one word to describe
this amazing town is would have to be scintillating! It sparkles, it
flashes, it flickers, it undulates, it wavers, it glows….
And, yet… there exists in the heart of many would-be
travelers some fears of things real and some baseless that need to be
overcome. Mexican Tourism authorities are trying to provide the visitor
with a better understanding of the city. They have vastly increased their
staff of tourism officials and police. Increased attention to the high
levels of pollution has made a significant impact on the air quality,
although no one would claim it is perfect.
Most would-be travelers express their main concern to
be about safety in crowds. Yet, if you understand the best ways to see the
city and exercise caution as you would in any large metropolis, I think you
will feel very safe. I enjoyed several days, alone and with others, of
walking around the many public parks and squares and felt very comfortable.
In the heart of the town, at the Zocolo beside of the Cathedral, I stood and
watched street performers, artists, vendors, and talked with many of them,
enjoying their particular brand of Mexican hospitality. I am reminded of
the specialness of New York City, only this town has a Mexican accent.
Tourists quickly find out the truth of what Mexican
poet Octavio Paz once said, “Fiestas are our only luxury”. Almost every
week there is some special celebration in Mexico’s largest, and the world’s
third-largest, city. Their rituals and beliefs – a complex mixture of more
than 60 separate groups of people – make Mexico one of the most vibrant
countries in the world. 
Enter the Chapultepec Park on a Sunday walk around and
enjoy the red and pink begonias of the flower gardens, the highly seasoned
sausages cooking on the braziers, the colorful wooden boats in the lake, the
clown who is lining up kids and having them pretend to be choo-choo trains.
Once or twice during my recent visit I found that the
sounds, the smells, the visual images accumulate and can overwhelm. Which
is why, I think, I found the minimalist Hotel Habita in Mexico City so
calming. Located in the upscale Polanco district, around the corner from
Chapultepec Park it is actually a building from the 1950’s, which has been
given a new ‘wrapper’ of frosted glass.
I entered the hotel one evening with some friends who
wanted to stop for a drink before dinner. In keeping with its motif, there
was no sign on the building, merely a shadow drawing of the name on the
sidewalk, backlit by hidden lights. There are 22 rooms and four suites in
this luxury hotel. Each room, starting with the first-floor foyer, was
pared down to the essentials: a sofa, a few chairs, some stark-looking but
very green plants, walls that are almost receding. This was one time a
concept hotel worked for me, as I enjoyed the contrast between most of the
city and this space. It was so un-Mexican.
Except when we reached the rooftop bar! This wonderful
large room was open to elements on all sides, but had a simple huge concrete
canopy overhanging the space. The construction I realized was the same as
the patio at the Anthropology Museum.