Mexico City

In a few days I am leaving for Mexico City. I'll be there for about three months. Anybody have any suggestions or tips on things to do(bars, shopping, food, oddities, anything not in the guidebooks). I have been a few times before but never had so much time to explore.
~Regards,

very. young. prostitutes. If you're into that kind of thing. Keep a look out for the tell-tale Adam's apple though.

And don't drink the water

That's cool.... what do you do that you get to go to Mexico City for 3 months?

Originally Posted by Faded501s

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very. young. prostitutes. If you're into that kind of thing. Keep a look out for the tell-tale Adam's apple though.

And don't drink the water

Yeah, the age of consent is 12 or 14 but prostitutes are 70% water.

Originally Posted by dtmt

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That's cool.... what do you do that you get to go to Mexico City for 3 months?

I am at UW. I am going down to work on something for Urban Studies and stretched it out a bit. Since I am technically going for school I can take all the expenses out of my education fund.

Dont take a taxi

Mexico City is incredible. I ran away to there once when I was 13. Huge, really multicultural, fascinating place. Very intense. Architecture students should visit.

Good luck!

Originally Posted by Tokyo Slim

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Mexico City is incredible. I ran away to there once when I was 13. Huge, really multicultural, fascinating place. Very intense. Architecture students should visit. Good luck!
That sounds interesting.

Originally Posted by LabelKing

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That sounds interesting.
It involved a long bus trip in a hot, sweaty blue monstrosity of a bus that was probably from the 50's. No joke, there were chickens on the bus with me. I was praying about 5 hours in that the bus wouldn't break down. There was no a/c, but also the windows were mostly permanently stuck open, so at least there was a breeze. Spent about 2 days there in what basically amounted to a transient squat house sleeping on a couch and then made my way back to the group home I was staying in at the time. It was rather fun.

If you get a chance, visit Cuernavaca. That's where Labelking assassinated Leon Trotsky.

Unfortunately, the owner of the best men's store in Mexico CIty just passed away. He was supposed to be a terrific man and the store was supposed to be great.

I can report that I was told by two people in Naples this week that "Mexico City is one dangerous place", so take that for what it is worth.

I was there for four months in 2003. Loved it. Other than unwisely eating an unrefrigerated tuna salad sandwich, nada mal me pasO [nothing bad happened to me]. A few notes from back then: I stayed in Coyoacan, in del Carmen. This was the same nabe as the Kahlo and Trotsky houses. Coyoacan is picturesque but heavily touristed on the weekends. I was there because it was close to the university and I was studying there. The University City is a superb example of midcentury modernism, in its scale and proportion. Plus the murals are magnificent. Some other structures added for the 68 Olympics are impressive as well. Other great architecture includes the Anthropology Museum and the subway, which has pictograms identifying each station -- big bonus for the often illiterate population. I liked the subway, but only students, peasants and tourists ride it. I was a student. In my poverty, I gained no knowledge of better food or clothing. There were some luxury brands at the Palacio de Hierro dept store, especially in upscale districts like Polanco, but most of the DF's wealth is in the suburbs north and west of that, and I visited their shopping centers only rarely. The main city guide is the Guia Roji, which is available in many editions. Buy one as soon as you can and familiarize yourself with your neighborhood and the city center. For my first few months, I didn't leave the house without it. Re: Taxis: After the mid 90s economic crisis, crime spiked, including taxi crime. This was aided by the lack of rear doors on the main taxi model, the VW Bug, which helped to entrap riders. Now the Bugs have been mostly phased out. For greater safety, many visitors rely on taxis that are summoned by telephone ['radio taxi'] but after a few months, I did the standard calculus to determine the risk level: Is this a tourist area? Is it day or night? Etc. Some lonely Bug tootling around a boring neighborhood in the middle of the afternoon posed little risk, so I took it. Pollution is less of a problem at this time of year, as afternoon rains clear the air. Thermal inversions make the air much worse, but mainly occur in the winter. Your main issue will be the thinnness of the air. Don't push yourself too hard in the first few weeks, especially with exercise. For more danger, you might visit the market at Tepito, where pretty much everything is bought and sold. I only went there once, and by day. For clothing info, you might contact one member of AA and perhaps this board as well, name of DressPRMex. For info on the theater as I found it during my stay, read this: http://www.tcg.org/publications/at/Jan04/mexico.cfm Good luck!

Thanks mack, that is exactly the type of response I was hoping for. I've heard about Tepito but never been, maybe I'll make it down there on this trip--it is only about 15 blocks from the hotel I'll be at for the first week of my stay (...and I want an uzi).

One good book I read recently on the DF is The Mexico City Reader, a translation of 'cronicas' -- literary reportage. http://www.amazon.com/Mexico-City-Re...0886491&sr=8-1 One great picture book is ABCDF: http://www.queensmuseum.org/exhibitions/abcdf.html

Dress like a poor person. I think there are more kidnappings in mexico than in columbia now.

Originally Posted by mack11211

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One good book I read recently on the DF is The Mexico City Reader, a translation of 'cronicas' -- literary reportage.

http://www.amazon.com/Mexico-City-Re...0886491&sr=8-1

One great picture book is ABCDF:

http://www.queensmuseum.org/exhibitions/abcdf.html

I actually have had both of those books recommended to me by people on skyscrapercity and polo's bastards. They must be good. I'll try and pick one up to read (I'd prefer to spend the majority my free time exploring [drinking] rather than reading) while I'm down there , would you suggest one book over the other? Also, your advice on interesting architectual locations is very helpful. If you have any more suggestions in that vein, I would love to hear them. Urban Sudies incorporates a lot of "design meets society" (architecture and street interaction) elements so if you have any pointers on what should not be missed or is especially interesting I would really appreciate any insight you might have.
Sorry for all the requests, I understand if you have better things to do.