I might be taking a trip there pretty soon; hell, I could spend days in the museums there, from what I've read.... But I'd like some first-hand impressions of the good, the bad, and the ugly of Mexico City. Architecture? People? Parks? Museums? Cuernavaca? Crime? Smog? Any help would be appreciated!
very cool city. ultramodern. the museums are incredible. the anthropological museum is pretty much across the street from the modern art museum. they're both located near this HUGE park. the subway system is great too. the people are really cool there as well. tons of outstanding restaurants, clubs, bars, discos, etc. they really like to party, so prepare yourself.
I've spent a good amount of time in DF. I'm not sure I'd call it "ultramodern", but it does have some very nice areas (la Zona Rosa, for example). You'll be struck by the poverty you'll see more than the nice areas, though. That's been my impression at least. Check out the pyramids at Teotihuacan and the ruins around the Zocalo, which is the main city square. The floating gardens at Xochimilco are also pretty cool. On a safety note, when I was down there with my laptop, I always carried it in a backpack instead of a typical laptop bag. I did this so people didn't know I had a laptop with me. Crime is a real concern there and you don't want to be flashy about things.
Went there several years ago and that stood out most: Crime, especially against gringos, is pretty rampant. This may rank as a 10 on the "Well Duh" scale but DO NOT get into unmarked taxis there. Locals down there seem to take the crime almost as an everyday fact of life that they can't do much about. It's a fascinating place to visit, but I wouldn't go back there unless I was fluent in Spanish and had a local to take me around. However, there definitely is TONS of cool stuff to do there. Well worth a visit, but be careful.
I've also spent a good bit of time in Cuernavaca. It's kind of a resort town. Very nice place. The rich people in DF have second homes there. If you're there, the must-do is eat at Las Mananitas restaurant. They have exotic animals roaming around in the yard while you eat. Pretty cool in my opinion.
I spent about six weeks there in 92, and it was a fascinating place. I could see the good, the bad, and the ugly practically next to each other. Teotiuacan is a must, as is the Anthropology museum. The night life is fairly intense, if you're into that sort of thing. The subway system is pretty cool, and was very cheap and reasonably safe when I was there. There were people selling trinkets everywhere, and you could find someone selling Hall's Cough Drops on every street corner. When I went to the nicer areas, I would see security guards everywhere. Sometimes it seemed like half the populace were either street vendors or security guards. Still, warts and all, it was quite a place. Except for a couple of days, the smog didn't really bother too much. In fact, I was probably more bothered by the altitude Oh, and per another thread, if you like Fuddrucker's burgers, they had one. Guess it's still there.
