The Fiesta de Culturas Indígenas is held in the Zócalo at the end of August every year for two weeks. A well-organized colourful event, the Fair is a great place to learn about some of the indigenous groups in Mexico and also to taste their food, buy their art and crafts or watch them dance.We started Photo Walk Nº82 outside the Cathedral in the Zócalo and while waiting for the Fair to open, we headed down Calle Moneda towards the Santissima church to see some street art. On our way, we experienced the daily life of this part of the city, capturing some interesting shots with our cameras. Although the street art around here used to be based on the theme of Indigenous Groups, we discovered it had recently been painted over which was somewhat disappointing. However, there was a lot more to see and photograph in this part of the Centro Histórico which is off most tourist trails.Returning to the Fair in the Zócalo, we wandered around the stands crammed with food and crafts from Oaxaca, Nayarit, Baja California, Guerrero, Puebla and other states and watched the Aztec dancers on the stage. Among other things, we savoured esquites, pan de elote, tlayudas from Oaxaca, aguas de sabores and someone was even brave enough to taste the roasted grasshoppers covered in chocolate.Towards the end, we watched a rug weaver from Teotitlán del Valle in Oaxaca working on his loom and a Huichol man from Jalisco covering figures of animals with thousands of tiny beads.All in all, it was a great opportunity to photograph indigenous cultures without having to leave Mexico City or travel far and wide around the country!
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When you wander around the Condesa neighbourhood, you have a rather strong feeling that you aren't in big choatic Mexico City, but rather a small provincial European town... except maybe for the taco stands and mounds of chillies in the street market. Next we walked along some charming streets, popping into tiny shops and photographing the small details usually missed when rushing around in a car, as we headed for the Tuesday street market.The market was a riot of colour, with stands of fruit and vegetables neatly piled up, and a whole section given over to cooking food for hungry shoppers.We finally made our way back down Calle Veracruz, through Parque España, the other big park in Condesa and arrived at our starting point.Wherever you go in Condesa, there is always something unusual or quirky to photograph...on this occasion, a life-size rhino and lioness walking up the side of a building. It definitely pays to savour life slowly with a camera in your hand and this is one of the best ways to get to know a neighbourhood.Photo Walk Nº80 - A spectacular library, street art and Moorish architecture... off the beaten path20/8/2018 The area of Buenavista and Santa Maria La Ribera is not on the main tourist trails but has a lot of surprises in store for those who head there. On Photo Walk Nº80, we combined a visit to the enormous Vasconcelos Library with a wander down an entire street covered in urban art and a walk around a very unusual "kiosco" in Santa Maria La Ribera.Our first stop was at the massive Vasconcelos Library with its very unusual interior, full of light, where half a million books sit on bookshelves and walkways suspended from the ceiling. All around the library is a peaceful botanical garden where we did some nature photography.From there we made our way down both sides of the Buenvavista-Guerrero street where the buildings have been covered with vivid street art depicting different themes. 43 artists teamed up with the local residents who decided what to have painted. Frida Kahlo, the 43 missing students, indigenous groups and nature are some of the themes represented. We enjoyed not only photographing the street art but also the locals going about their everyday life.We then crossed over Av Insurgentes and walked to the park in Santa Maria La Ribera to take photos of the Kiosco Morisco with its unusual Moroccan-style architecture. In fact. it was designed as the pavilion representing Mexico in the World Fair in the USA in 1884-5, after which it was dismantled and shipped back to Mexico. We also peeped in the Geology Museum where we photographed the sweeping staircase and mosaic floor and got a glimpse of the mammoth skeleton inside.Our final stop was at Casa de Toño for some refreshment where we discovered that, even in this restaurant, there were interesting murals on the walls!Photo Walk Nº79 took us to Colonia Tabacalera to visit its most outstanding landmark and a few of its not so well-known sites.We met at the bottom of the Monumento a la Revolución and first learned a bit about the history of the neighbourhood and this singular monument before photographing it from various angles around the large open square. After wandering around the square, we proceeded to explore the rest of the Colonia Tabacalera, stopping off first at the Fronton México building, an authentic Art-Déco building now painted bright red with a Casino at one end and the sports facilities at the other end. Other places visited were the Museo de San Carlos, with its fine collection of European Art housed in a 19th Century building with a spectacular oval patio, once the country home of the Counts of Buenavista, the house where Che Guevara and Fidel Castro plotted the Cuban Revolution and a nicely renovated park.At one end of the neighbourhood, standing on Paseo de la Reforma, is the Art-Déco building El Moro, known as the Loteria Nacional. Each Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday at 8pm, they hold the lottery draws here which members of the public can attend. Our purpose in visiting it was to photograph the massive mural "El Juego de la Fortuna" by Ariosto Otero and the spectacular interior. Although it was damaged in the September 2017 earthquake and had been closed for months, the lower floor and the first five floors of offices are now open again although some large cracks looked worrying.Before returning to the Monumento a la Revolución we took photos of the bright yellow sculpture known as "El Caballito" by the Mexican sculpture Sebastian which doubles up as a vent, some newly painted street art and some old cantinas.Our final activity was going up into the dome of the Monument and photographing views of the city. The elevator whisked us up the equivalent of 22 stories in few seconds leaving some of us a bit lightheaded and deposited us under a green dome, quite open and we made our way down some stairs which can prove to be rather hair-raising for anyone with a fear of heights. However, the viewing platform was wide and had glass panels for security. There were few people up there, as it still isn't as well-known as other viewing points in Mexico City.Back in the square below, some of us went for a coffee underground but for those who want to know more about the Mexican Revolution, the museum next to the coffee shop is a good place to visit.Colonia Roma is a neighbourhood that needs to be savoured slowly. Preferably on foot, with observant eyes, and a camera around your neck. That's when you discover the often overlooked details that make this such a charming place and the many contrasts even on the same street.And that's precisely what we did on Photo Walk Nº78. We ambled around part of the neighbourhood, learning about its history, photographing its architecture and street art, and even being invited into a private courtyard to see some local urban art.We began the tour at Casa Lamm and learned that Colonia Roma had originally been the place where the wealthy built their mansions to escape the chaos of the city centre. Its heyday was from the early 1900s to 1940 when wide leafy streets were lined with European-style residences. We also wandered around La Romita, a mangle of tiny streets around a leafy square with one of the oldest churches in Mexico City in the centre. This is where the pre-Hispanic village Aztacalco was founded on one of the small islands on the lake in Aztec times. The Spaniards came and built a church there but over the years, it has strongly resisted development like the rest of the Colonia Roma. So maybe this was really a photo walk to capture the two faces of Colonia Roma and some of its curious spots. And as Avenida Alvaro Obregon simply bristles with restaurants, we decided to end with a meal and a cold beer at La Cerveceria. The best way to savour Colonia Roma. |
Margaret MetcalfeBorn to travel, explore and share photos and experiences Archives
May 2019
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