The View From Here . . .

By Bob Morgan, Jr.

As this is written, I am aboard an Aeromexico flight back from Mexico City. Young Robert, now 15, and I took our annual foreign trip to the Mexican capital and surrounding areas. In previous years, we have traveled to Britain, France, Italy, Spain, Ireland, Morocco and Argentina.

Yes, I know: why Mexico City? The city has a reputation as a crime-ridden, polluted place, with undrinkable water and last spring was the center of the swine flu epidemic. There is, of course, some truth in these images, but they are not the whole story. With a little research, a good guidebook, some common sense (for example, knowing where you are going, using bottled water and keeping valuables in the hotel safe), together with high school level Spanish (Robert was able to get by easily), it is perfectly possible to enjoy an interesting and uneventful (in the bad sense) trip, as we did.

There is a big payback for a willingness to cope with Mexico City's drawbacks. This is a huge city (the metropolitan area has a somewhat larger population than New York's and is far more densely settled), and offers an intriguing mixture of sights and sounds (not to mention a great cuisine), and a tremendous mix of culture, from American to European to traditional Mexican to native American. There is the exuberant mariachi music in the Plaza Garibaldi; the piety of the faithful at the Basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe; the world class anthropological museum detailing the many indigenous groups in the country; the beautiful and historic Chapultepec Castle, scene of the final battle of the Mexican war; the murals of Diego Rivera, among many, many other attractions.

Perhaps the highlight of our trip was an excursion to the pyramids of Teotihuacan, about an hour from the city. This ancient city was settled between 100 and 700 AD and then suddenly abandoned and includes the giant Pyramid of the Sun (third largest pyramid in the world), Pyramid of the Moon and the Temple of Quetzalcoatl. Constructing these huge structures must have been an incredible feat given the existing technology The lad persuaded his aging father to climb to the top of the Sun pyramid, which must be 50 stories high, a more arduous task in the thin air (Mexico City has an altitude of about 7300 feet). We also walked another 4 miles or so, frequently up and down stairs, back and forth on the main avenue, called the Street of the Dead.

In many ways, Mexico City is a microcosm of much of the world. Like many Third World capitals, its population grew extremely quickly from the 1970's through the 1990's as huge number of rural residents migrated there. The city's infrastructure had to cope with these newcomers (luckily for Mexico City, a new, highly efficient subway system was already under construction) and there were inevitable environmental and social issues. Even now, huge numbers of people make their living in the informal economy of vendors of food (for example, the ubiquitous taco stand) and other products. Still, however, the city mostly works in its raucous way, and there is a certain harmony and rhythm to daily life. On Sundays, it seems like the whole city heads to Chapultepec Park, the sprawling green spot in the city center, to relax.

While perhaps not a tourist destination for everyone, Mexico City, in addition to filling up the senses, offers a fascinating perspective on cultures and economic development. I was glad, and so was the lad, that we made the trip.