Travel Diary
Mexico City - DIa DE LOS MUERTOS -
November 2017
Experiencing día de la muertos in Mexico city was always high on my bucket list. I was finally able to make it happened! Taking place over 3 days, it is something you should definitely experienced. It is an explosion of art, music, flowers, disguises and food. It is celebrated all over Mexico and it is a National Holiday there for most of the week. I decided to celebrate it in Mexico city or DF (Distrito Federal) but Oaxaca is a great option too (very convenient as the city is smaller and therefore more manageable). In addition to the celebrations, I was able to enjoy museums and the night life.
But first, beautiful view while I flew out of New York….
El día de los Muertos has its origines from a pre-Hispanic tradition – coming from the Michoacán tribe, they believed that the dead could return to their home on one day of each year. It symbolizes their belief that death does not represent the end of a life but the continuation of life in a parallel world. Timing roughly matched with the All Saint’s day in the catholic calendar and you have now a mix of those 2 traditions called el Día de los muertos. In 2008, UNESCO recognized the importance of Día de los Muertos by adding the holiday to its list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Even if the decorations are up from the 28 of November, the height of the party is November 1st and 2nd. November 1st is celebrating the spirits of the departed children while the dead adults are visiting the following night. There are much to do in the capital especially in the Zócalo where a lot of street exhibition are displayed. But 2 places are celebrating the Día de los muertos in style: Coyoacán and Mixquic.
But before the parties I attended, I visited some cultural places.
I have been to Mexico City twice before and the Museo National de Antropologia is a MUST. It is just incredible and located in the beautiful Bosque de Chapultepec. It is dedictated to pre-Hispanic Mexico art and cultures. Another one of my favorite is the Frida Kahlo museum in Coyoacán. Another exceptional site is Xochimilco – the remaining canals from the Aztec Empire. Approximately 180kms of these waterways are still there today and it is one of the favorite weekend destination for locals and tourists. Mexico City is a bustling art scene and you will be blown away but the amount of museum and galleries you can find. Unfortunately, they are not all in the best conditions. But the bigger ones are worth your while.
Museo Rufino Tamayo.
This museum was built to house international modern art with themed Tamayo collection. It has a pretty cutting edge feel to it and the building was donated by Rufino Tamayo himself. It was interesting to discover some of the modern art as well as a photo exhibit of Chambi – pictures of Machu Picchu in Peru back in the beginning of last century.
Museo Bellas Artes
Even if their temporary exhibit was not up yet, their immense murals dominating the upper floors are so worth it. Mexican art at its best with murals from Rufino Tamayo, Diego Rivera and David Alfaro Siqueiros. Very strong and powerful depicting key Mexican history events. Here are some of them:
Mura Diego Riviera
Museum really only features ONE mural but it is from the master Rivera so you just need to see it. It is a 15m-long mural depicting many Mexican historical figures from colonial times onwards and they are all grouped around Catrina (skeleton in prerevolutionary woman’s clothes). Catrina is a very popular one to impersonate during el día de los muertos. And as you can see I have tried it out for myself.
Now about the actual event. It is a very special time to be in Mexico and their celebrations are powerful.
First stop: Coyoacán, I went there at dawn and left when the party was still at its pick. Museums have special exhibitions there and are open late and it is free to walk in. I checked 2 museums out but there were many more. Those museums were featuring Altars and paintings around the theme.
The orange flower called Marigold is the symbol of this celebration in Mexico. It blooms only a month in November and therefore used everywhere (on tombs, totem as well as restaurants).
2nd stop is Mixquic – you need to carve a full day for this one. I took an Uber to go there and it is safe and cheap in Mexico, really the best way to get around. It is in the area of Xochimilco (south east of the city) and it is about an hour and a half away from the city center. It is one of the best place to see the celebrations in and around the cemetery. Because of the earthquake that happened a few months ago, a lot of roads were closed to get there so add a 30mins to your travel to be safe.
Because of the earthquake, there were less tourists but I still could not believe the number of people in the street fair, eating and drinking, celebrating and watching shows. The most interesting thing to visit is, of course, the cemetery. All the graves are covered with tons of flowers so much so that I had a hard time walking through them. To see entire families sitting on the grave of their loved ones and sharing this day together remembering their loved ones was pretty surreal. It had a comforting affect on me to see them all embrace death in such a way.
And now onto practical information:
Mexicois a great city for foodies. There are so many options but the below are restaurants you need to check out (most of them are in the Condesa and Roma area – my fav!):
-Lardo – www.lardo.mx/
-Contramar – www.contramar.com.mx/.
Order the tuna tartare tostada, a Must!
-Rosetta www.rosetta.com.mx/restaurante-en/galeria.html<>-Maximo bistrot – www.maximobistrot.com.mx/
-Eno in Polanco for breakfast – www.eno.com.mx/
I stayed at a great hotel (MX suite hotel) opened since December of last year and I highly recommend it – less than $100 a night and the rooms are bigger than my apartment in NY. It even had a balcony!!!
www.mxgrandsuites.mx/
Finally, I wanted to mentioned that the city has been suffering due to the earthquake that stroke a few months ago. There is a lot of reconstruction on streets and buildings and most are being fixed manually. But the Mexicans are resilient people and kept the celebrations going strong despite the hardships.
I can’t recommend to go to Mexico City enough, it keeps on amazing me every time I go.