Bienvenido a Mexico City,
one of the financial powerhouses and cultural capitals of Latin America.
A place with ancient roots,
in recent years this mega-city of 21 million has undergone a renaissance,
exploding into, a city of color!
Mexico City’s color can be found on every street.
It’s in the sunbaked plazas and monuments,
the dappled shade and quiet of its courtyards,
and in the brushstrokes of its murals and street art.
It’s in the faded pastels and tile work of colonial buildings,
it’s in the cantinas,… the music,…the cuisine,…everywhere there is color.
If life has a color, that color would be called, Mexico City!
Despite its legendary sprawl, Mexico City
isn’t hard to navigate.
Just like the paint upon an artist’s palette,
the city is divided into distinctive boroughs,
all with their own shades and moods.
Mexico City’s colors run deepest in the main square,
the Zócalo, once the epicenter of the Mexican Civilization.
When the Spanish arrived in 1521, the Aztec temples were swiftly leveled,
and a colonial city rose in its place.
Today, this area is presided over by a temple of a different kind,
The Metropolitan Cathedral.
Throughout the Centro Histórico district,
over 1500 heritage buildings vie for your attention.
Visit San Ildefonso College and be introduced
to the earliest masterpieces of Mexican muralism.
Dive into a kaleidoscope of color and craft at La Ciudadela,
an artisanal market featuring over 300 stalls.
Then admire the blue and white splendor of Casa de Azulejos,
The House of Tiles.
The streets of this district overflow with incredible museums and galleries,
such as the Museo Biblioteca Palacio Postal,
and the Palacio de Bellas Artes.
For a window into the life and color of yesteryear,
visit the fabulous Museo Franz Mayer,
a glittering display of cultural treasures and everyday items
that the tireless collector amassed throughout his lifetime.
When it’s time for a change of color,
head to leafy avenues of Alameda Central.
Discover even more shades of green at Chapultepec Park,
one of the largest urban parks in the world.
As well as serving as the city’s lungs,
the park is home to cultural institutions such as the Auditorio Nacional,
and the museum of anthropology,
as well as the popular Chapultepec Zoo.
Pay your respects to the Ninos Heroes.
This monument honors the six boy soldiers
who gave their lives defending Castillo de Chapultepec,
when it fell to the Americans in 1847.
Today, the castle serves as the National Museum of History,
shining a light through the darkest,
and brightest chapters, of Mexico’s history.
Just to the north is upscale Polanco,
and its neighbor Nuevo Polanco,
a former warehouse area rapidly being transformed by new architectural visions.
Rising like shape-shifting plasma,
the Museo Soumaya is filled with over 60,000 artworks
from the private collection of billionaire,
Carlos Slim.
Displaying masterpieces from across the ages,
this free museum features European masters such as
Van Gogh, Dali and Rodin.
The spirit of philanthropy continues just across the road,
at Museo Jumex, a building which echoes the district’s industrial past,
and which houses the largest private contemporary art collection in Latin America.
To the south of the city is the once ancient village of Coyoacán,
“the place of coyotes”.
In the early 20th century this area flowered into a place of bohemia;
its artists, writers and intellectuals
inspiring and enriching not only Mexico,
but the entire world.
Visit The Blue House,
the birthplace of Frieda Kahlo.
In neighboring San Angel,
explore the museum, house and studio of Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo,
where these two giants of Mexican art worked,.
lived,
and loved.
Just to the south are the incredible murals and buildings of Ciudad Universitaria,
which when constructed in the 1950s,
was the city’s largest single building project since the time of the Aztecs.
It is here, at the university’s Olympic stadium,
that you can see one of Rivera’s last epic murals,
a work he never lived to complete.
The spirit of bohemia and creativity continues
amid the sophisticated hues and beauty of districts such,
Roma and Condesa.
At Xochimilco, simply float away on a riot of color
on the last of the city’s Aztec canals,
exploring markets and gardens along the way.
In Mexico City there is color everywhere,
and once experienced, they will never fade.
All you have to do is close your eyes,
and you will see the many colors of Mexico City again,
today,
tomorrow,
always…