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Travel Story - Mexico City

Beneath the smog a vibrant megalopolis preserves the art and culture of Latin America

As we started our descent into Mexico City the crescent moon off our starboard wing-tip changed from brilliant white to yellow and finally to dull bronze before being eclipsed by the blanket of smog that hangs like a shroud over the world's second largest city. Below us a galaxy of lights extends as far as we can see in every direction. The dim glow of distant suburbs, like star-clusters at the edge of the universe, is barely visible through the haze. Officially this is home to 22 million people, but no one is sure how many more have settled in the darkness around its edges – beyond the glow of lights we see from the air.

Perched at an elevation of 2,200 metres above sea level Mexico City sprawls across 2,000 square kilometres of the Valle de Mexico. The seething megalopolis, with its estimated 4 million automobiles, is surrounded by a ring of mountains that inhibit air circulation and trap an unsavory brew of pollutants and ozone. Combined with the high elevation and consequent lack of oxygen, Mexico City's contaminated air is notoriously bad.

We were simply here to change planes and I was prepared for the brown fog that kept our jet on the runway for more than an hour. But I was also determined to come back and spend some time – to see for myself what it is about Mexico City that makes it such a magnet not only for visitors, but also for new residents who, despite the crowding and pollution, continue to pour into the city and swell its already burgeoning population.

It was a Friday when we returned and Carlos, the cab driver who picked us up at the airport, warned that it was also payday. As soon as we left the airport we were gridlocked in a maze of horn-blowing cars and taxis. Traffic cops stood helplessly at intersections jammed with cars, among them police cruisers with flashing red and blue lights going nowhere. The usual 20 minute trip to Zona Rosa took over 2 hours – plenty of time for Carlos, a voluble native of Mexico City who had spent time as a soccer coach in Montreal, to give us his take on Mexican society:

On politics: "Things are getting better" he told us. "Yesterday Mexico was the most corrupt country in the world but today we are second – our politicians bribed the statistics guy to give us a better spot."

On religion: "Ninety per cent of Mexicans are Catholic – the other 10 per cent are pickpockets."

On staying out of trouble: "Be careful on the metro and never use the green taxis."

His yellow cab delivered us safely to the Royal Hotel just in time to watch the last rays of the sun reflecting from the glass towers of the Zona Rosa. A rare storm had cleared the air. For the first three days of our stay the city sparkled in bright sunshine and the surrounding mountains of the Cordillera Neovolcanica were etched against a clear blue sky.

At first the prospect of getting around Mexico City seemed a daunting task. But, beneath the snarl of surface traffic there is a fast, efficient, gringo-friendly subway system. For two pesos, including unlimited transfers, its 11 colour-coded lines will take you almost anywhere in the city. Getting in and out of the cars during rush hour is a scrum but pushing and shoving are accepted as part of the ride. As a precaution while riding the subway I left my camera and wallet in the hotel. But Carlos’ warning about that 10 per cent of non-Catholic Mexicans was unnecessary. The only people who approached us were those offering to help us find our way through the labyrinth of interconnected passageways.

Walking is another option. The city is crossed by a network of streets, boulevards, and pedestrian walkways. There is a surprising amount of open space, both paved plazas and small green parks. We spent most of a day strolling along the Paseo de la Reforma, a broad, tree-lined boulevard that runs for several kilometres from the Zona Rosa across the heart of the city. Modern skyscrapers of reflecting glass stand side by side with immaculately preserved colonial buildings of intricately carved marble. Uncrowded by other highrises, each tower stands out as a masterpiece of design.

The Paseo is also dotted with statues, fountains, and monuments – exquisite pieces of sculpture depicting the people and events that guided Mexico City from its beginnings as a colonial outpost of Spain to its emergence as the cosmopolitan capital of modern Mexico: the Monumento a Cuauhtemoc, the last Aztec emperor; La Diana Cazadora (Diana the Huntress); and the 36-metre high Monumento a la Independence topped by the gilded El Angel, a symbol of winged victory and Mexico's independence from Spain.

When Hernan Cortez arrived with his small band of Spanish conquistadors and local Christian converts the Valle de Mexico, the place where Mexico City now stands, was the centre of the Aztec empire. Their city, Tenochtitlan, stood on an island in what was then Lake Texcoco. That was 1519 A.D. Within two years the ancient Aztec city was systematically destroyed and its ruins became the foundation on which Mexico City was built.

Today the Plaza de la Constitucion, or Zocalo, in the very heart of Mexico City is one of the world's largest city plazas. It is paved with stones from dismantled Aztec structures and the ornate colonial buildings facing the square are built on top of other ruins. The Palacio National, now home to the offices of the president, was once the site of a palace built by Moctezuma II. In 1521 Cortes had it destroyed and rebuilt to accommodate an interior bull ring. In the nearby Templo Mayor a portion of the Aztec's "Great Temple" has been excavated and preserved but little else remains of Tenochtitlan. In its place ornate stone buildings, many dedicated to religion, are a reminder of Spain's colonial past and the power of the Church.

The huge Catedral Metropolitana sprawls across the north side of the Zocalo. Begun in 1573 its twin towers and grand portals with columns and bas-relief panels are masterpieces of artistic design but sadly lacking in sound engineering. Like many of the Colonial buildings the heavy marble structure is subsiding unevenly into the soft lake sediments that underlie much of Mexico City. Systematic drainage has reduced ancient Lake Texcoco to a few artificial ponds but continued extraction of well water from sediment beneath the city is causing rapid subsidence that threatens many of its Colonial buildings. The interior of the Cathedral is filled with scaffolding and steel braces as engineers struggle to keep the building from cracking.

Apart from language perhaps the most enduring legacy of the Spanish Colonial period is Catholicism. On one of our outings we visited the Basilica de Guadalupe, Mexico's most revered shrine. The old, yellow-domed building is listing alarmingly as it sinks into the soft earth but a huge modern basilica has been built next door. Between the two buildings a gilded statue of the Pope looms over the crowds of people streaming past. They have come to see the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the country's patron. The dark-skinned manifestation of the Virgin Mary appeared to a native Mexican in 1531 and her full colour image was miraculously imprinted on his cloak. She is credited with all manner of miracles and she became a critical link between Catholic and indigenous spirituality. Even today many of the pilgrims who come to pray or give thanks crawl on knees and elbows across the huge flagstone courtyard before stepping onto one of the moving walkways that trundle past the Virgin's image above the main alter.

We wound up our brief visit to Mexico City with a night at the Palacio de Bellas Artes. The white marble concert hall with its immense murals, gilded art deco trim, and huge stained-glass stage curtain, is home to the Ballet Folklorico de Mexico. The lively professional cast put on a dazzling spectacle – a two hour extravaganza of regional costumes, music, and dance.

Large cities are not usually among my travel choices but a week in Mexico City was far too short. We barely touched the magnificent Museum of Anthropology, saw only a corner of the university, and were just discovering the best places to eat when it was time to leave. So despite the crowding, traffic, and pollution its a place I look forward to visiting again.