A tour of art and music in Mexico could fill weeks. Best of all, the city’s local and international charm is available on a budget.
Today we visit:
>Museo Mural Diego Rivera. Students free. Contains his masterpiece “Sueno de una Tarde Dominical en la Alameda Central.” explains the symbolic significance of the work, and explores Rivera’s biographical history in Spanish.
> Museo de Bellas Artes. 10 pesos for students. Amazing collection of Diego Rivera murals and other notable Mexican muralists.
Wanted to visit the following, but ran out of time. I’ll see them next time, some day.
> Museo Dolores Olmedo. Free on Tuesdays. Home of Dolores Olmedo Patino, Diego Rivera’s lover. The museum contains much of Olmedo’s art collection including some of her portraits by Rivera.
>Museo Frida Kahlo: 20 pesos for students. Kahlo’s birthplace. Displays excerpts from her diary, which chronicles Rivera’s infidelity. Other travelers advised that this is not a good place to go if you want to see Kahlo’s work, since most is locked away in larger museums like the Museo de Arte Moderno and collections in the United States.
>Museo Estudio Diego Rivera y Frida Kahlo. Sundays free. The home “shared” by Rivera and Kahlo for seven years. As in “Frida” the movie, a bridge connects the two block-residences.
> Plaza Garibaldi. Go at night and see the mariachi hordes whoring themselves out to tourists. One boarder at La Casa de Los Amigos commented, “They’re like prostitutes. You can get a quickie, or you can take them home with you.”
> Museo de Arte Moderno. Students free. Includes all the big names: Kahlo, Orozco, Rivera, Siquerios, etc.
>Plus many more…So many options and never enough time.
>We take Rebecca to the floating gardens of Xochimilco, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xochimilco. The canals navigate residences, restaurants and flower-covered gardens (or chinampas. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinampa).
The canals predate Aztec rule of the valley, and they hint at the once-watery Lake Texcoco environment. Spaniards destroyed the lake's dams and canals, and flooding plagued subsequent colonial settlements. Drainage projects continued through modern times and culminated in the Drenaje Profundo in 1967.
“The ecological consequences of the draining were enormous. Parts of the valleys were turned semi-arid, and even today Mexico City suffers for lack of water. Current pumping of water from underground is one of the reasons Mexico City is sinking at a rate of a few centimeters every year. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Texcoco)”
Xochimilco is one of 16 boroughs (delegaciones) of el Destrito Federal (Mexico City proper), and it is easily accessible from any metro station. The blue line’s southern end connects to a Xochimilco-bound trolley. Trolley is same price as metro, two pesos.
We wander streets past taquerias, balloon stores and bars. We follow a boat drawing on “embarcado” signs. (Descriptive imagery in transportation is also evident in the subways. You might need glasses, or binoculars, to read the names of the stops. But large icons provide substitute information. For example, the “Pino Suarez” stop, with the underground pyramid, is represented by a pyramid image.)
The sky is a bit overcast. The canal is not crowded. Trajineras, boats decorated in bright colors, bob at the dock. We secure a boat for three people for two hours. Cost 350 pesos.
Boat-boy Rodolfo uses a stick to push the trajinera through the canal’s dirty water. He stops us for food. A woman and children crowd to the water’s edge. We order three taco plates for 120 pesos. Too expensive, but not bad considering the location is a tourist trap.
Mariachi musicians. Rebecca sees the band approaching. She stands at the bow of our trajinera. A man and young girl sing with instumental accompaniment. Music fills the air.
The band seems surprised when Rebecca jumps into their boat. Food arrives in the midst of chaos. Joyce quickly clamors to the other trajinera with video camera rolling. Rodolfo laughs hysterically. I laugh nervously. Rebecca takes charge.
After humming along with the first song, she instructs the band to play a Mexican song she used to sing. The bandleader recognizes the song. Rebecca sings with the band.
Rebecca purrs, “El canta… roo cu-coo cu-cooo”
He follows the prompt, “Roo cu-coo CU-COOO.” His lips curl back as he embellishes.
The song ends. Rebecca commands the trumpet player to stop. She finds the brass obnoxious. Then another song. The trumpeter sits miffed while the group continues with another classic mariachi tune.
After three songs (70 pesos per song) we continue the canal tour. We get out of the boat to visit a chinamp flower garden.
Back on the water, we pass larger boats filled with families dancing and clapping. We wave and float into the sunset.
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