{"id":2743,"date":"2015-09-20T19:06:55","date_gmt":"2015-09-20T23:06:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/svetanyc.com\/?p=2743"},"modified":"2017-01-16T15:48:32","modified_gmt":"2017-01-16T20:48:32","slug":"mexico-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/192.168.2.119:1984\/svetanyc\/2015\/09\/mexico-city\/","title":{"rendered":"Mexico City, Mexico. September 2015"},"content":{"rendered":"

“In Mexico, Spaniards encountered history as well as geography.<\/em> This history is still alive: it is a present rather than a past. The temples and gods of pre-Colombian Mexico are a pile of ruins, but the spirit that breathed life into that world has not disappeared: it speaks to the hermetic language of myth, legend, forms of social co-existence, popular art, customs.” \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/em>Octavio Paz in his Nobel Laureate address in 1990<\/em><\/p>\n

The home of tequila, Aztecs, sombreros and Maya pyramids – \u00a0not to mention Pancho Villa<\/a>, Diego Rivera<\/a>, El Chapo<\/a>\u00a0and Carlos Slim<\/a> (though of Lebanese ancestry) – almost everyone on the planet knows something about Mexico. One of the greatest civilizations, Mexico offers an alluring blend of cultures, landscapes, tastes and adventures. Even though I have visited Mexico<\/a> a half-dozen times, I’ve never ventured beyond the Maya land, hence I was immensely thrilled to accept our friends’, Valeria and Jon, wedding invitation\u00a0and spend a weekend in Mexico City<\/a>. One of the most populous megapoli in the world, Mexico city sprawls across a 2,240 meter-high valley\u00a0surrounded in every direction by even taller mountains. To be exact, the valley is a bed of\u00a0Lake Texcoco, drained in the 17th century, and its heavily saturated soft clay base is slowly causing the city to collapse. I<\/span>t\u00a0is both the oldest capital in the Americas and one of two founded by Amerindians<\/a> (Native Americans), the other being Quito<\/a>. Sadly, the first associations with Mexico city aren’t always positive – corruption, pollution and frequent earthquakes, but let me assure you that it is much more than that – this very unique, colorful and vibrant city is a gem for history buffs, art lovers and adventure seekers. This is a\u00a0city that has transformed itself into a modern metropolis without shedding its traditional charms.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Literature.<\/strong><\/p>\n