Mexico City

It was both a delight and a disappointment to see that few North Americans were in Mexico City last weekend to enjoy the events leading up to the Dia de Los Muertos celebrations. Most of the travelers visiting the city were from elsewhere in Latin America. Many avoid urban Mexico because of the theft and the pollution and the several million people coursing the streets and metro both day and night. But there’s still an affinity for Mexico City. Colonial structures built spitefully atop Aztec ruins make the history of the Spanish Conquest come alive. Street vendors hawk Mexican jumping beans and boiled maize cobs. Medicine men (curanderos) blow smoke and fill the night with sage.

We stayed at the Hotel Catedral in the Centro Historico, one of the best deals in the city ($47 per night). Within walking distance of Templo Mayor and the Zocalo – one of the world’s largest public squares - we strolled over to watch the Aztec dancers perform their perfect, knee-wrenching moves. A visit to Gilli Pollo sated our hunger after a long day at Teotihuacan and set us back only $4.35 for two quarto pollos and an unbelievable mound of papas.

But one reality is inescapable in this thriving megalopolis. Half of the Mexican population lives below the poverty line, a fact that’s much harder to digest than the succulent street food we paid for with such ease. Aztec sacrifices no longer play out in the Templo Mayor, but Mexico’s inequality seems equally savage.