Shitlist & Hitlist: Mexico City
What I liked, what I loved and most importantly what I hated.
I am excited to introduce you to a new series I am calling Shitlist & Hitlist. After I spend an extended time in a city, I’ll give you all my feedback of what I liked (hitlist) and what I didn’t like (shitlist). I am going to try to keep my list items as specific as possible. For example, I wouldn’t include something like “traffic” because bad traffic is not unique to Mexico City. Plus all of you have experienced traffic before and don’t need to hear my take on it. I will also say that these lists are based on my personal taste. It is possible you and I could walk away from the same city with totally different shit and hit lists and that’s ok. Just know that mine is probably more correct.
So, in no particular order, I present to you my hitlist and shitlist for Mexico City.
The Hitlist
1. The Metrobus
For some context, I consider myself a public transit enthusiast. My dad is obsessed with trains to the point that we had a model train room in my house growing up and I think I inherited some of his train obsession. When I go to a new city I like to test out their public transit and in Mexico City there is no shortage of trains, buses, bikes, scooters and even minibuses. But nothing, in all my years of travel, has impressed me quite like the Metrobus.
The Metrobus is a hybrid bus/train that serves seven major streets in Mexico City. It is technically a bus but it operates more like a train. What makes the Metrobus so great is that it solves all the typical problems associated with city buses. First, it has a designated bus lane. There is never any traffic when you’re in the Metrobus lane and Mexican bus drivers are crazy so the bus really hauls ass. Second, you pay at the station not on the bus. This means when the bus arrives everyone just gets on and sits down. You don’t need to wait for people to count change or dig around for their card. Third, like a train there are multiple cars and doors so everyone gets on and off really quickly. There’s no bottleneck waiting for everyone to squeeze through the door. The bus pulls into the station and pulls out 15 seconds later. No waiting involved.
A lot of public transit debates come down to the following tradeoff. Trains are really expensive and time consuming to build, but once they’re built they’re much faster and easier for riders to use. Bus routes, on the other hand, are very easy to add but they can be slow. Buses get stuck in traffic and it takes longer for everyone to get on and off as there is only one door and you need to wait for everyone to pay. The Metrobus gives us the best of both worlds. The Metrobus is a marvel of public transportation planning. The Metrobus can solve all of our public transit problems and is my new obsession.
If you go to Mexico City, ride the Metrobus and reflect on how your city’s public transit is not as good nor will ever be as good as the Metrobus.
2. The Cuauhtémoc Antiques Flea Market
If you know me, you know I love shopping, browsing, thrifting, perusing, or meandering around any market or store. I will even go walk around my local Jewel if I’m bored. I like to go to a place and be completely overwhelmed by items. I like to pick up every single one of those items and then not buy them. And for that reason I love a good flea market.
And I have to declare that the Cuauhtémoc Antiques Flea Market in Jardín Dr. Ignacio Chavez in Mexico City is the best Flea Market I’ve ever been to. I have to give an honorable mention to the Alameda Flea Market outside of San Francisco due to it’s sheer size, but I think the Mexico City Flea Market takes the cake because of the quality of the items. Leah and I spent 3 hours at the Flea Market and every single booth had something cool or weird to offer. Furniture, vintage telephones, pins, old comic books, old regular books, Mexico City Olympics paraphernalia, postcards, action figures, clothes, jewelry, tchotchkes, trinkets and even Nazi paraphernalia were just some of the things we stumbled upon. We spent way longer at the flea market than we intended and it totally exceeded our expectations.
Leah ended up purchasing some vintage Mexico City Olympics tickets, an Olympics pin, a book and a small cigar box. I purchased this vintage McDonalds pin I shared in a previous newsletter.
3. La Casa de Toño Chilaquiles
I wrote a bit about Casa de Toño already but I don’t think I did their chilaquiles justice. Chilaquiles are one of my favorite foods and the chilaquiles rojos at Casa de Toño are my favorite thing I've eaten in Mexico so far. They were the perfect mixture of crunchy, creamy, cheesy deliciousness and the sauce was amazing.
While it’s on my hitlist I will mention Casa de Toño would probably be on Anna’s shitlist since she got food poisoning there. I, however, would go back in a heartbeat as the chilaquiles would be worth the risk of food poisoning.
4. Green Mole Sauce
Green mole sauce is my new favorite food discovery. You may have heard of the more traditional brown mole sauce that’s made from a mixture of chiles and chocolate but what you probably didn’t know is that there are other types of mole sauce. Green mole is made from fresh vegetables and pepitas and it is fantastic. I didn’t know of it’s existence before I came to Mexico but now I’m hooked.
5. The Cone of Meat at Tortas Al Fuego
Keeping on the theme of food I have to add one more food item to this list. Tortas Al Fuego is a 24 hour torta and taco shop. Their menu is huge and they have every kind of torta you can imagine. Their tortas are tasty, but for me where they really shine is with their tacos al pastor. They have the biggest cone of al pastor meat I have ever seen in my entire life. When you order al pastor tacos they slice you some meat from the cone along with some of the pineapple that sits atop the cone and I am confident it is the best food you will find from a restaurant that is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
6. Gego Exhibit at Museo Jumex
I am rarely impressed by museums but the exhibit we saw at Museo Jumex, Mexico City’s modern art museum, completely exceeded my expectations. For me art museums are hit or miss, leaning more heavily on the miss side. I just have a hard time understanding what criteria deems an art piece museum worthy. For example, I have a distinct memory of going to the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago and seeing an exhibit that was just videos of a woman sucking her own toes. Why was that considered museum worthy? I will never know.
However, the exhibit we saw at Museo Jumex totally blew me away. Measuring Infinity is a collection of works by Venezuelan artist Gego. She is an abstract artist and focuses on geometric shapes using a variety of mediums. I included a few pictures below but I also recommend looking through the photo gallery on the Museo Jumex website because her work is very cool.
The Shitlist
1. Music Boxes
Within a few days of being in Mexico City I noticed these weird street performers wearing military uniforms and playing hand crank music boxes, primarily in the city center. They were usually in pairs, one person cranking the music box and one person asking for tips. They looked like this.
And here’s the thing, the music sounded terrible. Like super out of tune, really scratchy, grating enough to make you wince when you walk by. And then they have the audacity to ask you for a tip.
So, during a free walking tour of the historic city center, I asked a tour guide about them. What I really wanted to ask was why hadn’t someone, the police, the cartels, the U.S. military stopped these people but I didn’t want to be too rude so I settled for a more civil “who are those guys?”. She confirmed that yes most people dislike the music boxes. She then went on to explain the history of these particular street performers. They are playing music boxes that were brought over from Europe over 100 years ago and the “musicians” are wearing army uniforms from the Mexican revolution. The instruments are extremely hard to maintain as they were made in Europe and the company that makes them no longer exists which is why they are so out of tune. People continue to play them for the nostalgia and because it’s a tradition but the majority of people, especially young people, don’t care for them.
Now I don’t generally like to go to other countries and disrespect their traditions but I will make an exception in this case. Some traditions deserve to die with dignity and these guys just don’t know when to quit. But you don’t have to take my word for it, this New York Times article used the phrase “auditory assault” which I think is fitting.
2. All Mexico City Street Musicians
These music boxes were not the only “auditory assault” I experienced on the streets of Mexico City. In general street music in Mexico City is not great. The problem is that the musicians don’t just park themselves in a permanent location for you to watch (or more likely avoid) as you please. They have mobilized. They follow you around. If you are sitting and eating outside in a cafe, they will come up right next to your table, play the worst rendition of a song you’ve ever heard and then ask for a tip. It’s madness. During our first dinner in Mexico City, Leah and I were sitting outside eating tacos and this flute player came right up next to us and blasted out-of tune flute music. And the thing is, she didn’t stand 10 feet away which to me is plenty close to hear flute, she stood literally right next to us. It was so loud we couldn’t even read the menu let alone talk to one another. Maybe I was spoiled by my time in New Orleans, but the street performers in Mexico City are subpar and they get bumped from unpleasant to shit list material based on their mobility.
3. Crosswalks
Crosswalks in Mexico City are a mess. It is impossible to tell when it is your turn to cross the street because there is rarely a walk symbol or even a light to check. It’s just sort of a free for all and the situation will leave you racially profiling the other pedestrians so you can try to follow whoever looks the most Mexican.
4. Agua Mineral
This one is small but irritating so be warned. “Agua Mineral” which translates to “Mineral Water” is not what we to refer as mineral water in the U.S. “Mineral Water” in Mexico is sparkling water. If you want bottled still water you have to order “Agua Natural” which to me sounds like tap water but is actually just plane bottled water. I don’t know why these decisions were made or who in Mexico is responsible for this naming convention but I blame Topo Chico as I could see this being some corporate PsyOp to all get us to drink more sparking water.
5. This Noise
Last, but certainly not least, I have to include the noise you can hear in the video below. Everywhere you go in Mexico City you hear this noise. I stayed in four different neighborhoods and guess what, this noise woke me up in all of them. All day, all night, you are never without this sound.
"Se compran, colchones, tambores, refrigeradores, estufas, lavadoras, microondas, o algo de fierro viejo que vendan!" - We buy mattresses, drums, refrigerators, stoves, washing machines, microwaves, or any old iron that you are selling!
These are scrap metal collectors and they use this weird recording using a child’s voice to get your attention. It is effective I will say but as someone who doesn’t have any scrap metal to offer them it is extremely irritating. There is even a New York Times article about the origin of the sound.
And that is everything on my hit and shit list for Mexico City. I am now in Monterrey Mexico working in a hostel here and there is a lot to report back on so stay tuned for more updates as well as more shitlists.
I miss you all,
Tristan