I’m quite good at writing, but I’m rubbish at taking pictures. Or rather, I’m alright at taking pictures, in that I can point and shoot a camera, or more likely these days, a phone, but I never remember to. If left up to me, all of the trips that L and I take would be very well documented in notebooks but not at all in my phone’s gallery.
Often, when I have finished writing a post and need a picture to accompany it, I sheepishly nudge L and ask her to send some photos from the place I’ve been writing about.
“Whatever you’ve got,” I’m likely to say, since all I have from, say, Barcelona, is a picture of a particularly good sandwich I ate and a random statue of someone. Someone whose name I may have known at the time I took the photo but that is now lost somewhere in the ether.
For our trip to Mexico City, L stepped things up a notch and bought a disposable camera. Mexico City is a beautiful place, and the film that has resulted from this disposable camera makes it more beautiful still. So in a change to regularly scheduled programming, here is a post of mainly pictures, with a bit of text to accompany them for those of you who don’t like images. Though this would be an odd post to check out, if that’s the case.
Here’s a world record you probably didn’t know existed: world’s longest continuous cablecar. It runs through the borough of Iztapalapa. Unlike the Emirates cable car in London over the Thames, a brilliant example of pointless public infrastructure, this one is actually heavily used by the local population.
The bookshop Cafebrería El Péndulo Polanco, one of a few you can find across the city. This one in Polanco is right up there with my favourite bookshops in the world - not that I look particularly enthusiastic about it, down in the corner of this particular picture.
One thing they don’t tell you about hot air balloon rides is that often the best view is of all the other hot air balloons. Particularly when they’re just enormous yellow smiley faces.
You don’t have to work particularly hard to make the trajinera boats at Xochimilco look picturesque.
L worked particularly hard to get this picture of the Palacio de Bellas Artes, since all around the bottom of the building were enormous barricades. A guide we met told us this was because the next day was International Women’s Day, typically a day of great protests in Mexico City.
I knew Mexico City would be a taco town but didn’t know it would be such a pastry town. These two are from Panaderia Rosetta, pretty much the first place that comes up when you search for places to eat in Mexico City. I went for an almond croissant but L has a much sweeter tooth. This ocho had both jam and custard, two pastries in one.
I’ve been to a few dodgy museums that used to be people’s houses. I went to Beethoven’s old gaff in Vienna to find he never actually lived in it - it was the flat next door. But the Casa Azul, home to Frida Kahlo for most of her life, is extremely well done. They don’t let too many people in at once, and it helps having such an interesting person at its centre.
The pyramids at Teotihuacan. I’ve said pretty much all I have to say in my last post, tough crowd. But the gist of it is: quite hot, quite good, but not as good as from the air. A churlish complaint.
No such complaints about Parque Mexico, which goes right up to near the top of my list of favourite parks. Just off camera there’s a salsa dancing class that I point blank refused to join. Sorry, L.
I always have a lovely time in the DF. It's a cool city with a bad rep that it absolutely does not deserve. I hope more people visit when they see your photos.
What a wonderful photographer you’ve found yourself there, Tom!
I always have a lovely time in the DF. It's a cool city with a bad rep that it absolutely does not deserve. I hope more people visit when they see your photos.