Frida & Diego's digs

We deliberately save the Frida Kahlo museum for our last day in Mexico DF as know it's going to be special. The house where she was born, worked and lived for her entire life is now one of the city's most popular attractions. We bought our tickets online months ago and made sure we had the earliest possible slot to avoid the crowds.

A smart move, because by 10.30am the queue was round the block.

The house is impeccable. Colourful, bright and of course very stylish. Hardly surprising, when you consider it was home to two of the 20th Century's most talented and revered artists.

Hubby, Diego Rivera was every bit as flamboyant as his missus and during their time together actually a lot more successful (like many painters, Kahlo's real acclaim came posthumously). He was an avid collector of pre-Hispanic art amassing some 50,000 pieces and I guess at some point she insisted that he stopped clogging up the living-room and find somewhere else to keep them.

Luckily for us, he did just that. He got together with the famous American architect Frank Lloyd-Wright and commissioned the wonderful Museo Anahuacalli. A spectacular space that almost eclipses the artefacts it was designed to contain.

Both museums are located in the artsy Coyoacan neighbourhood which is slightly out of the way but worth exploring in its own right. Lots of leafy plazas, cool cafes and a lovely little fountain housing the beasts that give Coyoacan its name - place of Coyotes. 

Big stuff

We take a trip out to see the pyramids at Teotihuacan today. Essentially two huge temples; the Temple of the Moon (which is stupidly big) and the Temple of the Sun (which is even bigger) connected by the morbidly named Avenue of the Dead with a few lesser temples scattered here and there.

Clambering up these 2000 year old monoliths would be tough at the best of times but throw in that a) they stand 7000 feet above sea level and b) it was bloody hot, and it’s not hard to understand why we saw so many folk struggling.

Incredibly only 10% of the original structures have been unearthed and our guide tells us at least 125,000 people lived in the complex in its heyday.

What we can’t get our heads around is the proximity of Teotihuacan to where we are staying in the city. It’s only a short bus ride away really. The equivalent of having one of the seven wonders of the world in Shepherds Bush - and I’m not talking about the Westfield sodding shopping centre.

We made it back in time to squeeze in a visit to the observation deck of the 182 metre Torre Latinamerico (having climbed enough stairs for one day we take the lift). Fantastic views but at that height you get a real impression of how polluted the place is. Which is a bummer.

Saw some more skeletons later though, so that cheered us up.

Best in show

Did a bunch of stuff yesterday; visited a couple more museums, climbed to the top of the Monumento a la Revolucion (pictured), got a bit lost, ate some tasty food etc. 

That's chocolate wallpaper right there. Very strange.

But the best thing by far was stumbling across a Dachshund convention...

Sausages for as far as the eye can see.

18 years and counting...

What better way to celebrate your wedding anniversary than to spend the day traipsing around one of the largest museums in Latin America? That's how much my missus loves me. Not for her the heart-shaped box of chocolates or cheesy champagne cocktails. 

No, she's quite happy to let me lead the way to The Museo Nacional de Antropologia. An absolute beast of a place with gallery after gallery dedicated to mankind's evolution.

As you'd expect, much of the space is given over to Aztecs, Mayans, Incas and whatnot but everyone gets a mention somewhere; chimpanzees, neanderthals, Sunderland supporters etc. 

Look out! fearsome Aztec warrior alert.

     
This town is disturbingly skull obsessed...

    
 ...see what I mean?

Walking the walk

Jet lag? Pah, not on our watch. We landed at 4.15am and are just crawling into bed now, some 15 hours later. Completely exhausted but thrilled to be here at last and loving Mexico City already. 

We're here for 5 nights so in an effort to get our bearings we sign up for a walking tour of the historic centre. Very good it was too.

Ridiculously gaudy Catholic Churches, ancient Aztec temples, huge plazas and sprawling parks, you name it we think we saw it. We try to take it all in but the sheer scale of the place means we're probably going to have to take a day or two to adjust. I mean, London's a decent size but this town is something else.

Our guide was top notch (shamefully, I've forgotten her name), young, enthusiastic and clearly very proud to be showing visitors around the city she loves. On finding out we were from London she took great pleasure in telling us that DF has more museums and galleries than any other metropolis in the world. Which if true, is indeed pretty impressive. DF stands for Distrito Federal by the way - none of the locals call Mexico City Mexico City.

Cool font. I can just about remember these games. The altitude made it easier for the long jumpers (thinner air = less resistance = longer leaps, innit). 

The women are very chic but could do with necking a few more enchiladas. 

This bloke is certainly living' la Vida Loca ...4pm on a Friday and he's totally wired.

We’re off!

The adventure starts here. Photo courtesy of young Chloe Gamble who will be looking after 149a while we're away. She's promised to have at least 3 parties a month to keep the neighbours entertained in our absence.