© KRASNEVSKY / ADOBESTOCK
Clockwise from far left : The iconic Soumaya Museum . Diego Rivera ’ s Enslavement and lues . A city of bicycles and coffee shops . You don ’ t even need to visit a gallery to see stunning art . The Pyramid of the Sun is the largest building among the ancient ruins of Teotihuacan on the outskirts of the city . Another great reason to visit Mexico ? The food .
dressed in tattoos , a sackcloth shift and no shoes . The work was largely ignored . Such are art openings all over the planet .
On our last day in the city the obvious choice was between visiting Xochimilco , a series of canals dotted with pleasure craft ; Frida Kahlo ’ s home ; or the historic Centro . Instead , we aimed for Polanco . Here high-rises and slick apartments stretch skyward . Just past the Jumex Museum , a legendary collection of Latin American contemporary art housed in a geometrical saw-toothed block , we found the glossy Soumaya Museum . It ’ s named after the wife of the richest man in Mexico , Carlos Slim Helú . It ’ s a floating world crammed with work by Rodin , Dali and some 65 000 other pieces collected by Helú from across ages and cultures ; a circular walkway winds through floors . Incredibly , it ’ s free . Much , much later , visually sated , we emerged and began the walk back to the metro , thunder grumbling overhead . Everywhere , buildings were going up , up , up . It was lunchtime . Workers smoked and ate beneath a marvellous street art stencil depicting classical columns and scenes of excess .
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TRAVEL PLANNER
Get there : Delta Airlines flies from Johannesburg to Mexico City via Atlanta ; British Airways flies from Cape Town and Johannesburg to Mexico City via London Heathrow ; Lufthansa flies from Cape Town and Johannesburg to Mexico City via Frankfurt .
Visas : South Africans require a visa to enter Mexico .
Money : 1 Mexican Peso : 0.65 Rand . Prices are usually shown in both US dollars and Pesos . In many parts of the country dollars are widely accepted , but it ’ s usually less expensive for travellers to pay with Pesos .
GO HERE WITH SURE : Trafalgar Tours offers escorted tours to Mexico as part of its USA tours programme . Ask your Sure Travel consultant for details , or visit www . suretravel . co . za / call 0861 47 48 49 .
© ANDRUSHKO / ADOBESTOCK
Five days in this teeming city and I didn ’ t see so much as a wrestling mask or a mariachi band . Sure , DF ’ s depths offer bullfights and drug cartels and probably the odd authentic sombrero . But how wonderful to travel and be submerged in both the ancient past and in lip-smackingly contemporary city life .
© KIEV / SHUTTERSTOCK