Mexico City 2026

We returned to Mexico to continue our travels 2 weeks in Mexico joining some of Pat's Business School friends visiting Mexico. Alejandra, from Mexico City arranged the tour. and others lent a hand with arrangements. In 2022, several of us, including Alejandra, met up in Greece at Paul & Agnes's gorgeous home in Kardamyli. Mark & Rosemary joined us from London.  If you recall our friends of 50 years Dave and Shelly were also with us. This year Betsy Cotton, another classmate,  joined us.

The others began touring in Mexico City around the Zocalo and we joined them at the Museo Banco de Mexico.The Banco de México Museum is an architectural landmark of Art Deco. It houses a vast Numismatic Collection with coins, banknotes and medals. Other displays explore the role of money in everyday life, the history of banking in Mexico, and the functions of the central bank. 

Below: 

• A high-purity gold bar, labelled as having 99.99% gold content (ORO 9999) and weighing 12.6 kilograms (KILOS 12.6)
• The coin collection is in the huge vault.
• The Stained glass piece was originally commissioned by the Bank of Mexico  in 1935.
• The mosaic floors reflect the art deco design.

We had lunch at Lardo, a favorite Italian restaurant in Roma Norte. Then we took the afternoon off (in consideration of the Europeans who needed recovery after spending the previous traveling across several time zones.)

The next day we toured the Anthropology Museum and Museum of Modern Art sandwiched around a nice lunch at the Anthropology Museum. Dinner at  nearby Carmela and Sal with it's creative, home-style Mexican dishes.

•  "El Paraguas" (The Umbrella) Fountain, the centerpiecre of the  main courtyard of the Anthropology Museum
• Aztec Sun Stone, also known as the Piedra del Sol. Has been improperly referred to as the Aztec Calendar. It  is a massive, 24-ton basalt monolith, created around 1427–1479 CE, and represents Aztec cosmology 
• Olmec head sculpture.  The Olmecs (~1200–400 BC) are considered the "mother culture" of later Mesoamerican societies like the Maya and Aztecs, They are most famous for carving massive, stylized stone heads weighing 30–60 tons. These are believed to be portraits of individual rulers.

After lunch we visited the nearby Modern Art Museum. We were fortunate to visit while the noted Gelman Collection is on display. It's only been up for a few months and leaves for Spain in June. The collection is renowned for its high concentration of masterpieces, particularly 30 works designated as artistic monuments in Mexico. Key artists include Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, and osé Clemente Orozco.

• "La vendedora de frutas" (The Fruit Seller), a 1951 masterpiece by artist Olga Costa
• "Self-Portrait with Monkeys" (1943) by Frida Kahlo.
• "Crisálida", created by Mexican artist Manuel Felguérez. Materials, constructed using a functional Volkswagen Sedan. VW Beetles, commonly known as a "Vocho" in Mexico, werer very popular and were manufactured in Puebla until 7/30/2003.

Another day, another museum. A long time favorite, the Museum of Popular Arts featuring some of the best Artisanal Works from around Mexico. 

• An unusual version of a MexicanTree of Life
• A collection of alebrijes, which are brightly colored Mexican folk art sculptures of fantastical creatures
• Another Vocho, (Volkswagen Beetle) covered in traditional Huichol beadwork, featuring over 2 million tiny glass beads

• The main atrium with colorful, large-scale papalotes (kites),
• Large blue peacock alebrije sculpture
• A dressed-up Charro outfit (normally for horse riding)  embroidered with soutache (a narrow, flat decorative braid)

We then took a walk in the park with Diego Rivera. His 50-foot long fresco titled "Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in Alameda Central Park "(1946–1947) features basically all the notable personalities of 400 years of Mexican history posing together in Mexico City's oldest park.

Later we had lunch at the Cafe in the Belles Artes and then visited the Postoffice. to appreciate it's eclectic architectural style including Art Nouveau, Spanish Renaissance Revival, Plateresque, Spanish Rococo, Elizabethan Gothic, Elizabethan Plateresque, Venetian Gothic Revival, Moorish, Neoclassical, Baroque, and Art Deco. 

Dinner was at Los Danzantes in Coyoacan, near Alejandra's home.  Another GSB classmate Martin Urrutia and his wife Regina joined us.

Los Danzantes is noted for its contemporary Mexican cuisine in a historic setting overlooking Plaza Jardín Centenario, the heart of the first capital of Mexico, founded over 500 years ago.

One morning focused on Frida Kahlo in Coyoacán. We started in The Casa Roja (Red House), purchased by Frida's parents, Guillermo and Matilde Kahlo, in1930. Opened in 2025 the exhibit focus on Frida's childhood and family life. 

Then we moved on to Casa Azul where Frida spent the vast majority of her life.

Clockwise from top right are four photos from Casa Roja. Top left is from Casa Azul.

• White and cream-colored lace garments from the Frida Kahlo Museum exhibition titled "Appearances Can Be Deceiving"
• Charola de amapolas (Tray with Poppies) by Mexican artist Frida Kahlo
• The group in front of the Museo Casa Kahlo (also known as the "Casa Roja")
• Frida Kahlo in her studio at La Casa Azul in Coyoacán
• Traditional Tehuana dress featuring vibrant floral embroidery on a dark velvet blouse and skirt, paired with a white lace flounce

...This exhibition highlights how Kahlo used traditional Mexican costumes, particularly Tehuana dresses, to mask her physical pain and create a lasting, powerful image.

We stopped to explore the beautiful Coyoacan Market and then moved on to shop at  El Bazar Sabado in San Angel. We enjoyed a late lunch at the San Angel Inn, an experience visitors to Mexico City should all have.  It serves as the model for the Mexican restaurants at Walt Disney World.