Mexico City: A Land of Contrasts
Calm vs. chaos, luxury vs. simplicity, vulgarity vs. class: we experienced all of these contrasts in Mexico City and loved every minute.
“It’s suddenly gotten really loud, hasn’t it?”, observed our friend. We had just settled into our seats, cold drinks in hand, after a hot day of touring downtown CDMX (Ciudad de México, or Mexico City). Our good friends from Dallas were visiting and we stopped at a terrace with one of the most spectacular views of El Zócalo, Mexico City’s iconic main plaza.
I wasn’t sure what our friend meant until I noticed that people around us were getting up from their tables. A waiter hurriedly came over asking us to move away from the edge of the terrace. In Spanish, I asked for clarity. My stomach turned as he responded: “That’s an earthquake alarm you hear. We need to move away from the edge of the terrace. An earthquake is coming.”
I still get butterflies when I think of that moment. Fortunately, the earthquake never came; the alarm system had detected an earthquake in the state of Guerrero, about 200 miles away. Still, everyone in the city went through a drill, evacuating buildings. My heart was beating fast, my hands were sweaty. But as I looked around me, the staff were calm. How could they be so calm during a potential catastrophe?!
Mexico City is a land of contrasts, much like an earthquake alarm sounding and people shrugging their shoulders, chalking it up to a regular day. As I think back to the 10 days Noah and I spent in this marvelous, complicated city where I was born, I’m intrigued by its contrasts: calm in the middle of chaos, luxury rivaled by simplicity, history nestled in modernity, garishness amid class. Here are three highlights of contrasts we experienced through food, history, and entertainment.
Food: Luxury vs. Simplicity
Pujol
A week ago, we were the lucky holders of highly-coveted reservations at Pujol (pronounced “Pooyol”), the flagship restaurant by Mexico’s most famous chef, Enrique Olvera. This restaurant is a big deal: not only is it ranked 9th in the world and best in North America, but it’s also put “real” Mexican food on the international food map.
For me, “real” Mexican food is the food of my ancestors: fresh ingredients, a lot of corn, hundreds of spices, all assembled with painstaking attention to detail, patience, and pride. Pujol was a contrast within itself: dishes with indigenous ingredients, like their famous baby corn with a chili sauce and “chicatanas” (a type of ant), were served inside a mid-century home in the modern, upscale neighborhood of Polanco.
“I feel like I’m in Architectural Digest,” I told Noah and our friends, who were sharing in this culinary experience. The decor at Pujol is subdued, with subtle hints reminding you that you’re in one of the best restaurants in the world. For one, we had seven courses, each more beautiful than the one before. Another hint was the choreographed placement of our dishes, all delivered at the same second by four highly-trained staff.
You can’t help but feel privileged to partake in Enrique Olvera’s culinary dream-turned-reality. Never before have I received a customized menu - tasting or à la carte - in a folded envelope stamped with a wax seal. Nor have I eaten Mexican mole that has been aged for more than 7 years as I did with Olvera’s famed “Mole Madre”.
The devil was in the details at Pujol: every component of the diner’s experience is carefully planned, including a post-dinner invitation to sit in the garden and enjoy dessert, only to then be surprised with one additional course - churros! I chuckle as think about the contrast between this lunch and the breakfast we’d had that morning.
Tacos de canasta
Four different friends had insisted we have “tacos de canasta” during our trip. The same morning as our lunch at Pujol, we found“Los Especiales”, an unassuming spot a few feet from the Zócalo. The set-up was simple with a hand-written poster listing the tacos available: potato, chicharrón (pork rinds), and beans. We paid and moved down the counter to have our order served right off a pile of pre-made greasy tacos.
“Canasta” means “basket”. The name makes sense: tacos are served right out of a metal basket. At first sight, the tacos are a mess. Enrique Olvera would recoil if his staff threw food onto plates the way these tacos were. But once you adorn your food with the provided pickled carrots and peppers, these tacos become a beauty.
Greasy? Yes. Delicious? You bet. A complete contrast to Pujol? Absolutely. The tacos were straightforward. The food at Pujol was complex. At “Los Especiales”, we ate with our hands while standing up. At Pujol, we had white-glove service. Eating at both these places on the same day was the perfect sampling of Mexico City’s extremes: everyday simplicity vs. high-end grandeur.
History: Old vs. New World
Catedral Metropolitana
Fun fact: I was baptized in the baptistery of Mexico’s most iconic cathedral, la Catedral Metropolitana. During our trip, I enthusiastically led our friends to this baptistery. As Noah discreetly snapped photos to share with my mom, I could imagine her as a twenty-something American woman in the 80s, fascinated with the ornate surroundings. At the request of my paternal family, she had agreed to have her baby daughter be (literally) immersed in Mexican Catholic tradition and ritual.
This magnificent cathedral, built between the 1500s - 1800s, sits at the north end of the Zócalo. Inspired by Spanish architecture and influenced by gothic, baroque, and neoclassic styles (to name a few), this is the oldest and largest cathedral in Latin America, serving as Mexico’s Roman Catholic Archdiocese.
It’s not just its size or age that makes “La Catedral” significant. Built over the course of 250 years, this church replaced the first Catholic church after the Spanish conquest of Tenochtitlán, the capital of the Aztec empire. It symbolized a new era for Mexico, one where Catholicism was to be the central way of life religiously and culturally.
Templo Mayor
What I find most interesting about La Catedral is the contrast with a structure that sits beneath and around it - remnants of El Templo Mayor, where the Aztecs worshipped their gods. It’s a complicated contrast. On the one hand, the Templo Mayor reminds us that Mexico’s history did not begin with the Spaniards, but with ancient civilizations, like the Aztecs’. On the other hand, the cathedral reminds us that the Spanish conquest modernized Mexico in important ways.
Walking through the Templo Mayor ruins in the middle of a bustling city reminds you of a more simple, but also somber, way of life. Built in 1325, the Templo Mayor was a place of veneration, and along with that, of human sacrifices. Though it was usually war captives that were sacrificed to please the gods, sometimes children were offered as well, under the belief that their tears pleased the god of rain, Tlaloc.
To mark the end of sacrificial rituals, the Spaniards destroyed the Templo Mayor following the Aztec conquest in the 1500s. Over the centuries, the remnants were built over by modern buildings, ignored, but not forgotten. In 1978, an electrical company made the astounding discovery of a monolith, leading to further excavations to unearth and preserve the ruins, labor that continues to this day.
Today, the Templo Mayor ruins and the Catedral sit side-by-side as contrasting reminders of civilizations old and new and both equally influential in who Mexico is today.
Entertainment: Garish vs. Classy
Lucha libre
When I was little, my older brother had a figurine of “El Santo”, Mexico’s most famous masked “luchador”, or fighter. I scoffed at my brother’s games, as he pretended to defeat opponents who defied El Santo. Lucha libre is disgusting and violent, I thought for years. So when Noah suggested we go see lucha libre during our trip, I was gobsmacked by my response: “let’s do it!”.
Lucha libre is, in fact, violent. But most of it, I learned, is pretend. It’s all a colorful show of dramatic rivalry where the worst offenders are the audience as they egg on fighters from both sides:
“¡¡Mándalo a la [expletive]!!”, “¡¡[Expletive] su madre, güeyyy!!”
Forgive my Mexican French as I recall some of the colorful expressions shared by beer-happy spectators around us. Noah and I joined in on the jeering and booing, often confused on who we should root for: should it be for the enormous masked giant sporting a championship gold belt, or for the skinny dude with a silver cape, taunting his opponent with air kisses?
Choosing sides became especially confusing when an all-female cast of fighters showed up. As a woman myself, I wanted to cheer for them all!
Though women might be a common sight in Lucha libre’s American equivalent, the WWE, I was surprised to see women in a Mexican ring. Curious, I learned that the pandemic helped expand doors for “luchadoras” (female fighters). With gyms and rings closing between 2020-2021, Lucha libre event organizers found themselves drawing on innovative hooks to attract viewers to televised fights. Luchadoras was one of those hooks.
I was in awe of how the luchadoras sustained multiple slaps, belly flops, back tosses, and other creative moves that made the audience wince. What a contrast this pseudo-violent performance was to the more subdued (and just as colorful) show we saw a few nights later, the Mexican folkloric ballet.
Ballet Folklórico Mexicano
If I could go back to my childhood, I would take my dancing lessons more seriously. I’ve wished to be a sugarplum fairy in The Nutcracker, and I’ve wished to be a Mexican folkloric ballet dancer. I’ve done the two next best things: years ago, I saw the New York City Ballet perform The Nutcracker at the Lincoln Center, and a few days ago, I saw the Mexican Folkloric Ballet perform at the Palacio de Bellas Artes.
Seeing a show at the Palacio de Bellas Artes is everything Lucha Libre isn’t: classy, beautiful, organized, enchanting, majestic. This palace is considered Mexico’s grandest performance space, with many of its interior walls a canvas for Mexico’s greatest artists, like Diego Rivera. Inside it, one can witness artistic masterpieces, from opera to symphonies, to dance. I was happy that our visit coincided with the post-pandemic return of Mexican ballet to the stage!
“Mexican folkloric ballet” is what one would imagine upon hearing those words. This type of dance is colorful and lively. Choreographed by the celebrated Amalia Hernández, this ballet isn’t performed with tutus and pointe shoes. Rather, this ballet celebrates the richness of Mexico’s culture through indigenous and contemporary dances that commemorate the cultural heritage of Mexican states.
It was difficult to capture the magic through photos, so I’ll summarize in words: our seats vibrated with the unison of perfectly-choreographed tapping shoes pounding to the beats of Jalisco’s “Jarabe Tapatío”. Our ears danced to the harp and marimba music of the “Son Jarocho” of Veracruz, as women danced in white lace. We were mesmerized by Sonora’s “Danza del Venado” (“dance of the deer”), as the male dancer recoiled on the floor, portraying a hunted deer. Every number was culturally meaningful and aesthetically enthralling.
Just as I won’t be a “luchadora”, I’m unlikely to become a Mexican folkloric ballet dancer. But as a Mexican, I’m grateful to have witnessed both contrasting performances, as they each form a valuable piece of Mexico’s cultural quilt.
Mexico City is enigmatic. It’s a place to love and critique. It’s overwhelming while also enchanting. It’s luxuriously modern and also true to its simple roots. It’s a complicated land of contrasts. It’s the city that made me.
Have you ever been to CDMX? What contrasting experiences did you have? Let me know in the comments!
Karla is a Mexican/American travel and fiction writer. She’s also a life and career coach for women and podcast co-host. Karla is one-half of Aventura Road, a married couple of nomads who live in an RV and travel full-time. Karla writes, while Noah photographs.
Follow Karla on Instagram @karlaexploradora
Follow Karla & Noah on Instagram @aventuraroad
I felt like I was right there with you on this trip, even though I've never been! Loved this post.
Great article! Reading it takes me right back to my own adventures in Mexico City, although they were a little less fancy than yours ;) you make me want to go back! If anything to get me some tacos de canasta…