What's good in Mexico City ...
tiger_blurp
275 Posts
I'm heading to Mexico City next week for four days (Monday-Thursday). Unfortunately, I fly back to L.A. the day before the holiday, but I wanted to see if any Strutters had any advice on what to see/do in the City. Cool places. Chill spots. Etc. I was last there in 1984 the year before the big quake (if I remember correctly). Lot of memories, but I was quite young. Anyway, just throwing it out there seeking advice. As always, thanks in advance. ...
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Oh yeah, this is the most important shit to know before heading to Mexico City.
what does chichi mean ?
I spent ten days digging there a few months ago and it was by far one of the best digging trips I have ever been on. hit the streets every morning at 8:00 Am, had a fresh squeezed OJ and wouldn't come home until I had a backpack full. Aside from the beautiful people and incredible hospitality I felt at everyone's spot, you can and will find the illest things there. For example, I found a sealed Black Christ Of The Andes outside of a women's prison and it had a press kit in it. what??!! what the hell was that doing there, I'll never know. but there are records to be found and pretty much only the Psych collectors have put in work there. Steer clear of thier wants and you are good to go. I was even offered a Rabbit's and Carrots, but in my opinion hold out for the 4 song mini-ep with Express Yourself and the BLAZE break on it. The Bump, Tequila, 39.5, Peace & Love, Macho, Toncho's Pilatos, Los Spiders, ahh to many to name down there. BTW, stay clear of an undercover strip bar named El Sotano!
Gigante - where you peepin hard in all the tiangues??????
fuck yeah mang.. you're speaking my language... Love that fuggin Rabbits and Carrots EP. EXPRESSATE .. the "Romeo and Juliet Theme" on the Rab n Carrots LP is preety rawe too. If you got some trades... please PM me. I have some specific things I'm looking for that perhaps you found.... and most likely some stuff I can hip you on as well.
You could basically spend over a day just in the Zocalo checking out all of the Diego Rivera murals in the Government buildings. Do not miss the Ministry of Education or the President's Palace (both are free).
Eat some tacos al pastor and don't forget the pineapple.
Go to Plaza Garibaldi to check out all of the mariachi's at night. Have a few drinks and watch them go!
Check out the markets. Tepito market on the weekend is pretty amazing. Called the Thieve's market because of all of the bootleg stuff they sell there. I had a friend tell me a story about another friend who had some dude come up to him and try to sell an owl. He asked where the owl was. They went down the street into a wharehouse and there was a fucking white owl all locked up in a cage. Super cheap bootleg DVDs and CDs; not many records though. Total experience. Blocks upon blocks of merchants.
Check out the pyramids of course. Lots of cool day trips out of the city too. I'm a little jealous. Enjoy yourself!
Many people have grown up in the U.S. and don't know there are records for sale. It's understandable.
There is a decent sized club scene with many records available. It's been a long time since I was there, but I baught some hip-hop 12"s. Nothing I couldn't find in the states, just didn't have them yet. I'd love to go digging in some crazy spots. Old Mexican records. That's the shit. I know they're there, just gotta look for it.
Apparently, I'll be staying in an apartment in the Polanco area near the Bosque de Chapultepec and the Modern Art Museum, and not far from the Auditorio Nacional.
I don't have any friends out there, save for my pops, who is the inspiration for the visit, but he'll be working mostly, so I'll be mostly roaming solo. No car, so I'm gonna try the metro and the buses as much as possible, if I can manage. My father just got mugged the other day in a taxi, so I'm a bit wary (been hearing a lot of bad things about the taxi situation there). His work put him on to a "secured" cab service recently, so maybe that will be okay. Anyone with any experience out there on that level?
We do have some family friends out there, so hopefully I can maybe roll with them to a few spots. I think they took my brother out to Xochimilco while he was there recently, but I'm not sure. Def wanna check out Z??calo as well. And it looks like I'll be staying not too far from the Papa Beto jazz spot.
I'll actually be leaving the morning of the 16th, but my girl was telling me that even tho the holiday is the 16th, a lot of festivities go on the night before. Anyone know if that's true?
Anyway, just wanted to say thanks yet again.
I've heard similar stories about the cab situation. Alot of the people we talked to had personal cabs they would call, who they could trust. It might be a good idea, if you get a good cabbie, to get his number and ask if he'd come pick you up personally. Mexico City is supposed to be pretty gully in certain areas, be careful dude!