Mexico City – over 20million people within the city and its immediate surrounds; choked with pollution from millions of cars compounded by its geographic location; with a reputation for corruption and violence on a grand scale; subjected to earthquakes and sinking foundations, Mexico City is one of the most intoxicating places in the world!
Founded originally by Native Americans, Mexico City was built on an island on Lake Texcoco by the Aztecs in 1325 and named Tenochtitlan. By 1521, the Spanish invaders had razed the island capital of Tenochtitlan to the ground and rebuilt the city anew, often raiding the Aztec ruins for materials into a 16th century, urbanised Spanish format. By 1585, it became known officially as Ciudad de México – Mexico City.
Standing in the centre of the Zócalo, the common name for the Plaza de la Constitución, México City’s main square……..
………and facing the Metropolitan Cathedral, one can appreciate one of the great ironies of the city. Prior to the colonial period, the Zócalo was the site of the main ceremonial center in the city of Tenochtitlan for the Aztecs. Nowadays, as some of the city’s most beautiful colonial buildings sink gradually but irrevocably into the silt of the old lake (as evidenced by a pendulum that hangs in the middle of the nave of the Metropolitan Cathedral since the 16th century that shows the slow shifting of the foundations)……..
……..the excavated remains of the Aztec temple of Tenochtitlan, Huēyi Teōcalli (or Templo Mayor) appears to be rising again – like a phoenix. 
As the city has undergone reconstruction in a contemporary world, so more of the past has been revealed, so much so that the archaeological finds that keep surfacing are now housed in the Templo Mayor Museum. 
The cuisine of the city is similarly influenced by the indigenous and the colonial. The young guide that accompanied Brunyfire and another Aussie from Brisbane on a walking tour of the central city district illustrated this by firstly a visit to Pastelería Ideal – a bakery that creates a huge range of baked treats.
Wandering the streets towards a hidden market known only to the local chefs, we came across street eats…….
……..based on traditional maize tortillas and local fruits such as the mamey sapote, whose roasted pips are used in the drink tejate and the ubiquitous chili in all its guises.
But our guide was particularly keen to see if his two Aussie clients were game to eat some of the more exotic species.
Scorpion sarnie anyone?
brunyfire 