So, my dearest Oz, I see that you FINALLY made it to my home town!!! Without warning! I don't know if I was here when you visited (incognito to me, snif snif!) because I have been traveling, but...I would have been delighted to see you and talk about our good old times in New York!
I am really glad that you appreciated and enjoyed all that this hectic, fascinating city has to offer. Thanks for all your very positive feedback. I liked your post. Your descriptions are accurate, but allow me to make a couple of corrections.
La Zona Rosa
Whereas la Zona Rosa is the most obvious gayborhood in Mexico there are better places just booming in Condesa or Roma, with a more "classy" atmosphere, with less hustlers and rentboys. To put it in NY terms, Condesa is like Chelsea (a large gay population, apartments, restaurants, bars), and Zona Rosa leans more towards the pre-Giuliani Eighth Avenue.
El Zocalo
You write: "El Zocalo is surrounded by the National Palace, City Hall and the Supreme Court of Justice" Almost right. Not that it really matters, but the Supreme Court is not ON the Zocalo, but just off it, to the right of the National Palace. The other building on the Zocalo is the CATHEDRAL, which is absolutely HUGE. And what about the immense Mexican flag in the middle of the square, which is raised and lowered every day?
Templo Mayor
"..just a few steps away is a link to the past – Templo Mayor – an ancient Aztec temple that has stood for thousands of years in what has now become Mexico City".
Sorry to disappoint you, Oz. Your enthusiasm made you go a bit overboard: the Aztecs arrived in Tenochtitlan, now Mexico City, only in 1325 a.d. Yes, yes, that is way before the Mayflower, but not "thousands of years"...The Spaniards defeated the Aztecs in 1521, so the temple was there for a couple of HUNDRED years...
The Angel Of Independence
A trivia factoid: the Angel came down flying during the 1957 earthquake and hit the pavement with a loud thud...It happened at night.
Paseo De La Reforma
"..it cuts a diagonal line through the entire city – starting at the Angel of Independence and finishing inside La Zona Rosa."
Here, you went "underboard". You describe the central part of Reforma, but the avenue doesn't stop there. It starts way before the Angel and finishes way after Zocalo. On one side, it goes along Chapultepec, a very nice park with a castle on top, and straddles along a very upscale neighborhood (the US Ambassador's residence is there, on Reforma). On the other, it goes past Zocalo to Tlatelolco, the ancient Aztec market, where the Foreign Ministry used to be.
Ok, Oz, those are my "anal" precisions. Thank you once again for your descriptions and positive vibes about my city. I am now living here again. Next time you come, make sure to let me know: don't be selfish like that!
Hugs.