Wrestling with the BIGGEST city in the World!

DF. That stands for District Federal and is the common abbreviated name for Mexico City the Federal District of Mexico. Im glad I know this now as I initially thought my bus was headed in the wrong direction...

I cant express enough how big Mexico City is. Its HUGE. But then saying that so is the country itself. DF is certainly the largest city in Mexico. I don't think its quite the largest city in the world as my blog title suggests, but it is certainly up there in the top five. It also has good graffiti which is an essential part of being a Capital city. 

This is actually an advert for a Pizza Company!

I LOVE MEXICO

Chilango Playmobil

Prior to arriving in DF I had stopped at the town of Morelia. I was meant to head direct to DF but my travel guide, which I've started to coin Lonely "I lie all the time" Planet, had described Morelia as being "the coolest place you've never been to". The reality is that Morelia may have lots of churches and some colonial buildings but it is by no means the coolest place Ive never been to. I need to stop trusting that book...

Anyway I digress, DF turned out to be just what I needed in terms of city life fixes. It had really good museums, bars and restaurants, a metro system (!) and most importantly Lucha Libre wrestling! 

The masks the wrestlers wear

Id been most upset to have missed seeing the Cholita wrestling in Bolivia - my friend Panagiotis had taken the most awesome pics including one of a cholita horizontal in mid air! Fortunately there was a wrestling match taking place on the Sunday which just happened to be the day after I arrived in DF. Unfortunately noone told me I wasnt allowed to take my camera in with me?! I was not amused. Especially when the security guard demanded that I leave my camera with him. I wasnt even allowed to take the camera in and leave the battery. I think I spent the first half of the matches fretting that I wouldnt see my camera again. Thankfully Id been clever enough to take the memory card out before handing it in. So, alas reader, I have no footage to show you which is really upsetting as the matches were AWESOME and seating wise I was literally two rows from the ring! You´ll just have to make do with a quick Google image search of Lucha Libre.

Before you start thinking Im a closet wrestling fan Im not. Ive never even watched it before, although I must admit to catching a few episodes of Hulk Hogans carton series (you remember that dont you?!) and for some reason I seem to recall a wrestler called Big Daddy from back in the 1980´s...but that is the extent of my wrestling repertoir.

The mens fights turned out to be way better than the womens. Yes thats right they even had women in the ring fighting. I couldnt decide what was more amusing, the outfits each fighter wore or the facial expressions (of those not wearing masks) pulled during each round. Both were hysterical. We had everything from tassled leather pants and boots (that was just on the men) to a full on Captain American outfit. Then you had the referees, who for some reason looked like they ought to be sat in a retirement home. One was even sporting one of those tattoo sleeves you can wear to make out like you have a tattoo. Not a good look on anyone let alone an old man.

In terms of nightlife, DF is certainly a good place to go out. It has loads of really cool restaurants and bars. One bar I went to was called Jules Basement. It was unique in that you have to be on the list to enter and once you are you enter through the fridge door of a restaurant! You then walk down some stairs and are in what is essentially a private bar / club. It was great. Although trying to find the place was a mission. The first few times we went into the restaurant to ask about the bar they denied it was there and then admitted it was but that it was closed due to flooding?! It wasnt until I said I had emailed our names that day to get on the list that they finally showed us the huge fridge door. And there was me thinking some of London's bars/clubs were difficult to get into!

Posing by the fridge door looking like I have shawl tassels for hands

Other notable drinking holes and eateries include Codessa DF which is a boutique hotel with a cool bar inside. Being a hotel bar it isnt cheap but the decor is worth a visit alone. Contramar, meaning against the sea in Spanish, specialises in seafood. Id read about this place in my Wallpaper* City guide to DF. Theyre usually my turn to guide books as they tend to have good advice on places to go and see that you wouldn't normally find in a usual guide book. The shrimp tacos there are to die for...

Shrimp tacos & local beer

Meet the Menu & the Drinks at Condessa DF Hotel

Getting around DF was surprisingly easy. The metro system is simple and super cheap which was just as well as the metro turned out to be indispensible in this huge city. Although the Chilangos (local DF dweller) really need to get with the times and implement oyster cards or at least a one day travel card like in London. I had to buy tickets for each trip I wanted to do. However, one thing the DF metro system has that Londons doesn't are female and children only carriages. Apparently these came about due to a few too many roaming hands from men! Enough said. 

This is ACTUALLY a mural in one of the DF Metro stations! Uncanny

To fully appreciate the vastness of the city I went up the Trans Latin American tower, which when it was built in the 1950s, was the highest in all of Latin America. The outside and inside of it reminded me of the Empire State building a little. I also ascended the Monument to the Revolution and the Cathedral which is in Zocolo square. All gave outstanding views of the city and enabled me to get my bearings as its easy to get lost with alot of the streets looking very similar. 

Empire State Building lookalike - Trans Latin American Tower

View of the Museum of Fine Arts & some of the city - its just too big to fit into one pic!

Cathedral in the Zocolo

Chilango lighting a candle

View of the Zocolo from the Cathedral - I think its the biggest square in the World!

Monument to the Revolution

Staircase inside...slight case of vertigo!

View from the Monument to the Revolution

Museum wise I only visited two, The Museum of Anthropology and The Frida Kahlo Museum. Both are definitly worth going to. The Museum of Anthropology is situated in the Chapultepec Park of DF and has the largest and most amazing collection of pre-Columbian art in the World. All very inspiring. Especially the collection of Skull artwork. I have a little obsession with anything Skull related and Mexico shares this. Fridas museum is a bit of a ride away on the metro and certainly isnt cheap to get in but its good to look around the house where she grew up, lived and then died. 

This is all made from pottery - amazing

The Museum building is a 1970s classic

Heads, shoulders, knees and toes...

Before Damian Hirst got his hands on it...

Museum of Frida Kahlo

Young Frida

One of the bedrooms

The kitchen. Loving the names on the wall...

Cacti in the garden

Upon arriving in DF I cant say I was that overly awed by what I saw, DF certainly has some nice buildings but as far as aesthetics go it certainly isn't any oil painting. However having left and then revisited my photos it is starting to grow on me. I think its just one of those places you have to spend a long time in to fully appreciate what it has to offer. Ill most certainly be going back. Although maybe next time Ill treat myself and stay in one of the many boutique hotels that seem to have made their way over to Mexico : D