Recently in Mexico City Category

If you're in Mexico City and feel like you need some good luck, make your way over to the Mercado de Sonora. This quirky market is filled with vendors selling various amulets, charms, and potions designed to protect those who possess them, or bestow upon them health, wealth, and new love. Whatever you need, basically. Herbalists sell a wide range of curative herbs (pictured) along with special "witchcraft" herbs -- and the spells used to activate them. It's a little eerie if you think about it, but I'm sure it's the happy kind of witchcraft. Right? We can't vouch for the efficacy of these ancient talismans, but the market provides a vivid window into the belief system of a population whose underlying indigenous traditions often overshadow the western beliefs brought by the Spanish colonists. The Mercado de Sonora is a short taxi ride from the W Mexico City.

[image via worldisround]

The Xochimilco Floating Gardens are one of Mexico City's loveliest and most unusual attractions, drawing curious visitors to a festive yet tranquil oasis of shimmering waters and beautiful flowers. Considered the Venice of Mexico, visitors ply a maze of verdant canals in colorful boats known as trajineras (pictured), enjoying food and drink procured from floating vendors while mariachi bands play traditional music and some of the most beautiful plants, trees, and flowers in Mexico float by on all sides. The area of Xochimilco was the breadbasket for the early city of Tenochtitlán, the capital of the Aztec empire. In the 15th and early 16th centuries, the Aztecs performed great feats of engineering and labor to create more than 80 miles of canals designed to move people and goods around the city and across Lake Texcoco. While much of the Aztec kingdom was destroyed during the Spanish conquest of 1521, the canals are a living reminder of the achievements of this ancient civilization. Xochimilco is located 28 kilometers south of central Mexico City, and is a perfect day trip for guests at the Sheraton Maria Isabel Hotel & Towers or any of Starwood's Mexico City properties.

The Mayor of Mexico City is on a mission to make the capital a little more fun for everyone. Last summer he had sandy beaches built at public swimming pools. This winter he created an enormous ice rink which he says is the largest in the world.

Funded by some of Mexico City's biggest businesses, the $1.5 million project is free for everyone. Dressed in tank tops and jeans, thousands of skaters take to the ice daily. Adventurous locals glide around on the slippery surface, many for the first time ever, among recently trained staff members who help the clumsy, and newly bruised stand up. Travelers go to see what its like to skate in seventy degree weather, on ice kept frozen by giant chilling machines, where Aztec ceremonies once took place. Twice the size of Olympic skating rinks, and nearly five times larger than the one at New York's Rockefeller Center, the 34,000 square foot rink is enormous. There's actually space to stretch your legs without kicking the blade of the skater in front of you, and the more intermediate among us, could safely try out a little spin or two. Located on the Zocalo, the world's third largest city square after those in Moscow and Beijing, the rink is a straight shot down Avenida Juarez from the Sheraton Centro Historico Hotel & Convention Center, Mexico City, where after you've done a few laps around the rink, you can take it to the pool.

Sadly, the life of the traveler is often a lonely one. Fear not, however, for Gridskipper has put together a list of Mexico City bars to drink alone in. Their "100 Beers of Solitude" list (inspired by the 40th anniversary Gabriel Garcia Marquez classic One Hundred Years of Solitude naturally) could prove quite useful on an upcoming business trip. For music aficionados on their own at the Sheraton Maria Isabel, the upstairs lounge at El Colmillo, not far from the hotel in the Zona Rosa, is a
sweet spot to settle in for some live music. Its martini list is highly
praised, which should help take the edge off another night away from home.