I’ve never been totally comfortable with Rome. To be honest, I’ve always had problems with authority and authority figures, and there’s no city more populated with both than the old Roman capital. And that’s not even saying anything about the Vatican. I can be relatively sure that my ancestors paid a price to the Romans, and it makes the hair on the back of my neck stand on end when I walk down the present-day beautiful and elegantly-appointed streets and see the wealth and power that’s the product of that price.
On the other hand, the world has moved on, and I have too. I’ve always been attracted to temperate zone cultures, and Italy is no exception. But all my previous experiences were in the northern tier of the country, especially in the Veneto (Padua, Vicenza, Venice).
So Rome was a new experience for me. I’ve posted a ⊕portfolio of photographs of the city. The old part of Rome is really set up to be a tourist magnet. As such, it certainly doesn’t let one down. There is a casual, un-curated feeling that makes being there a pleasure. Overlaying the old is the modern jumble of chaos that passes for Italy, complete with savory and unsavory overtones. I am always trying to scratch under the surface and see what I find, and I found a lot. I have no blood history with Italy but it’s easy to see the racism, the governmental chaos, and excesses along with the society’s appreciation for living life and the long and real investments in art and culture. In short, it’s a fun place to be as a person and a photographer who doesn’t have to live there, and has the privilege of being able to dip in and out.
Theoretically, renting a bike in Mexico City as a tourist should be easy. In practice, it’s a bit of a pain (but follow me out). Mexicans with national cards can buy a year pass to ecobici for 400 pesos/21.26USD. As a tourist the rate is 300 pesos/15.95USD per week. In addition the weekly pass needs to get renewed every seven days (surprise!), and that means a trip to the ecobici office and, sometimes, a wait. Of course have an ID (you only need a driver’s license). As tourist it’s still a good deal – see the chart below for comparisons to other cities – but no where as sweet as the year pass. In addition, count on your credit card getting docked for 1500 pesos/79.77 USD for each week. I guess they are protecting themselves in case you turn out to be a criminal with a passport and a desire for the heavy bikes. The deposit is refunded after the rental period is over; our deposits have been returned promptly.
Pedestrians in the bike path One of the first things to practice is using the bell on the handlebars. I put this photo in for Blork, since I know how much he adores pedestrians in bike paths!
You get the treat of lining up with everyone else to get your pass. Unlike polite Canadians your line-companions will be openly annoyed by the long waits, but along with them you too are required to take a written test to prove your extensive knowledge of the traffic laws in the DF. If you’re there when everyone isn’t arguing with each other, you might get some help (and a pass) from the generally friendly staff. Recently they have allowed for an English version of the test, which certainly makes things easier. If you are a normal rider most of the answers are common sense.
ecobici office There are several forms (besides the biking test) that need to be completed and signed; it takes about 15 minutes per person at the counter.
I’m perverse enough that I enjoyed going to the office, at least the first couple of times. After that it gets a little old, and you wish they might at least consider a two week or month pass, so you don’t have to go back repeatedly.
What you can’t complain about, though, is the cost. It’s less than of the cost of other systems, which follows in the pricing in general for public transport: subsidized and affordable from a tourist point of view.
The ecobici bike rental system in Mexico City has stands throughout the core of the city. It’s not everywhere, though, by any means. It is popular and after sounding whiny I have to say that I enjoy using it, and appreciate the bike lanes that are often spacious and well segregated from both pedestrian and car traffic (the photo above with pedestrians wandering around is on a Saturday afternoon across from the Alamada – a worst case scenario!). Even where there aren’t bike lanes, in my experience if you stick to the interior streets (and not the high speed avenues) riding is not too intimidating if you are attentive and experienced. There’s room and when there isn’t it’s because traffic is stopped, and you can do quite a bit better than everyone else! Don’t even consider going on the high speed streets and avenues.
Bike path on Reforma This is a best-case scenario, but in general the streets are wide enough that ample sized bike paths can co-exist with traffic. This lane isn’t even the main avenue, it’s a service road that runs double-parallel to the main avenue of Reform. It’s a variation on the six-lane highway but with a more workable pedestrian and bike scale to it.
Unlike the Bixi system in Montreal and bike rental systems in many other cities, in the DF there is no way around having the plastic card, so it’s not as friendly to the visitor. But if you are curious about the city and its people, you’ll learn a lot …
How bike rental systems stack up
Mexico City
Montreal
New York
Year started
2010
2008
2013
One year subscription
400 pesos/21.26 USD (2015)
87.00 CAD/62.52USD (2015)
149.00 USD (2015)
One week subscription
300 pesos/15.95 USD (2015)
Not available, 72 hrs for 14.00 CAD/10.06USD (2015)
25.00 USD (2015)
Number of rides
~9.5 million (2015)
3.5 million (2015)
~12 million (2014)
Number of subscribers
~1 million (2015)
38,000 (2015)
97,864 (2015)
Number of stations
444 (2015)
460 (2015)
332 (2015)
Number of bikes
6,500 (2015)
5,200 (2015)
6,000 (2015)
Free ride period
45 min
30 min (1 or 3 day pass)
45 min (other passes)
45 min with annual pass
30 min with others
Additional cost for 2 hour ride
45 pesos/2.39USD (2015)
12.25 CAD/8.04USD (2015)
20.50 USD annual pass (2015)
25.00 USD other passes
Table notes: Cost and usage figures are taken (February 2016) from the following sources: Mexico City/ecobici, Montreal/Bixi, stations and bikes from Wikipedia and news reports. Price differences are amplified by the weakness of the peso and the Canadian dollar currently against the USD (Feb 2016). Currently 1USD=18.5 pesos=1.40CAD
As the Aeromexico flight we’re on crosses the US-Mexican border I can feel a tangible change. Up until this invisible line there has been no deviation from a flight path: an arc out of Montreal and then a diagonal line towards Houston. As we cross the border flight attendants wheel a cart down the aisle full of free tequila and fruit juices and in the cockpit the captain curves the plane to the west just south of Matamoros and sets a long, straight bead on the Mexico City airport. It’s a busy airport but we’re not waiting for anyone. He barrels in straight, slapping down at a lot faster than usual and then coming up short after a strong brake. You get a definite impression that he feels this is his place, and so too do our two-hundred or so co-passengers. A few whitish faces to be seen, but most people are coming home, in one sense or another.
Crossing mountains north of Mexico City It’s hard to believe that there could be a village or agricultural land in such a landscape, but you can see both in the river bed near the bend.
I have a friend who lives in Europe who wrote a few days ago to confess embarrassment. She is helping out with the refugee situation in her country and had inadvertently revealed surprise (to a Beiruti) that Lebanon could possibly have a functioning postal system (it does). I feel a little of the same about myself in Mexico City. I’m embarrassed to look around and see how different the daily life is from the image that forms in my mind reading the press – and I should know better. But I’m going to relax about things pretty quickly. It’s just starting spring here and people are still bundled up – even though as I write it’s 23C. I’m wandering around in a summer-weight clothing and looking, well, a bit dazed.
In Montreal there hasn’t been a ripe plum tomato sighted since late October so suddenly having fresh, ripe fruit and vegetables of every variety is a bit of a shock. These vendors travel up and down the streets calling with speakers.
It’s no wonder I’m in shock. There’s the social shock, being thrown suddenly into a Latin culture. There’s the visual shock, suddenly being surrounded by color and texture. And then there’s just plain pleasure, still shocking, of escaping winter. In Montreal we had been up just after 4am to get to the airport. We drove through the monochrome early morning light to Dorval airport, and were surprised to find we had been beaten to the line-up at the ticket counter by several other early-morning folk. Passing through security we found our plane already at the gate so our worries about inevitable delays subsided …
Getting ready to leave early morning, Dorval airport in Montreal. No snow but cold.
After landing we walked around in the evening light looking for changes in the neighbourhood where we have now stayed four times. Next morning (today) we headed on foot to the office of ecobici. I’ll write more about biking in a later post. After getting our ecobici cards we went to a restaurant nearby that was packed with families and friends. Happily fed we swiped our new bike cards and headed north towards Reforma to poke around and do some errands.
Proof that we really are good citizens In Mexico City you have to pass a bike exam to get a pass to the rental system. Last year it was in Spanish, this year it’s in English. We both got an A, marked and circled at the top! More about renting bikes in a future post.
Spring really is just starting. The riotous happiness of all the flowers in bloom that’s usually going on in March is only just being hinted at now. I can see, perhaps, how this might be considered “winter” but it’s still warm, there’s lots of light and color, and even a few Jacaranda trees bravely breaking out their blue-magenta blooms.
Please come along! Visit this vibrant city over the next couple of weeks on this blog, including photos I’ll be taking of Pope Francis’s visit to the city. With millions of people participating, it will be quite an event. Have you been there yourself? Welcome to share your own experiences or comments.Sunday afternoon public salsa dancing in the park near the city library.
Mexico City fills to overflowing a huge valley that even just a century ago was mostly a lake. Humans pulled the plug on the water and filled in the lake, spawning a huge city that combines new land butting up to old shoreline and islands. Like Damascus – the city my family came from – it’s an ancient metropolis where you can dig down and find thousands of years of human history. Unlike Damascus, it’s a city I can still go to. I’m attracted to its latin spirit, its vendor calls, colors, food and much more. It’s a place where modernity has asserted itself, but where tradition and history are still the connective tissue.
As a young student in the United States I don’t remember learning more than a paragraph or two about Mexico. The basic lesson was about a bloody Aztec culture the Spanish subdued and then how Americans would be forced to invade and sort things out for the Mexicans, who certainly weren’t capable of doing that on their own. Not much has changed really – the same stereotypes are today propagated by popular media and political discussion. Coming up short is any kind of appreciation for the lives and traditions of the 120 million people who live in Mexico, much less the 21 million who live in the Mexico City (Distrito Federal/DF).
Over the next couple of weeks I’m going to be posting photographs and writing as a repeat visitor who in some ways feels at home in the DF, and in many ways never will be. I don’t intend to gloss things over – I know it’s a tough city, and in many ways a difficult country to live in. But Mexico gets plenty written about its rough and unpleasant sides. These posts are for the people who ask why I would ever want to go to the DF. They may not be the reasons you would choose the DF for a travel destination, but they are the reasons that I do.
Mexico City trolley line and traffic on Lázaro Cárdenas
Mexico City always gets a bad rap – crowded, worn, dangerous, polluted – take your choice. The stereotyping gets a little tiring. Yes, Mexico has its problems, but so too does Montreal, or New York, or for that matter any other city in the world. On a recent trip to Chicago, for example, the daughter of a friend who picked me up at the airport couldn’t help but tell me how many recent killings there had been block by block as we approached her parent’s home. Thanks but no thanks.
One of the things I like about travel is comparing the places I go to the place I live. I’m especially attuned to public transport and traffic; one I like and the other I don’t. My best traffic avoidance technique is a bike. In Montreal we have an extensive and expanding bike path system, but also serious problems with bike-truck accidents and figuring out how to balance the shared use of roadways and sidewalks. So when I got to Mexico City I had my antennas out.
Traffic looking down on Juaréz from the Tower Latinoamericana
We travelled by taxi from the airport and the right away the experience seemed like an invitation to take public transit. In Montreal we talk about using different forms of transport but in Mexico City it’s being done. Their systems handle a lot of people, often with creative solutions to difficult problems. An example would be extending the popular Metrobús system through the narrow streets of the Centro Histórico.
Narrow lane Metrobús line through Centro Histórico – notice bikes using other lane
Mexico City is the third largest city in the world – and the metro system carries 4.4 million people a day (2012), versus the Montreal metro system’s .975 million (2013) people per day – that’s roughly four and a half times more volume per day, ranking it eighth in the world.
Main artery traffic: The only time this street quiets is on holidays or late at night
The main avenues are rivers of traffic. They start flowing as soon as the light turns green and run fast until the next red. On the main arteries merges are not anything that can be called polite. The protocol is to barge in and whoever is chicken ends up last.
Not for the weak: Locked personally owned bikes near Tacubaya turnstiles
It’s that same vehicular aggressiveness that makes it hard to believe that biking in the city would have a happy ending. To be honest, my first reaction was that biking was out in Mexico City. That was my first impression. But I always watch people on bikes trying to gauge what it would be like to be one myself. I saw hopeful signs. Some riders had their own bikes but a lot of people were using bikes from the ecobici rental system. After exploring around on foot I found easy (and used) ways through neighborhoods that avoided the main arteries. I also found well constructed bike paths.
