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The Plaza of the Three Cultures is so named because it is here that one can see the fusion of pre-Hispanic and Spanish roots into the Mexican identity. It displays the Aztec pyramids of Tlatelco, the 17th century Spanish Templo de Santiago and the former Foreign Relations Secretariat building on the plaza’s south side.

One of the best ways to experience a new culture is to walk through their markets. We walked through Mercado de Sonora and de La Merced. At both markets we saw more types of peppers than we could ever imagine, different types of mole, live birds and even voodoo trinkets. Mercado de La Merced occupies four blocks and has a host of products necessary for daily needs. Mercado de Sonora has a part of its market dedicated to everything you’ll need to place a curse on someone! Aisles are crammed with amulets, voodoo dolls, portions and even sex toys!

This unique restaurant is owned by luchador (wrestler) Super Astro. It features a wall of wrestler masks, many donated by his pals. Lucha Libre (Mexican Wrestling) is a huge sport in Mexico and you will see the masks sold widely throughout the country. At this restaurant, you will get huge portions which is to be expected given the audience it likely caters to! Note that if you can eat the 1.3kg “Torta Gladiator” in under 15 minutes you get it free!

Xochimilco is one of the sixteen delegaciones within Mexican Federal District and is located south from Mexico City. It is known for its extended series of canals — all that remains of the ancient Lake Xochimilco. All inhabitants travel in colorful trajineras (Xochimilco boats) between chinampas covered with flowers.  Its a decent experience — much like a Mexican Venice!

Isla de las Munecas (or Island of the Dolls) is a truly unique experience.  We took a boat from a port in Xochimilco (southern part of Mexico City) to the island.  This installation was created by recently deceased island resident don Julian who fished the dolls from the canals to appease the spirit of a girl who had drowned nearby.  As you walk through the area, you will notice many decapitated dolls and I guarantee you will feel a strange tingle down your spine.  Truly a great experience - particularly for a Chucky doll fan!

In December 1531, Juan Diego stood on Cerro del Tepeyac, site of an old Aztec shrine, and beheld a beautiful lady dressed in a blue mantle trimmed with gold. She sent him to tell the bishop, Juan de Zumarraga, that he had seen the Virgin Mary, and that she wanted a shrine built in her honor. Returning to the hill, Juan Diego had the vision several more times. After her fourth appearance, the lady’s image was miraculously emblazoned on his cloak causing the church to finally accept his story and a cult developed around the site. Today she is one of the most revered patrons of Latin America and her image can be seen throughout Mexico.

By the 1970s, the old yellow domed basilica, built around the 1700, was swamped by worshippers and was sinking slowly into the soft subsoil. So the new Basilica de Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe was built next door. The image of the Virgin hangs above and behind the main altar, with moving walkways to bring visitors as close as possible. If you look closely, you can see the image of Jesus in the eye of the Virgin.

In less than a decade after William Spratling arrived in Taxco, he had transformed it into a flourishing silver center, the likes of which had not been seen since colonial times. In 1929 the writer-architect from New Orleans settled in the then sleepy, dusty village because it was inexpensive and close to the pre-Hispanic Mexcala culture that he was studying in Guerrero Valley.

For hundreds of years Taxco’s silver was made into bars and exported overseas. No one even considered developing a local jewelry industry. Journeying to a nearby town, Spratling hired a couple of goldsmiths and commissioned them to create jewelry, flatware, trays, and goblets from his own designs. Ever the artist with a keen mind for drawing, design, and aesthetics, Spratling decided to experiment with silver using his designs. Shortly afterward, he set up his own workshop and began producing highly innovative pieces. By the 1940s Spratling’s designs were gracing the necks of celebrities and being sold in high-end stores abroad.

Spratling also started a program to train local silversmiths; they were soon joined by foreigners interested in learning the craft. It wasn’t long before there were thousands of silversmiths in the town, and Spratling was its wealthiest resident. He moved freely in Mexico’s lively art scene, befriending muralists Diego Rivera (Rivera’s wife, Frida Kahlo, wore Spratling necklaces) and David Alfaro Siqueiros as well as architect Miguel Covarrubios. The U.S. ambassador to Mexico, Dwight Morrow, father of Anne Morrow who married Charles Lindbergh, hired Spratling to help with the architectural details of his house in Cuernavaca. American movie stars were frequent guests at Spratling’s home; once, he even designed furniture for Marilyn Monroe.

When his business failed in 1946, relief came in the form of an offer from the United States Department of the Interior: Spratling was asked to create a program of native crafts for Alaska. This work influenced his later designs. Although he never regained the wealth he once had, he operated the workshop at his ranch and trained apprentices until he died in a car accident in 1969. A friend, Italian engineer Alberto Ulrich, took over the business and replicated Spratling’s designs using his original molds. Ulrich died in 2002, and his children now operate the business.

Spratling bequeathed his huge collection of pre-Hispanic art and artifacts to the people of Taxco, and they’re now displayed in a museum carrying his name. The grateful citizens also named a street after their much-beloved benefactor and put a bust of him in a small plaza off the main square.

Canopy Walkway

Canopy Walkway Until the 1970s, biologists working in the rainforest made their observations and collected specimens from the forest floor. Unfortunately, they weren’t aware that most of the action was occurring not at ground but above. When they ventured into the treetops, they discovered so many new species that the canopy became known as a new frontier in topical biology. Now tourists can visit the canopy through a series of intertwined walkways. The walkway stretches over 500 meters through the rain forest canopy.