MEXICO CITY — Most Americans explore Mexico from the coast inward.
They start in the resort towns — Cancun, Acapulco, Los Cabos or Puerto Vallarta.
But for those who would understand Mexico's roots, its history, culture and people, Mexico City would be a better place to begin.
The City of Palaces, as it is sometimes called, indeed is home to grand architecture but also hovels without indoor plumbing. Fantastic cathedrals, but broken sidewalks — watch your step every minute.
There are majestic mountains surrounding the city — though they usually aren't visible through the smog, which sometimes burns the eyes and is tough on asthmatics.
Most of the people work hard, ask for and give respect to visitors and find ways to exist in this, the largest and one of the poorest cities in the world.
But the occasional maverick cabdriver kidnaps unwary tourists and holds them for ransom — or just robs them and leaves them.
As a study in contrasts, Mexico City is superlative.
For the first-time visitor, it's also overwhelming.
Indulge in the rich cultural treasures and savor the singular cuisine. Shop the colorful markets and carry a good guidebook. Not to mention a phrasebook, because unlike most of the beach resorts, there are many people here who speak little or no English. Communication can be achieved with just a few words of Spanish and some charadeslike hand gestures and often results in both parties laughing. And if you don't know the difference between hombres and mujeres, you could end up in a very embarrassing restroom situation.
It's also imperative to know at least a smattering of Spanish to enjoy the city's many fine museums, because most of them don't have signs, or brochures, in English.
The alternative is to take guided tours, which may be the best bet because they include drivers — and no one in their right mind would drive in this city if they didn't know exactly where they were going and have the reflexes of a jaguar.
Your first clue that this is no ordinary city comes when you approach by air. Below the plane lies a carpet of city, stretching for miles, houses crammed wall to wall, often with no trees to break the adobe landscape. Then, every so often, there appears to be a downtown. Then another. And then the cathedrals and palaces of the old city break the pattern.
Covering 572 square miles, with 24 million residents (and seemingly that many cars — about half of them Volkswagen Beetles), its size and traffic can overwhelm tourists.
The most central location for first-time visitors is in the old city, along the Paseo de Reforma, near the Zona Rosa shopping district.
Here, tourists (sans fancy jewelry and cameras, please) can wander a bit, their safety pretty much assured by heavily armed security police (some with dogs).
In the Zona Rosa, both decrepit and beautifully restored old buildings, many dating to the late 1800s, serve as shops, discos, hotels and restaurants that draw tourists and business travelers alike. Here, you can pick up bottled water (a good idea) and stuffed animals and fresh flowers.
A few beggars are scattered along the sidewalks, nodding gratefully for any donation. Vendors, too, cheerfully accept a "No, gracias" if you're not interested in their wares.
On the edge of the Zona Rosa, skyscrapers emerge. Public art is rampant (much of it unidentified) and trees are bountiful, offering welcome shade on a hot, hazy afternoon. The Paseo de Reforma, a humming central avenue of downtown, was built to replicate the Champs Elysses in Paris, so ordered by Emperor Maximilian in the 1860s, says Bestours guide Juan Carlos Mejia.
There are, quite literally, so many layers of history in MexicoCity that some of its fantastic buildings are built on top of others.
Of course, part of this is because the city, built on a shallow lake bed, is sinking. And because about 300 minuscule earthquakes occur every day (watch a glass of water carefully for the slight trembles), things just keep settling. Some buildings, such as the Convento de San Francisco, have settled so much there is a flight of steps down to the entrance.
Plan to spend a few hours, at least, in the Historic Center of Mexico City.
In the 1970s, when excavation began near the Metropolitan Cathedral, where a new mayor's residence was planned, ancient ruins were uncovered. Exploration of these ruins yielded a wealth of artifacts dating to the Aztecs (starting about 1200 A.D.). Eventually, up to seven layers of temples were discovered here.
Materials discovered in the site, called Templo Mayor or Plaza Mayor, include everything from bold stone figures to fragile dried flowers and paper costumes worn by priests. Most of these items date from about 1482.
Much of the site was destroyed or covered by the Spaniards, who invaded in the early 1500s.
Flanking the excavation is the National Palace, where visitors can view enormous and intricate murals by Diego Rivera — probably Mexico's most revered artist — and explore the rich tapestry of meanings behind the painter's work.
One of the murals shows the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan, precursor to modern Mexico City, as it looked when it was still built on islands in a lake. This city is at least 675 years old, one of the oldest existing urban centers in the Americas.
Rivera's murals also show Mexico City as Hernan Cortes found it — with temples, streets, shops and homes built on islands in a shallow lake.
Here, he found new things, he says such as chocolate, red tomatoes, turkey, vanilla, chewing gum, poinsettias and Chihuahuas.
Figuring heavily in all art work — from pre-Aztec to modern day — is quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent, part of Mexico's colorful mythology.
Near the palace is the Metropolitan Cathedral, which boasts 17 altars, all backed by walls covered with gold. It took more than 200 years to build (1573-1788).
Both the palace and cathedral face the 10-acre zocalo (officially, Constitution Square), the third-largest public square in the world.
Restoration attempts are evident everywhere, including the nearby Convento de San Francisco, where attempts are being made to restore not only the church, but the former plaza.
Chapultepec Park, south on the Plaza de Reforma, ranks as one of the world's largest city parks, its 551 acres encompassing a zoo, an amusement park, a castle and some of the city's best museums, as well as a market.
Admission to the park is free, and there are plenty of ways to while away a day. On Sundays, admission to the stunning Chapultepec Castle also is free. On that day, locals and tourists alike flock to see its lavish rooms and ornate courtyard, and overlook the city from its balustraded balconies.
This hilltop site has been occupied since the Aztecs built a fortress here, but the palace as it is seen today was constructed in the 1780s. During the French occupation of the 1860s, Emperor Maximilian and his wife, Carlota, lived here. Exterior rooms open onto the broad balconies. Interior rooms open into a lavish courtyard.
Several Mexican presidents lived here until 1939. Now it is a historic museum, and some of its furnishings date back to the 1500s and include the elaborate European furniture Maximilian brought to Mexico.
Also in the park is the Museo Nacional de Antropologia, or National Anthropology Museum. Plan to spend several hours at this shrine to Mexico's history. Some areas of the 44,000-square-foot museum are under renovation, but it includes rooms dedicated to each era of Mexico's history — and prehistory.
Discover how much the Aztecs knew about astronomy, even to predicting celestial events. Marvel at their powerful, stylized art, often carved from substances as hard as stone and obsidian.