Xochimilco

Erin & Rosalio, her Mexican Dad.

Somewhere, sometime I can remember seeing a movie (black & white, so it must have been made in the 30s or 40s) about an American in Mexico City and a lot of the action takes place in Xochimilco…there's a lake or at least a big canal, lots of flowers and musicians floating by singing traditional Mexican folk songs.

Well, the Xochimilco of today is not quite like that, but close enough for these tourists.  It is a UNESCO World Heritage site—there seem to be a lot of those, but we are really glad that this designation exists because there are some truly wonderful places in the world that need to be saved and protected. In Mexico, we have visited several including San Miguel and Guanajuato, and this past Sunday, Erin rounded up several of her friends and we all set off for Xochimilco.

 A suburb of Mexico City, perhaps an hour south of center city, Xochimilco is a place where many in Mexico City go on a Sunday to enjoy nature and family.  When the Spanish arrived more than 500 years ago, much of the valley now occupied by the city must have looked something like Xochimilco—a shallow lake, interconnected by canals.

The locals call it “the Venice of Mexico.” Don’t think that it is quiet or “romantic.” Seemingly thousands of people descend on the area each weekend, usually in large groups—laughing, eating, drinking in hundreds of flat bottomed boats, each poled by a Mexican “gondolier.”

Our Mexican Gondolier, Antonio, was a great guide & sport

When you arrive, each woman in the group is presented with a rose corsage—reminiscent of the time when the roofs of the boats plying the waters of Xochimilco were laden with flowers—much of the area we are told was one great floating garden.  There are still many garden centers and nurseries along the banks of the canals—and your boat captain has his favorite that he pulls up to so you can stop and tour and select plants to take back home with you, which several in our group did.

There's always one clown in the group.

 The boats are somewhat reminiscent of Venetian gondolas—although they are much longer, usually with a long picnic table lined with chairs along each side—the typical boat can hold perhaps 20 or more.  We were only seven, and it felt comfortable and commodious, but we saw many filled with whole families, and, in fact, at times we saw several boats lashed together with fifty or more people in their party.

Most people bring a picnic lunch—as we did, but you can buy just about anything that you want to eat or drink from floating vendors who pull up beside you to offer grilled corn, tortillas, roast chicken, beer, sweets, etc.   Boats filled with musicians and singers will serenade you along the way—for a fee, 100 pesos ($7.50) a song.  We resisted several groups, auditioning them as they passed entertaining others.  We finally settled on a mariachi group, including eight musicians and singers.  They were willing to play any song that we requested—and we did have several requests, including El Viajero (The Traveler) and Cielito Lindo (Pretty Little Star.)  They however came alive when we told them to play any song of their choice and when one of Erin’s friends remembered a Mexican folk song he had learned in childhood and asked them to play it—one man even danced during the refrain. 

Three hours flew by.  We ate, drank, sang, partied, and had a really wonderful time.  The weather was ideal and the company was so much fun.  We would love to be able to do it again, but it may be a once in a lifetime experience, and we were glad to have had it.