Lydia Carey

Tamales Doña Emi, a tamal mecca in Colonia Roma, was our first foodie obsession in Mexico City. But really, we were just the most recent converts in a long line of devotees.
For the unaccustomed palate, a tamal – steamed corn dough wrapped in a corn husk or banana leaf, with some type of filling at its center – may not sound like much. But anyone who has found that tamal, the one they can’t live without, knows that it is no mundane snack. Doña Emi’s was our game-changer.

Often overlooked in favour of colonial towns and baroque churches, Mexico’s big cities are the epicentre of today’s culture and cuisine. The vibrant city life here embraces both the past and present, and the traditional and avant-garde, all the while delighting visitors with unceasing Mexican hospitality. Here is a 12-day whirlwind tour that will have you falling for Mexico’s urban splendor.

Mexico City is a remarkably diverse destination full of culture and intrigue. Mike’s Road Trip contributor, Lydia Carey, is an American who has been living in Mexico City for many years, so she has some valuable insight on the top things to do when visiting this vibrant place. Here are her 10 remarkable Mexico City experiences that you won’t want to miss.

I have a fear of small towns. It is an anxiety born of growing up in one. Their sleepy plazas, the stray dogs snoozing in the shadows of buildings, it sets my internal panic button to wailing and I immediately get the urge to bolt. So the whitewashed streets of tiny Comala had the usual effect on me driving in. I immediately started to squirm in my seat.

Mexico's religious traditions showcase the country's incredible cultural blending, as well as its dark Colonial past.

One of Mexico’s most prestigious environmental awards was presented this week to a researcher who has spent 35 years cleaning up the country’s soil and water.
The 2018 Ecological Merit Award was presented by the federal Environment Secretariat to Refugio Rodríguez Vázquez in recognition of her scientific work, for which her most recent laboratory has been the watery labyrinth of the Xochimilco canals.
The brightly colored boats and floating marimba bands of Xochimilco are one of Mexico City’s...

A writer's journey into a family's and a country's past in the mill towns of North Carolina.

You have 24 hours to spend in Latin America's biggest Spanish-speaking capital. What do you do?

The second Judas in the Son of God's entourage has his own devoted following among the downtrodden, especially on his dedicated celebration day in Mexico City.

Each year Mexican Independence Day begins at midnight on September 15th with fireworks, the famous “grito” or shout of the revolution, and then a day that follows of family and food. In kitchens and restaurants across Mexico pozole is served, a hearty soup made from hominy and pork, dressed up with chiles, salsas, sliced radishes and lime. The dish has long been part of Mexico's cultural heritage and has as many regional peculiarities as Mexican society itself. Where did it come from? Let's take a look back.

Mexico City was built atop a series of lakes and canals and the waterways that are left may be the key to its survival in the future—and a key source of quality food.

A short drive from Guadalajara, the town of Tequila pulses with the dry heat of the Central Mexican desert and is hemmed in by vast fields of blue agave cactus. Their pointy arms stretch skyward in worship of Mayahuel – the Maya goddess of the maguey cactus, and coincidentally, of drunkenness.

It’s mid-morning in Monterrey, Mexico, when Humberto Villareal—“Beto”—picks me up, but it’s already blazing hot. The air-conditioning running, his car is laced with the smell of cigarettes, and his gravelly northern accent takes me a minute to get accustomed to. Beto is a friend of a friend and a local chef in Monterrey. Today, in the early spring heat, he’s going to teach me how to make cabrito, Monterrey’s most iconic dish.

While many associate Northeastern Mexico (and Southern Texas) with barbecues and charro beans, this region of Mexico actually has a much more ancient and ample food culture stemming from the mix of its earliest European transplants and native flora and fauna.