MEXICO CITY PHOTOS . . . Last week, as reported, I was in Mexico City with my 18-year-old daughter Lydia. I'm planning to post some photos here this week for anyone who might be interested in getting a sense as to what Mexico City is like and whether the stereotypes are true. If you want the short answer, the answer is no, they're not.

Here's the Zocalo or main square from the roof-top restaurant of a hotel (the location in the past few weeks of a Spencer Tunick nude photo shoot and a free Shakira concert which drew 210,000 people)--

We stayed at the Hotel Camino Real at the edge of Chapultepec Park. We were able to pack a lot of activities into our short stay, including these--

• We walked Paseo de la Reforma from Chapultepec Park to the Historic Center and drove it several times in taxis and buses;
• We went to Mexico City's famous anthropology museum;
• We saw the Templo Mayor, the ruins of the Aztec temple near Mexico City's main square;
• We saw the Diego Rivera murals in the National Palace;
• We walked through the neighborhood of Condesa and toured some other neighborhoods in a bus;
• We saw most of Spider Man 3 at a movie theater in Polanco (in English with Spanish subtitles);
• We ate at various diverse restaurants;
• We toured Chapultepec Castle and the national history museum;
• We shopped in various open-air markets; and,
• We walked through the Mexico City zoo and saw the pandas.

Additional photos can be found in these later posts--

1. "Mexico City #2"

2. "Mexico City #3"

3. "Mexico City #4"

4. "Mexico City #5"