Mexico City: An Opinionated Guide for the Curious Traveler (Paperback)

by Jim Johnston (Author)
Key Phrases: tiempo libre, taxi sitio, Mexico City, Colonia Roma, Palacio de Bellas Artes (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"Best of the lot. Evoke(s) the colors, sounds and smells (of the) world's second-largest metropolitan area." -- San Francisco Chronicle

Product Description
As the largest metropolis on the planet, Mexico City is surely a place where one appreciates a guiding hand. Written by a resident who knows the city inside and out, it offers detailed walking tours of the most interesting areas and recommendations of where to stay, what to do and where to eat, from authentic market food to sophisticated Mexican cuisine.

“This is the guidebook I want…Wonderfully written, airtight information, organized in the smartest possible way…I can’t imagine a better Mexico City guide for these times.”

—Tony Cohan, author of Mexican Days and On Mexican Time.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 136 pages
• Publisher: iUniverse, Inc. (November 22, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595418414
• ISBN-13: 978-0595418411
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #498,393 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely essential book, November 4, 2007

By	Easy Does It - See all my reviews

My wife and I just returned from a five night stay in Mexico City.

Along with An Opinionated Guide, we used Fodors.

For me, the great value of An Opinionated Guide was the walks it lead me and my wife on. These walks were through both the historical center and some of the wealthy and artistic neighborhoods.

I feel that the walks gave me as good a sense of Mexico City as a non-Spanish speaking tourist is likely to get in a few days.

I agree with another reviewer that sometimes it was helpful to carry along a thicker guidebook which gives longer descriptions of specific sites.

One way in which this criticism does not seem fair, however, is that many of the sites that the walks cover are not so much historically or culturally important (a famous painting or a building by an important architect)as they are important in showing an aspect of Mexican life: transvestite hair dressers in a flower market and how this reveals the tolerance of Mexican society or a uniform shop where the mannequins are posed like famous sculptures such as the Pieta and how this shows the presence of a folk art tradition.

I think this is an essential book for anyone traveling for pleasure to Mexico City.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent guide, February 23, 2007

By	C. Schimming (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

My wife and I just returned from Mexico City and found this guide to be invaluable. If you're an independent traveler, with a particular interest in architecture, this is the book for you. We loved the walking tour suggestions (particularly the one in Coyocan), as well as "Top 10" lists (taquerias etc.). This is really the only guide a first-time visitor to D.F. needs!

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good prep reading for a trip to Mexico City, but not a stand-alone, January 12, 2007

By	Julie V. Daves "Daughter-Making-Diva" (Apex, NC United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Why won't someone write a new, good, comprehensive book about Mexico City? Well, probably because it's the biggest city in the world and no one has time. Look, when an American goes to Mexico City, you are probably going there for business or some specific reason. And you are probably wondering what it's gonna be like after hearing, "Don't drink the water" a million times.

This book is a good crash course on Mexico City from a guy with a nice writing style. But, the book dances between being a "tell it like it is" reality check (which I really enjoyed) to a random laundry list of stuff to see. Plus it's really thin. Not a lot there.

I think the best use of this book is a primer for mentally preparing yourself to go. Read it in bed a few nights before you pack, especially the first chapter. It'll hit the high points and give you a "Cliffs Notes" version of the city.

When you get there, in the insanity, best bet is to hire a trustworthy local to give you the tour. This is not a city for novices to try to navigate, although I wish you many moments of beauty, like dilapidated houses with beautiful pink flowers in the window, and kids with holes in their shoes looking at you with big beautiful brown soulful eyes and chasing pigeons around the park, happier than I've been in years. Good luck!