Discovering Mexico City

I have to be honest, I did travel to Mexico with many preconceptions on what I would find there, views that were mainly formed by what I have read in the UK media and advice from the Foreign Office. However I was pleased to discover that many of these preconceptions were unfounded thanks to the fact that we were given a tour of real Mexico by friends through Fujifilm. The people of Mexico were welcoming and proud of their country and their culture.

On the first day in Mexico City Jaime Pastelin, who runs the FujiX meXico Facebook group, invited myself and fellow X Photographer John Rourke to join him and some fellow group members on a photo walk of the historic part of Mexico City and also out to the suburb of Coroycan.

Now with any city around the world parts can be dangerous if you don't take care. Try not to look like a tourist, don't have cameras and expensive watches on show and try to blend in. Also find out where the no go areas are and don't go alone. This advice applies equally to London, Paris or Rome as it does to Mexico City, Sao Paolo or Shanghai.

One thing that always sticks me when I visit any large city, whether it is in Mexico, China, South Africa, Europe or the USA, is that the similarities outweigh the differences.

People are usually doing the same things as at home. In the park people were sitting chatting, listening to music on iPhones or just lying down enjoying each others company or reading a book. I have taken similar images in every city I have visited. People the world over are doing the same things, have the same ambitions and goals and want to live their lives in peace.

Another thing we discovered is Mexican food is so much more than Chilli Con Carne and I have come back to Europe with a new respect for real Mexican food, it is wonderful!!

Being with locals also helps as we got to see things that we wouldn't have had we been traveling around Mexico City with a paid guide or alone. Jaime and the others really made our first visit to Mexico City a fantastic experience. We can't thank them enough for the introduction to Mexico and we look forward to returning very soon.