If you are bored and don’t know what to do this weekend, go to Mexico City. I know it sounds crazy. Most of my friends cocked their heads to one side with eyebrows raised when I told them I had done just that one weekend, but it’s worth it. The food is delicious, the flight is relatively short (depending on your departure city) and it’s easy on the wallet.

The NYT explored some ideas on what you could do on a 36-hour excursion to Latin America’s largest city. And, according to them, if you want to see the capital, now is the time to do it. With violence and swine flu on the rise (as portrayed by Western media), prices are slashed on hotels and flights in order to attract more tourists. Perhaps haute tourism is a good thing.

Nevertheless, the 36-hour itinerary spares no expense. It takes you all around the different neighbourhoods in order to highlight the few things you should experience. From French-Mexican fusion food to art at the Kurimanzutto Gallery to salsa dancing at a Drag Cabaret show, Mexico City has it all.

I would like to add a few things to the list if I may. Ahem. Street food in the Distrito Federal is better than most fine-dining, gastronomic delicacies you can find in other cities. Tacos de canastas, tacos from a canister, are amazing and affordable. You can find a vendor just outside of the Zocalo but you have to get there quick because the vendors only bring a few canisters per day. Other delectable delights are elotes, which are white, big-kerneled corn coated in mayo, rolled in cheese and chillies, and finally squirted with lime. You can find elote-vendors on pretty much every corner.

As for party barrios, I was too stuffed from all the food and too exhausted from the altitude. Perhaps another weekend in Mexico City is in order? Maybe get a chance to see the Aztec’s “floating gardens” or the Museo Frida Khalo? Claro.

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