Inside Mexico City’s Arena Mexico, everything was noise and mayhem. The crashing sound of bodies hitting the floor. The loud crack when one wrestler’s ankle impacted another wrestler’s neck. Ear-piercing, guttural shouts from spectators around the room. Bikini girls dancing. The announcer booming. Vendors chanting. Lights flashing. Music blaring.

During the Lucha Libre, there was so much to see and yet nowhere to look because everything demanded my attention at once. Everything was mayhem.

Attending my first Mexican wrestling match, I fought to stay focused on the wrestlers and understand the game, but my eyes darted around the room, distracted by people jumping up from their chairs to shout and vendors coaxing me to buy cotton candy.

My friend Daniel sat next to me, fixated on the ring.

Between matches, he broke focus to explain that he and his brother had been wearing Speedos to bed since they were children because they idolized Mexico’s infamous wrestling scene so much, as many children in Mexico do. I asked him whether or not he still sleeps in Speedos; there was a long pause before he shook his head and looked away with a coy smile. Daniel is over 30 years old and a pretty bad liar.

As he spoke, I looked around the arena and spotted fathers with their mask-and-cape wearing children hoisted up on their shoulders. The children also waved miniature Lucha Libre dolls in the air and cheered as loudly as anyone else in the stands, if not louder. It’s pretty surprising when you hear a three year-old scream, “kill him!” Not in this realm, though.

To those foreign to the game, the rules and antics of Lucha Libre make very little sense if you don’t at least know the basics before you attend.

As I watched, one wrestler sprinted at full-speed across the ring then dove into the ropes, rebounded, tucked and rolled, rebounded again off the ropes on the other side of the ring, front flipped, then from the air managed to lock his ankles around another wrestler’s neck who then spun him around in a circle before throwing him to the floor. At another moment, someone climbed up on the ropes in the corner of the ring, back flipped off the edge of the platform, and landed on the shoulder of another wrestler below. This is why my friend told me as a spectator not to sit in the first couple of rows: bodies sometimes come flying over the rails, smacking audience members in the face, or worse.

In the midst of all the tumbling, a duo of costumed midgets entered the ring, one of them dressed as a white toga-wearing fuzzy blue monkey and the other as an eagle. Suddenly, when a wrestler fell off the side of the ring, the blue ape midget did a flying squirrel off the edge to belly flop on top of him. The crowd went insane. Then, the midget climbed back into the ring, ran up to the other midget, and pushed him down. When he turned around to cheer with his hands raised in the air, the other midget got up and kicked him full-force in the back, sending him flying across the ring where he landed face down at the feet of a wrestler who body slammed on top of him.

Reminder: none of the midget tomfoolery has anything to do with anyone winning the match, which is exactly why I felt lost.

I turned to Lucha Libre commentator Julio Rivera to try to understand the game.

Basically, he explained, there are two teams: the good guys versus the bad guys. Los técnicos are the good guys and they play according to the rules versus los rudos are the bad guys and they play dirty. People cheer equally for both sides.

Typically, the match is comprised of around six fighters (three from each team), but that’s where things get confusing. Unlike American wrestling, a fighter doesn’t have to tag their partner into the ring to fight one at a time, instead they just come and go as they please. So, there might be multiple people fighting each other at the same time inside and outside of the ring.

“This is a cathartic performance,” Rivera explained. “It’s more than just fandom. When someone sees Caristico [one of the most famous Lucha Libre wrestlers] attack an evildoer, you feel as if you were attacking your boss, or a friend that’s been bothering you.”

Just like wrestling in the United States, a match is won by pinning someone down for a count of three. In Lucha Libre, though, there are also a number of automatic disqualifications that can end the game, like ripping someone’s mask off.

It’s so important for a luchador to keep his identity disguised, there are rumors that some famous wrestlers even wear their masks in public during casual jaunts to the movies or to the grocery store.

“People often say they like a certain wrestler because they are cool or because they like their mask, but I believe that it’s more than that,” Rivera said. “When ‘your wrestler’ appears, there’s something about them that represents something you’d like to be. When they are in the streets, they are just any other person, but when they are in the ring with their masks on they become something more.”

Let’s be honest: when you’re there for catharsis and are yelling for both teams, who wins doesn’t matter so much, especially since sometimes it’s hard to tell who wins and why at all.

At the very end of my match, all of the wrestlers were in the ring throwing each other around when suddenly I heard the referee call it. Just like that, the match ended, a team got booed off stage, and everyone inside the stadium started to quickly file out of their seats at the same time.

“Wait, what happened? Who won?” I asked Daniel.

“Oh, someone ripped another person’s mask off, which disqualified them. So the match is over,” he said.

“Oh,” I shrugged. It was a very anticlimactic ending to it all.

So I joined the line of masked revelers from the audience filing out the door, looked around at all the people still cheering, and felt very happy to be leaving in one piece because I did not sit in the front row.

Want to master a couple self-defense moves from some of Mexico’s city most famous Lucha Libre fighters? Watch this video of writer Megan Snedden hopping into the ring with Luchadores Místico and Caristico.

[Lucha Libre by antifluor/Flickr; Lucha Libre 2 by Megan Snedden]

By Megan Snedden /

Travel writer and photographer Megan Snedden once wore a mask through a Taco Bell drive-thru, which fueled her cultural fascination with costumed performers. Follow her on Instagram at @MeganSnedden, or read her stories at MeganSnedden.com.

The post An Afternoon At One Of Mexico’s Crazy Wrestling Matches appeared first on The Expeditioner Travel Site.

1) Shoreditch in London, U.K.

This East London neighborhood is by far the most painfully hip in all of Londontown (painful because of the high prices and really, really tight jeans). The bulk of the action can be found around Old Street and Brick Lane, where lanky girls and boys alternate chain smoking with pouting.

The area is peppered with intricate graffiti (or “street art” if we’re going to be pretentious), which makes it perfect for a daytime walk. But even in the daytime, make sure you don’t risk being caught without your Ray-Bans and attitude. Like any decent hotspot, the real fun happens at night at the slew of random bars, themed speakeasies and warehouse parties. The latest development in the area is Boxpark: a temporary (at least for the next five years) pop-up mall made out of shipping containers, featuring a mix of international and independent fashion designers as well as galleries and cafés.

2) Amsterdam-Noord in Amsterdam, Netherlands

With the amount of bikes in Amsterdam, it’s no surprise that this city is hipster friendly, but the crux of action is in the north. “I feel like I’ve been exiled to hipster island,” said the indelible Anthony Bourdain upon visiting the industrial, but oh-so-cool neighborhood of Amsterdam-Noord. The area is peppered with former warehouses and shipyards that are now outfitted as tricked-out offices, art studios and even a skate park. Even Red Bull and MTV got in on the action and moved there.

3) Shimokitazawa in Tokyo, Japan

In western Tokyo you’ll find a hub of cool indie and antique shops, galleries, resto-bars and live music venues. Shimokitazawa (pronounced SHEE-mo-kee-tah-zah-wah) is actually pretty tame compared to the neon glare of the rest of Tokyo, but it’s still a nucleus for young Toykoite culture vultures. Most streets are pedestrian-only; the small storefronts, which are mainly converted residences, lend to lazy exploring and browsing in the wealth of chill record shops and second-hand clothing stores.

4) La Roma in Mexico City, Mexico

A local described La Roma (also called Colonia Roma) and neighboring La Condesa as the East Village and West Village of Mexico City, respectively. Along Alvaro Obregon, vendors assemble to sell books, antiques and collectibles, while Calle Orizaba and Calle Colima is know as an art Mecca full of galleries (such as Galería OMR). Like the other hipster locales, La Roma mixes grungy roots with a fresh high-end influx. La Roma isn’t without a grime factor. The area — though upscale— has problems with prostitutes and squatters, but hipsters don’t scare easy.

5) Kreuzberg in Berlin, Germany

First off, it almost goes without saying that Berlin is a modern-day hodgepodge of hipster culture. In fact, it may be the hipster-est city in all of Europe. Hipsters of every sub-genre congregate at Görlitzer Park for impromptu jam sessions, DJ sets and brews (though they don’t have PBR) at the park bar, Das Edelweiss. Other activities are centered upon Oranien Strasse and Skalitzer Strasse where the nightlife magic happens.

6) Fitzroy in Melbourne, Australia

Fitzroy’s main drag is Brunswick Street, full of cheap, vegan eats and funky, retro pubs. The area is packed with the usual mix of the beautiful and the damned: broke students, fashionistas, boho artists and of course 20-something hipsters. The neighborhood is bursting with creativity as depicted by the slew of always-curious street art and graffiti, which can even be observed via an official tour. Take it all in and enjoy. If you’re not feeling Zooey Deschanel enough, the neighborhood is also home to Rose Street Artists Market hawking handmade goodies like clothes, jewelry and homewares.

By Nicole Trilivas

[Al Volo by Chris JL/Flickr; Netherlands by zemistor/Flickr;  Shimokitazawa by Michael Vito/Flickr; ; La Botica Mezcalería by Alejandro De La Cruz/Flickr;  Cafe V, Vegetarian Cafe by hack man/Flickr; Untitled by Louisa Billeter/Flickr]

About the Author

Nicole Trilivas is the author of the novel, Pretty Girls Make Graves: A pretty girl’s ugly story told in borrowed voices. She is currently scheming away on her next novel, and being terribly bohemian by living off of canned soup and indulging in delusions of grandeur. Snoop around NicoleTrilivas.com for more glittery gems of information.

The post Top 6 Hipster Neighborhoods Around The World appeared first on The Expeditioner Travel Site.

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.

By Brit Weaver

About the Author

Toronto born and based, Brit is an avid leisure cyclist, coffee drinker and under-a-tree park-ist. She often finds herself meandering foreign cities looking for street eats to nibble, trees to climb, a patch of grass to sit on, or a small bookstore to sift through. You can find her musing life on her personal blog, TheBubblesAreDead.wordpress.com.

The post Come On Everybody And Drop Your Diets, We’re Heading To Mexico City For The Weekend appeared first on The Expeditioner Travel Site.

So Mexico hasn’t really been getting a lot of love lately, what with the the whole swine flu and drug war thing going on, but that means that deals abound and there are far fewer tourists to deal with (plus you can get to Mexico with JetBlue’s all-you-can-jet $599 pass).

But what to do when you’re there? Take a cue from an insider over at the Telegraph and grab dinner at Plaza de la Constitución that overlooks Zócalo Square, the world’s third-largest square, and head 45 minutes out of town to Teotihuacán for a glimpse of what was once one of the world’s biggest cities (fitting since Mexico City’s the world’s current second-largest city in the world).

The post Let’s Show Mexico Some Love appeared first on The Expeditioner Travel Site.