Abstract
According to the authors of the 1954 travel guide, Mexico and Cuba on Your Own, tourists in Mexico City could visit pyramids during the day, drink martinis at night, and “embark on a whirl of nightclub fun and dancing which only the most modern metropolis could offer.”1 Still today, the sale of a holiday in Mexico’s capital city relies on its embodiment of both modernity and antiquity. This combination has proved to be one of the most successful selling points for the nation’s tourist industry. Only recently, the Ministry of Tourism (SECTUR) advertised to tourists their nation’s “many moods”: its ancient (pyramids and colonial treasures) and cultured (ballet, opera, museums, and nightlife) sides.2 Current travel essays featuring Mexico City continue to package it as a “land of contrasts,” where tourists find “centuries of history plus cell phones.” Finally, contemporary travel writers still compare Mexico City to the world’s most sophisticated cities like Paris, New York, and London, but argue for its uniqueness found in nearby pre-Columbian ruins.3
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