Mexico City and Oaxaca

Gather this evening with fellow travelers for a welcome dinner in our hotel.

Examine Mexico City’s foundations and colonial past during a walking tour this morning. See Templo Mayor, one of the main temples of Tenochtitlan and the former capital of the Aztec empire, and the Metropolitan Cathedral, the first and largest cathedral in the Americas. We also visit the Palace of Fine Arts with its immense murals by world-famous artists, including Rufino Tamayo and Diego Rivera. Lastly, visit the Diego Rivera Mural Museum, home to one of his most famous works, Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in the Alameda Central. After lunch, drive to Teotihuacán, a large and majestic archaeological site just outside the city. Marvel at beautiful murals and carvings and wander among the large pyramids dedicated to the sun and the moon. Tonight, dine in the restaurant of acclaimed chef Ricardo Muñoz Zurita.

Begin our day with a panel discussion on Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) moderated by Liliana Frankel, an American Mexico City–based reporter and translator. We then visit the National Museum of Anthropology with its massive Mesoamerican artifact collection. After lunch, meet with staff at the Miguel Agustin Pro Juarez Centre for Human Rights (Centro Prodh), a non-profit civil association working to promote structural changes to achieve human rights in Mexico. En route back to the hotel stop at the Ciudadela Market where hundreds of stands offer Mexican handcrafts and folk art.

This morning, meet with Lynda Martinez del Campo, a cultural historian, writer, and university professor for a talk on Mexican Muralism. Continue to the Museum of Folk Art for a curator-led tour. After lunch, we take a walking tour with Street Art Chilango, a group dedicated to documenting the urban art, graffiti, and murals in Mexico City.

Spend the morning at the Museo Jumex, which houses one of Latin America's largest private contemporary art collections including works by Andy Warhol, Martin Kippenberger, Cy Twombly, and Damien Hirst. Enjoy lunch overlooking bustling Coyoacán Plaza, then visit the final residence of Frida Kahlo, now known as the Museo Casa Azul. Continue to Casa Pedregal, one of the greatest Modernist masterpieces of Mexico, designed by Luis Barragán. The rest of the afternoon and evening are at leisure for independent exploration.

We catch an early morning flight to Oaxaca and spend the remainder of the day exploring the city’s folk art. Begin with a drive to San Bartolo Coyotepec, a Zapotec town famous for producing barro negro, a polished black pottery. Visit the home of famed ceramic artist Carlomagno Pedro Martinez and the State Museum of Popular Art of Oaxaca (MEAPO). After lunch, continue to a workshop in San Martín Tilcajete to see the creation of alebrijes, the fancifully painted wooden animals that represent spirits in Zapotec culture. Return to Oaxaca, stopping at the Convento de Cuilapam, where revolutionary Mexican independence leader General Vincente Guerrero was killed by firing squad in 1831. Back in Oaxaca, meet with Oliver Frohling, co-founder and director of SURCO, a center for autonomous education and local activism.

After breakfast, depart on foot for the church of Santo Domingo and on to the San Pablo Center, housed in a 16th-century Dominican monastery, stopping along the way to try tejate, a ceremonial drink of cacao, corn, cinnamon, and mamey fruit. For lunch, drive to Itanoní Antojeria y Tortilleria, a favorite of Alice Waters, where heirloom corn varieties are used to make extraordinary versions of antojitos, the corn tortilla-based small dishes that are the heart of the Mexican menu. Continue to the Vida Nueva Women’s Weaving Cooperative to meet with its founders, see how natural dyes are made, and watch a weaving demonstration. Stop at a mezcal distillery before returning to Oaxaca.

Today, venture to Monte Albán to tour this ancient Zapotec metropolis that was founded in the 6th century BCE. Explore the terraces, pyramids, and canals that extend over some four miles. Return to Oaxaca for an afternoon at leisure before gathering to toast our journey at a farewell dinner.

Depart for the airport to catch homeward bound flights.