ATTRACTIVE CITY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 23, 28 January 1939, Page 17

ATTRACTIVE CITY.

PARKS AND GAY BUILDINGS. VIEW FROM MEXICO'S CAPITAL. MEXICO CITY. There is no question that when it comes to attractions to offer visitors Mexico City must be placed with the best of them. The city of 1,500,000 population is located in a basin 300 miles south-east of the centre of Mexico, half-way between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean. The floor of the basin is perfectly flat, with the exception of one peak in the centre, and has fertile farming land.

The basin is circular in shape with a 40-mile diameter and i& 7500 ft above sea-level. The basin floor is surrounded by mountains ranging from 10,000 ft to 19,000 ft in height.

Mexico City is located in the centre of this valley and has the lone peak rising 1000 ft in its centre. On the pinnacle of the cone is the palace of Presidents, although the present one, M. Lazaro Cardenas, does not live there.

Inside, the palace is ornately and gorgeously decorated with everything from French furniture inlaid with bronze to pure Chinese pieces. The MexicanChinese colony donated the furniture for one bedroom.

The panorama from the castle balcony is similar to that from the Acropolia in Athens or from Buda in Budapest and unquestionably is one of the world's most beautiful views. Covering the surrounding slopes is dense green foliage and small trees interspersed with many beautiful flowers, including a large amount of bougainvillas and mats of morning glories.

At the_ base of the palace hill is another circle, about half a mile across, formed by Chapultepec Park with its artificial lakes artistically laid out and its dense growth of big Ahuehuette trees, the largest being 46 feet around. Incidentally, Chapultepec means grasshopper. Beyond the park the city stretches in a three-quarter circle two miles across. Various coloured farm crops lie between the city and the snow-capped purple mountains in the distance.

The Mexicans' flair for colour in the roofs of buildings makes the city blend beautifully with the dark green park belt on one side and the farm colour on the other.

Many years ago Mexico City and the basin also suffered greatly from high water during rainy seasons and because it is completely surrounded by the mountains.

Ingenuity came to the front. Drainage canal» were constructed connecting with a -tunnel cut through the mountains and the floods have disappeared. Leaving the hilltop and coming down to look over the city proper, one is immediately impressed with an atmosphere of prosperity. Streets are crowded with new cars of all makes, mostly American. Two large American companies have Assembling plants here. The people are well dressed. Hotels are good, as well as being crowded. Bars and restaurants do a good business. Shop windows are gay with the latest faahions m everything from a Paris evening dress to a Mexican stock saddle.

Streets are a mixture. Some are so narrow that it is difficult to pass, others are 200 ft wide. The beat hotel in town would be a credit to Chicago or New York. The climate is practically perfect the year round. Yes, Mexico City deflnjtly has something to offer its guests.