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Mexico City: An Opinionated Guide for the Curious Traveler | 
 enlarge | Author: Jim Johnston
Publisher: iUniverse, Inc.
Category: Book
List Price: $13.95
Buy New: $12.55
You Save: $1.40 (10%)
New (15) Used (7) from $8.68
Rating:  34 reviews
Sales Rank: 201315
Media: Paperback
Edition: 0
Pages: 136
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.3 x 0.5
ISBN: 0595418414
Dewey Decimal Number: 917
EAN: 9780595418411
ASIN: 0595418414
Publication Date: November 22, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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Product Description
As the largest metropolis on the planet, Mexico City is surely a place where one appreciates a guiding hand. Written by a resident who knows the city inside and out, it offers detailed walking tours of the most interesting areas and recommendations of where to stay, what to do and where to eat, from authentic market food to sophisticated Mexican cuisine. This is the guidebook I want Wonderfully written, airtight information, organized in the smartest possible way I can t imagine a better Mexico City guide for these times. Tony Cohan, author of Mexican Days and On Mexican Time.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 29 more reviews...
 Good prep reading for a trip to Mexico City, but not a stand-alone January 13, 2007
Julie V. Daves (Apex, NC United States)
14 out of 16 found this review helpful
Why won't someone write a new, good, comprehensive book about Mexico City? Well, probably because it's the biggest city in the world and no one has time. Look, when an American goes to Mexico City, you are probably going there for business or some specific reason. And you are probably wondering what it's gonna be like after hearing, "Don't drink the water" a million times.
This book is a good crash course on Mexico City from a guy with a nice writing style. But, the book dances between being a "tell it like it is" reality check (which I really enjoyed) to a random laundry list of stuff to see. Plus it's really thin. Not a lot there.
I think the best use of this book is a primer for mentally preparing yourself to go. Read it in bed a few nights before you pack, especially the first chapter. It'll hit the high points and give you a "Cliffs Notes" version of the city.
When you get there, in the insanity, best bet is to hire a trustworthy local to give you the tour. This is not a city for novices to try to navigate, although I wish you many moments of beauty, like dilapidated houses with beautiful pink flowers in the window, and kids with holes in their shoes looking at you with big beautiful brown soulful eyes and chasing pigeons around the park, happier than I've been in years. Good luck!
Absolutely essential book November 5, 2007
Easy Does It
13 out of 13 found this review helpful
My wife and I just returned from a five night stay in Mexico City.
Along with An Opinionated Guide, we used Fodors.
For me, the great value of An Opinionated Guide was the walks it lead me and my wife on. These walks were through both the historical center and some of the wealthy and artistic neighborhoods.
I feel that the walks gave me as good a sense of Mexico City as a non-Spanish speaking tourist is likely to get in a few days.
I agree with another reviewer that sometimes it was helpful to carry along a thicker guidebook which gives longer descriptions of specific sites.
One way in which this criticism does not seem fair, however, is that many of the sites that the walks cover are not so much historically or culturally important (a famous painting or a building by an important architect)as they are important in showing an aspect of Mexican life: transvestite hair dressers in a flower market and how this reveals the tolerance of Mexican society or a uniform shop where the mannequins are posed like famous sculptures such as the Pieta and how this shows the presence of a folk art tradition.
I think this is an essential book for anyone traveling for pleasure to Mexico City.
Excellent guide February 23, 2007
C. Schimming (New York, NY United States)
11 out of 12 found this review helpful
My wife and I just returned from Mexico City and found this guide to be invaluable. If you're an independent traveler, with a particular interest in architecture, this is the book for you. We loved the walking tour suggestions (particularly the one in Coyocan), as well as "Top 10" lists (taquerias etc.). This is really the only guide a first-time visitor to D.F. needs!
Mexico City - Accessible and Unique January 26, 2007
Ann Pezaro (San Francisco, CA USA)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
What a delightful book about one of my favorite cities and cultures! Instead of flipping to the glossary to find say, "museums" or "restaurants" and then reading a brief note of the address followed by a short description, I found that once I had begun reading the Introduction I simply couldn't put it down and just read it straight through until the end. It is so gracefully written and full of interesting insights, places and anecdotes that I can't wait to see them for myself. The numerous carefully scripted walks are described with such pleasure and respect for the people and daily life. The visitor is placed right in the midst of the action, tastes, colors and smells. No looking through the window of a tour bus here. It is a vast city and the various districts are quite distinct from one another and the public transportation to get to each is clearly described. The famous sites are all here for you, but this little volume also has unique places that I don't think you'll find in any other book.
Mexico City can be overwhelming..... December 10, 2006
Caren D. Cross (San Miguel de Allende, Mexico)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I've been to Mexico City many times, but the last time was with this new guide in hand. It is fabulous! I saw things I had never seen before. With other guide books (and I have them all!) I always felt like a tourist. With this new guide, I felt more like a local. And, I love the restaurant recommendations...not to be found in your typical guidebook.
Caren Cross, San Miguel de Allende,MX
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