Mexico City’s Venice: The Floating Gardens of Xochimilco

(Photo by Bob Walsh)

With the in-laws in town, we couldn’t pass up the excuse to visit the extremely photogenic area of Xochimilco. A tiny bit of history: All of Mexico City used to be located on a lake, and the Aztecs built elaborate canals to transport stuff. They conquered the nearby Xochimilcas, a group of people who were renowned for their unique way of growing stuff — on chinampas, or raised lake beds. To this day, flowers are grown in Xochimilco, and it’s become a great place to spend a day on a colorful boat, too. Or as the government of Mexico City puts it, it’s a living history of colors, aromas and sounds.

Joy enjoys the mariachis (photo by Brendan):

Stacked chairs on an unused boat (photo by Bob Walsh):

Our boat, the Elizabeth. Brendan’s on the right. Our friend and tour guide, Jesica, is sitting on the left, and Martie, Brendan’s mom, is in the back. I’m in the nursery, buying flowers. (Photo by Bob Walsh):

You can ask your boat driver — la trajinera — to stop at one of the many nurseries to buy cheap flowers (Photo by me):

There are many vendors on the canals, selling everything from jewelry to cobs of corn (Photo by me):

And, of course, the urge to take pictures of everything and anything is quite overwhelming (Photo by me):

At times, when you turn a certain corner, one of the nearby volcanoes comes into full view, too. Somehow, we didn’t get a photo of that!

(Coming tomorrow: Photos of the impromptu Carnaval parade in downtown Xochimilco.)