It was not so thick you could cut it with a knife during my late January visit, although maybe you could scoop it with a spoon. It reminded me of any big city on a hazy summer day. Almost every time I looked up, I saw blue sky. Air quality has been improved significantly in recent years, according to tourism officials. In January, Luft said Mexico City had not experienced a day when air pollution levels became dangerously high in more than a year.
Most volcanic mountains surrounding the city are extinct.
I got one good look at it on my last morning, on the road to Teotihuacan. What looked like white clouds clinging to the side of the mountain was steam, according to Perez. Later, while we walked around Teotihuacan, a tremendous white mushroom cloud rose high above the volcano. Unlike U.S. cities, which have peak morning and afternoon rush hours, Mexico City's weekday traffic is extremely heavy all day and long into the night. At many intersections, stopped cars are approached by vendors selling cigarettes, candy, flowers, lottery tickets and more.