The policemen are polite and helpful. On a busy street corner I get a tap on the shoulder by a gun-wielding cop. Further west about a kilometer is the central park of the Alameda. This old part of the city along Cinco de Mayo and Madero has a fascinating range of shops and restaurants housed in 16 th to 17 th century buildings. At Donceles 80 is a bevy of second-hand book shops.
Shops selling silverware and wedding paraphernalia seem predominant.
There is a host of museums and galleries to visit. The modern buildings, including museums, bus and metro stations and skyscrapers, are magnificently designed, impressive for size and practicality, yet they do not seem intrusive amongst the colonial treasures. The main boulevard of Mexico City is the Paseo de Reforma which runs SW from the Alameda park down to Chapultepec Park . The glass skyscraper housing the Stock Exchange impresses. The major banks and top hotels are found here in the Zona Rosa, located about 2 km from the Alameda, in the few blocks south of the Reforma at the point of El Angel, the gilded angel Statue of Liberty.