The high & mighty

On our last day in Mexico City, we were free to choose what else to see, so we took our own little “lifestyles of the rich and famous” tour.

First stop was a little place known as Los Pinos, or the Pines. From 1934 until, oh, last month, Los Pinos was the home and office of the Presidente of Mexico. On December 1st, newly inaugurated Presidente Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced he was not moving in, and instead Los Pinos would become a museum. AMLO had hinted he was going to do this, but when he finally did it, it changed everything all at once. Imagine if President Trump had tweeted, “The White House is a dump!!! I’m working out of Trump Tower. They can sell it to Disney!!!”

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So now anyone can wander around the complex for free, and all the military personnel that used to guard it are all-of-a-sudden tour guides. We got there shortly after it opened, and the crowds were already building.

To put Los Pinos in perspective, imagine the White House set in a much larger park, let’s say Arlington National Cemetery (without the graves, of course). The complex originated under Presidente Lázaro Cárdenas, who thought the existing offices in Chapultepec castle were too grandiose (sound familiar?) and decided to build a small working house/office lower down in Chapultepec park. As other Presidents came and went, some built new houses, so now there are at least three (which we could visit).

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We did notice that large meeting rooms in each house had been updated with modern communications gear, indicating that in the Mexican government, as in the American one, you never have enough conference rooms.

The families we saw seemed to be enjoying the chance to see the compound, and the military and others working there looked uncomfortable, but were very friendly when we engaged them.

After Los Pinos, we went to the Soumaya, a non-profit museum holding an eclectic collection of art belonging to Carlos Slim, a Mexican businessman who is perennially one of the richest people in the world. The museum is named for his wife, who died in 1999. The collection is fantastic, and even the architecture of the structure itself is memorable. Inside, a winding marble stairway takes you around the outside of the central displays, leading up to a massive sculpture display area at the top.

Among the highlights, a huge number of pieces by Rodin, including:

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Why not a Faberge Egg?

Where should I put those spare Van Gogh?

Too many Renoir to count!

If you visit Mexico City, and you should, Los Pinos and the Soumaya are not to be missed!