I thought that I knew Mexico City pretty well, but only realized the other day that the Flintstones had moved here.
Mickey Rourke, move over
On July 1, Alberto and Alejandro Jiménez, better known as "La Parkita" and "Espectro Junior," their monikers as professional wrestlers, were found murdered in room 52 of the Hotel Moderno, around the corner from the Arena Coliseo, where they had each fought countless times. They had rented the room, accompanied by two prostitutes, who left later that day without the Jiménez boys. Hotel management was suspicious, knocked on the door several times, and as there was no answer, went inside and found the cadavers.
Unfinished alcoholic drinks were found in the room, and police sources suspect that the girls put eye drops in the Jiménez boys' cocktails. This would have been with the intention of knocking them out to rob them, but eye drops can be deadly. In 2007 a band of women known as Las Goteras -- the Droplets -- was arrested for the murder of various men with this modus operandi.
Here is a link to the coverage of the Jiménez murders in Ovaciones, Mexico's premier sports newspaper. For those who cannot read Spanish, here is a version from that most esteemed of British tabloids, The Sun.
The wrestlers were twin brothers. They also happened to be midgets.
Cristina cooks
For some readers, Cristina Potter will need no introduction. She writes a blog that is faithfully scrutinized by hundreds of thousands of readers, and was voted the world's best food blog by the London Times. Called Mexico Cooks, she writes about the wonders of this country, principally culinary (but also artistic, floral, musical, etc.). Here she is, slaving over a hot stove, on a recent afternoon in San Miguel de Allende. I had the pleasure of attending a feast prepared by her and several friends of the hotelier Diane Kushner. Cristina's mole is unbeatable.
Don't forget not to vote
On July 5, Mexicans vote in local elections. Here in Mexico City, the pickings are rather slim.
Some candidates, like Ana Guevara, the retired track-and-field champion, are used to running, although not for office. The worst you can say about Mexican politicians is that the best thing you can say about Ana Guevara is that she is not a politician.
Some dinosaurs of the PRI, which ran Mexico for over 70 years, are trying to convince the voters to return to the fold.
Even Guadalupe Loaeza, a columnist who made her fame writing gossipy articles about well-to-do women with nothing to do in Polanco, is getting into the act.
Perhaps the saddest aspect of this year's election is that the story with the most traction is a movement that is trying to convince Mexicans that, as a protest, they shouldn't bother to vote.
Dowager down at the heels
About eight or nine years ago, I spent one of the happiest weeks of my life in the Hotel Bamer on Avenida Juárez. I was in a suite on the 13th story, with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Alameda Park. This was the most well-appointed hotel of the city when it was built, sometime in the 1950s.
By the time I got there, however, the Bamer was a dowager down at her heels. The elevator only worked intermittently, the furniture was in sore need of reupholstery, and when I pulled the cord to open the curtains, they fell to the floor. The view was spectacular, though.
At the time, much of the area was in a shambles, never repaired after the 1985 earthquake. But in the intervening years, Carlos Slim, the wealthiest man in Mexico (and one of the two or three richest in the world), bought much of the surrounding property, took away the rubble and rebuilt, bringing it into the 21st century. (The modern building to the left of the hotel in the photo, part office and part residential, belongs to Slim.)
I imagine that the owners of the Bamer are hanging tough and waiting for someone to buy their now presumably much more valuable property. It is a shame that it is dormant, but would be a worse shame if it weren't remodeled and put to use again as a hotel. The rooms are huge, and those views of the Alameda are unbeatable.