EDGE on the Net

You know those vacation spots where everything beckons: places to go, people to meet, things to keep you busy morning, noon and night? Yeah, I hate those places.

Big and gritty and complex and glamorous, Mexico City defies categorization. El Distrito Federal or DF, as the city is commonly called, is far more nuanced than many of the country’s famous resort towns, where the tourism bubble stays easily intact.

In spite of all the warnings from friends and family, I went anyway - to Mexico. And I’m glad that I did, learning a few valuable travel (and life) lessons along the way.

With its sandy beaches, quaint white washed buildings and bustling nightlife, Puerto Vallarta certainly lives up to its reputation as one of the world’s friendliest cities. And the locals strive to keep it that way!

A loophole in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo’s Civil Code allows same-sex couples to legalize their unions. Activist Patricia Novelo expects several U.S. couples to tie the knot starting in January.

Casa de Sierra Nevada, in picturesque San Miguel de Allende, is setting the standard for luxury and service in Mexico. Conde Nast Traveler named it as one of the ten best hotels in all of Mexico and Central America.

Mexico City has marked its 1,000th same-sex marriage since lawmakers in the capital approved such unions in March 2010.

"Narco Polo" is the new fashion trend sweeping lower-class neighborhoods in Mexico, inspired by seven high-ranking drug traffickers who were arrested wearing open-neck, short-sleeved jerseys with the familiar horseman-with-a-stick emblem.

As the glass doors of Hard Candy Fitness, Madonna’s first gym, slide open in Mexico City on Monday, a mural of white, black and violet Warhol-esque images of the Queen of Pop greets each client.

Not only has Mexico City extended marriage equality to the city’s gay and lesbian families, but now the metropolis seeks to become a honeymoon destination for same-sex couples married in other counties.