I find that as much as I love this city, its noise and chaos can get overwhelming. While working
on my upcoming guide to the Roma I have stumbled across some incredibly quiet places, tucked down passageways and off side streets, where it’s easy to work, get your bearings or simply sit in silence for awhile … a rare opportunity in this 28 million + city. Here are my top choices for peace and quiet.
Casa Del Poeta, Álvaro Obregón 73 , Tues to Fri 10 to 6pm
On the top floor of the Casa del Poeta, the former home of Poet Ramón López 
Velarde, between the Salvador Novo and Efraín Huerta libraries is a sunny workspace with long wooden tables and chairs. It’s quiet and almost always empty (unless there is a school group visiting the museum). It’s a great place to get some work done undisturbed or meander through the literary collections of these three great Mexican poets.
Parroquia de la Sagrada Familia, Puebla 144
This church has long been important to the neighborhood, as its 
first Catholic house of worship, the church home of counter-revolutionary Padre Pro, and an example of the eclectic architectural style popular around the beginning of the twentieth century. Inside are some stunning Art Nouveau stain-glassed windows as well as Gonzalo Carrasco’s paintings of the Sacred Family. The doors are always open for a quick breather and moment of meditation, whomever you believe in.
Parque Lopez Velarde, Corners of Cuauhtemoc avenue and Huatabampo street
Sure sometimes there are groups of scouts running rampant through the park, but generally I find that this big green space (the neighborhood’s biggest) is large enough that you can get deep into it and forget for awhile about the traffic and the hustle. I love to see the couples making out on benches and people walking their dogs.
Goethe Institut, Tonalá 43, Everyday, 8 to 8pm, Library – Tues to Fri 9 to 11am, 4 to 7pm, Sat 10:30 to 2pm, Sun 12 to 2pm
If the city’s chaos (and disorder) gets you down, there is nothing like some German organization to pick you back up again. Besides the tidy peace of the German-language library and small indoor/outdoor cafe, you can also take a German class, see a documentary film or enjoy a concert by Berlin’s philharmonic orchestra.
The original plaza of the tiny island town that existed way back before the Spanish showed up and started hassling everyone, the Plaza La Romita has what some consider the oldest Catholic church in the country. It sits in the middle of a maze of tiny streets that were all part of the original town and is one of the most mellow places to sit on a bench and enjoy the sound of the fountain and the play of sunshine on the sidewalks.
Herder Bookstore, Tehuatepec 50, Mon to Fri 9 to 6pm, First Saturday of every month
I want to live in Herder. Or at least fill my living room with its Scandinavian-style bookcases, overflowing with titles, stare out big picture windows and have someone serve me a coffee and then leave me to my thoughts. In addition to their good selection of Spanish-language titles is the German-language section, which fills up about half the store (there are no English books here). You will most likely find yourself alone in the shop, perfect for curling up in an armchair and reading a good story.
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