One of the coolest things to do in Mexico City is to enjoy a boat ride in the borough of Xochimilco.

Before the Spanish arrived, Mexico City was a kind of land-locked Venice -- an island in the middle of Lake Xochimilco served by an enormous network of man-made canals and artificial islands.

Xochimilco is where the Southern shore of the lake was. And that's where today you can find the last remnants of this amazing ancient city. Some 110 miles of canals are all that remains of the extensive water highway system built by the Aztecs which once connected most of the villages in the Valley of Mexico. (The Spanish drained the lake and most of the canals.)

Nowadays, you can hire one of these boats and spend hours gently floating down the canals. Each boat is a shaded flat gondola-like craft (the "driver" uses a pole to push the boat) and has a long picnic table and wooden chairs.

Floaters are offered a wide range of services, from mariachi bands to a wide range of food and drinks and so on. All these services are provided from other boats. You just call them over. They attach to your boat, and they provide the service.

Some Mexicans attach two, three, four or more boats together. We saw one with seven boats -- four filled with customers and three boats providing music, food and drinks.

The canals are surrounded on either side by botanical gardens.

Boating in Xochimilco is a perfectly unique experience, which you shouldn't miss if you ever go to Mexico City.