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HE SAID... Today we were leaving Antigua (Guatemala) and flying to
Mexico City.
We woke early, organised our packs and walked to Fernando’s for breakfast at 7am. I ordered fruit and granola with yoghurt, while Ren opted for an omelette with toast. My cappuccino was fantastic, as was Ren’s fresh pineapple juice. We had a long travel day ahead, and we were not feeling 100%, so we wanted to be well nourished for the trip.
I walked to the post office to send a few postcards (to Australia and the UK) before dropping into Me Latte Caffe for a cappuccino on my way back to the hotel. Our airport transfer arrived at 10:30am, so we checked out of Hotel Posada Los Bucaros, loaded our packs in the minibus and drove through the bumpy cobblestone roads of Antigua for the last time. We were heading to Guatemala City’s La Aurora airport, and we were travelling with a hint of sadness – we’d really enjoyed our time in Antigua, and we were reluctant to leave.
We arrived at the airport at 11:30am, checked in, filled out our departure forms with the assistance of an extremely helpful woman on the information
desk (who gave us a free map of Guatemala) and made our way through immigration. It was an easy process, but the complete lack of air conditioning throughout the airport made it uncomfortable. We headed straight to McDonalds and had a McPollo meal with fries and a coke – what a lifesaver! We then made our way to the gate lounge, where I spent our last few quetzals on chewing gum.
We boarded our Interjet flight at 2:30pm and left Guatemala City for Mexico City at 3pm. The flight was very comfortable, with a wide selection of complimentary drinks and chips. As we flew in over Mexico City I gazed out the plane window and saw a sprawling urban landscape that stretched to the horizon – this city was huge!
We touched down at Mexico’s Benito Juarez International Airport and made our way through immigration – and much like Guatemala, it was an easy (but long) process. However, our luggage carousel was a little difficult to find, and this delayed us even more. We eventually emerged from customs, found our airport transfer driver and walked to the airport carpark. We drove through the bustling streets of Mexico City,
trying to comprehend how this sprawling metropolis can support the same population as Australia.
We arrived at Hotel Metropol at 8pm. We checked in, dropped our packs in our room and walked to El Heuquito, a tiny hole in the wall that sold
tacos al pastor (tacos filled with pork in a hot marinade, served with onions). A woman and her daughter were standing on the street eating tacos at a tall metal table, and realising we were new to the area, they helped us order. We joined them at the street side table and feasted on pork tacos, which were unbelievably good.
They were so friendly, having moved from Chicago to Mexico City 16 years ago. We finished our tacos, bid farewell to our transient friends and wandered the streets around our hotel. It was 9:30pm on a Monday night, and the city was buzzing. We loved the atmosphere of this place, and couldn’t wait to explore the city. We wandered back to the hotel, picked up some drinks on the way and settled in our room to catch up on our travel notes. We eventually crashed at 11:30pm. We’d survived a long travel day against the
odds, and we were excited to be in Mexico City!
We woke late and walked to Cafe El Popular for breakfast at 9:30am. I opted for yoghurt and fruit, and I ordered an
atole (a popular Mexican beverage made from boiled maize with milk, sweetened with sugar and flavoured with spices and fruits). It was a meal in itself. Ren ordered Mexican style eggs (scrambled eggs mixed with chopped tomato, onion and serrano hot pepper) and a
horchata (milky drink of rice, nuts and cinnamon). The food was OK, and it gave us the lift we needed. The temperature was still fairly cool, so it was good not to be walking in searing heat.
We walked to the Zocalo, the heart of Mexico City and one of the world’s largest city squares. Unfortunately, it was filled with temporary buildings and scaffolding, so we were unable to walk up to the huge iconic Mexican flag flying in the middle. We wandered around the massive Metropolitan Cathedral, which stands at the northern side of the Zocalo. The rambling structure is clearly tilting in places, and understandably so, given the city was originally built on a swamp.
We walked to
the National Palace on the eastern side of the Zocalo to view a number of Diego Rivera murals depicting indigenous life in Mexico before the Spanish conquest. As we were leaving we noticed three cats running after a guy in a suit, so we had to follow. We found him feeding the cats in a small walkway. We struck up a conversation and discovered that he works in the government offices housed within the Palace, and that he feeds the cats every day at the same time (around 11am). He had names for each of them, and as we were talking another two turned up. Ren was in heaven.
We left the Palace and made our way towards the Supreme Court, which housed a number of murals by Jose Clemente Orozco. Unfortunately we couldn’t get in, as we needed proof of identity, and Ren had left her driver’s licence back at the hotel. Undeterred, we headed to the Secretariat of Education building, which is entered from the Plaza Santo Domingo. Unfortunately, a huge demonstration was being held outside the building, so the doors were closed. We’d seen a number of riot police during the morning, and this apparently was
the reason for their very visible presence throughout the city. We’d been looking forward to seeing a collection of frescos painted by Diego Rivera in the building, but we were also sympathetic to the need for public protest. We’ll definitely be coming back to this part of the city over the next few days.
We then walked to Cafe El Mayor, a rooftop cafe overlooking the Aztec ruins in the Plaza del Templo Mayor. The day had started to heat up considerably, so we relaxed at an open air table in the shade and enjoyed cold drinks as we took in the view. We’d been walking for three and a half hours, so we decided to head back to the hotel along the bustling Avenida Madero.
Ren was still not 100%, so she rested in the hotel room while I ventured out in the late afternoon to check out the music shops along Bolivar, a street in Mexico City renowned for its many music shops. I stopped at El Heuquito for pork tacos on the way, and when I turned into Bolivar I couldn’t believe the number of musical instrument and equipment shops lining the street. I wandered
through many of them, but nothing caught my attention. I was looking for a tiny retailer selling traditional Mexican guitars from a local luthier. The shops on Bolivar were selling guitars I could easily buy in Australia.
I wandered back to the hotel along Independence Avenue, passing a type of ‘Chinatown’ on the way. Ren was feeling a little better, so we went for a late afternoon walk through Alameda Central, a large green park near our hotel. The park had a number of fountains, and it had a welcoming atmosphere. We noticed a gathering at the front of the Palace of Fine Arts (which bordered the park), so we went to investigate. It turned out to be a gay rights demonstration, and young kids were everywhere. The atmosphere was vibrant, and we loved being in the city. It had started softly raining, so we made our way back to the hotel. Within minutes of us arriving in our room, thunder started rumbling overhead and the temperature dropped.
We headed out to a tiny restaurant with no name for dinner at 7:30pm. It was a sister restaurant to Bosforo (a mezcaleria next door), and it was only about
50 metres from our hotel. It was an intimate little place, and Ren and I immediately fell in love with it. I started with a Bicuixe mezcal served with a slice of fresh orange. It had such an incredibly strong and smoky flavour, and my body immediately warmed (which was a good thing, given the thunder storm outside). Ren ordered a fresh fruit water and the
nopales (prickly pear cactus paddle) and mushroom soup, which was served with steaming hot tortillas and salsas. I ordered the roasted bone marrow with potatoes and
papalo (a native herb that tastes like a cross between rocket/arugula and coriander leaves/cilantro). Our meals were extraordinary to say the least, and the setting matched the food. We loved this cool little hipster joint in Mexico City. We finished our meal around 8:30pm and headed back to our hotel room. We had a long day (13 hours) of activities planned for tomorrow, so we needed to be fresh.
SHE SAID... We had an 11am transfer booked to Guatemala City in order to catch our flight to
Mexico City at 2:55pm, so we had a leisurely-ish morning making sure we had a good breakfast. We
walked to Fernando’s Kaffe where I had an omelette and a pineapple juice, and it was my first proper meal since breakfast at the homestay in San Jorge 48 hours earlier. Andrew enjoyed his fruit, yoghurt and granola.
Given we’d heard horror stories of traffic delays in Guatemala City, we were glad our transfer driver was early. We were quite sad to leave Antigua (especially because I lost a day to a stupid stomach bug), but we were also looking forward to getting to know a new city, especially a city as big as Mexico City.
We made good time to Guatemala City’s La Aurora International Airport, arriving within the predicted one hour. It’s a small airport and we were flying on a small airline – Interjet – but we were still able to check in three hours prior to our flight. The airport didn’t have air conditioning and it was hot! Not great conditions to stand in a queue when you aren’t 100% to begin with. I managed to get through it, and we breezed through security and immigration.
By now we figured that the only air conditioned areas of the airport were the food stalls,
so it was McDonalds to the rescue. As much as we avoid big American chains for ethical reasons, we seem to have a weakness for McDonalds at airports (it’s also a great way of using up the last of your local currency!). The McPollo meal deal was OK, but it’s been a while since I’ve had a deep fried patty (our grilled McChickens are much better).
The Interjet plane was a tiny propeller plane. I tried not to let the struggling whining engine noise get to me as we were ascending, or the thudding noise when the wing flaps tried to engage. Anyway, we made it in one piece, and even got drinks and cheesy chips as a snack.
We landed in Benito Juarez International Airport in Mexico City at 6pm. The immigration queue was the longest we’ve stood in for a while. To pass the time we analysed passports… ours were the only Australian ones in sight. The majority were unsurprisingly Guatemalan, Spanish and northern American. Another giveaway was that Andrew was the only one in
thongs (flip flops) in the entire area, so I guess there weren’t any New Zealanders around either. 😉
By the
time we made our way through immigration and then walked the entire length of the airport to get to the luggage carousel for Interjet, the carousel had stopped and our packs had been offloaded to the side. The joys of flying with a budget airline. We also had our third encounter with the ‘random search’ button at security, but the light was green for both of us, so our bags didn’t have to be searched.
We had pre-arranged a hotel transfer to our hotel – Hotel Metropol – which was near the Centro Historico area. We were so excited to finally be in Mexico City (known locally as Distrito Federal or D.F.). It has been a place that has fascinated me for a long time, but it wasn’t until recently that we really started seeing Mexico City as a travel destination. As soon as we arrived I had a feeling that this place was going to exceed all of my expectations.
It’s a massive and sprawling city of about 9 million people (22 million including the entire urban area), making it one of the largest metropoles on the planet. We weren’t sure if we could cover everything we
wanted to see and do in the seven days we had on this stint of our trip. However, we were returning here for two days on our way home, so we hoped by then we would have a good sense of our way around Mexico City. To put a perspective on how large the place felt to us prior to getting here – the greater Mexico City area has as many people as the whole of Australia!
Even though Mexico City appeared overwhelmingly big to break down into seven days of ‘getting to know you’ time when we were planning this trip, in reality it wasn’t nearly as chaotic or difficult. In fact it was just the opposite. Exploring it was a joy and the historical centre was easy to grapple with on foot. The city is quite manageably split into 16 boroughs or districts, and then into neighbourhoods (called colonias). The city centre is in the Cuauhtemoc borough which contains most of the unique inner city areas we would be predominantly frequenting. From what I’d read, the areas of interest to us more or less defined themselves as colonial Centro Historico, gritty Zona Rosa, upmarket Polanco, arty Roma
and classy Condesa. We also hoped to explore the southern borough of bohemian Coyoacan, and experience the populous outer northern boroughs on day trips.
For this trip we were staying in the Centro Historico/Juarez neighbourhood, and when we return we’ll be staying in Condesa. Our aim seemed simple enough – to get a real feel for Mexico City’s different areas, tap into its cultural richness and eat as much local food as we could. Wish us luck!
We were at 2200 metres above sea level, so it wasn’t as hot as I’d expected, and things cooled down very fast as soon as it rained every afternoon. It was fabulous to be in a big city again, and to feel and hear that big city buzz while walking through the streets. Like many big cities in the developing world, Mexico City has its congested roads, frenetic pace and pockets of opulence amid poverty that forced us to confront the extremes of the socio-economic classes around us.
While every big city has crime, Mexico City has far more than its fair share, including kidnappings! It wasn’t that long ago that Mexico City was featured in intimidating news stories on
assassinated journalists, massacred students and drug cartels – like a city where the film
Pulp Fiction had come to life. It’s only recently that it has started making its way into the nicer double-page travel sections of the weekend papers. The city is trying to polish its rough edges and clean up its image by allocating resources towards crime and pollution. I did a lot of research about which parts of the city to avoid, and I read up on safety tips – for example, it is safer to book a taxi rather than hail one on the street. We also made sure we exercised a little extra caution when we were in the quieter suburbs, but it certainly didn’t feel like a place where dangers lurked on every corner.
On the very big ‘pros’ side of the balance sheet, Mexico City has beautiful parks, art, street culture and architecture that comes in modern, old and seriously old …basically everything I looked for in a city. It triggered a heady combination of curiosity, excitement and exhilaration that I feel whenever I’m in a city that I connect with. I really wanted to get to know this city.
Our
hotel was large and comfortable, but not on the nicest of streets at night. Regardless, on our first evening, we walked around to get a feel for our immediate neighbourhood, while also trying to decide what to have for dinner. We walked to Avenida Madero, a pedestrian-only busy shopping street near our hotel that we got to know quite well, but to be honest I much preferred walking down the two other streets of Avenida 5 de Mayo or Independencia (which became Avenida 16 de Septiembre), as they had more shade and didn’t have a million touts hassling us to go into their shops. The historical centre of the city is relatively compact (for a humongous city), and the major sites were within close walking proximity to one another. We walked past the beautifully lit Palacio de Bellas Artes (Palace of Fine Arts) and Benito Juarez monuments, excited to come back and see them in daylight.
From a food perspective, Mexico City is home to a famed food scene which we definitely wanted to discover. It had a great representation of cuisines from all parts of Mexico, and the food was seriously good. Even though we were in the
tourist heavy Centro Historico, we wanted to eat where the
chilangos (Mexico City residents) ate.
Based on my prior reading, we went hunting for El Huequito on Ayuntamiento Street, a gritty but renowned taco stand. We thought we’d found it but weren’t sure, so we kept walking and then doubled back. A very friendly woman and her daughter were eating at the street counter and asked if they could help. She quickly followed that up with ‘these are the best tacos in the area’. We knew we were at the right place.
El Huequito only served one type of taco -
tacos al pastor. We’d had
tacos al pastor in southern Mexico, but this was a dish local to Mexico City, so expectations were high. Thin layers of marinated pork are roasted on a vertical revolving spit, and the meat is sliced off into a warm corn tortilla. Most
al pastor dishes are served with a hunk of pineapple (which often sits at the top of the spit), but this stand did an alternative version with chopped onion and coriander leaves/cilantro. The meat's signature orange-red colouring comes from the
achiote (annatto seeds) in the marinade. This dish is
apparently a twist on what Mexico's Lebanese immigrants used to make, so the original meat for this dish was probably lamb. The tacos were phenomenal. We had found a treasure of a place! 😊
Suitably happy, we walked back to our hotel with high hopes for the other meals we would eat in Mexico City. I was happy that my stomach had coped with the tacos, and I was also happy that I slept well that night, as we needed the energy for our big plans the next day.
On our second day in Mexico City, Andrew and I continued our explorations from the night before by doing a tailored version of the Lonely Planet guide’s Downtown Walking Tour (as it turned out, it was more like an art walk!).
We began our adventures on ‘our’ side of town near Alameda Central on Avenida Juarez, starting at the Benito Juarez monument and the Palacio de Bellas Artes we’d seen the night before. The Palacio de Bellas Artes is a grandiose architectural marble icon and the city’s cultural heart. We admired it from the outside but kept walking, as we had plans to come back another day to
admire the interior and the artworks it contained.
We hadn’t walked far before we realised there was a very big army and police presence on the streets (with about three different types of police). To be honest, we got a bit worried by it and wondered what was going on. However, taking our cues from the locals who didn’t seem worried, we kept walking. We were later told that it was a show of force to counter a protest in the city, and that it was apparently meant to make people feel at ease and safe. Ha! OK. I didn’t agree with that sentiment, but I have to admit that by our second day in the city, we were so used to them that even when sirens were going off and riot police were marching towards us, we ducked through them and kept walking. We clearly don’t take long to adapt to our surroundings. 😊
By now we were ready for breakfast at Cafe El Popular, which was very busy with a pre-work crowd. Andrew ordered yoghurt and fruit, while I ordered a
horchata (milky drink of rice, nuts and cinnamon) and
huevos Mexicana (lightly scrambled eggs with
onions and red bell peppers and coriander leaves/cilantro in the colours of the Mexican flag). Not the best eggs I’ve had, but the crusty bread rolls that came with it were fabulous. Andrew’s fruit and yoghurt wasn’t anything special either, but he also tried
atole con fresca, a hot thick sweet corn and milk drink with fresh strawberries, and it was a meal in itself. The baby pink strawberry
atole was nice in an odd sort of way, but wasn’t something we would order regularly.
We walked to the Zocalo (the central square, officially called the Plaza de la Constitucion) which claims to be one of the biggest squares in the world. It’s a gargantuan paved area with a huge Mexican flag in the centre. Disappointingly, we couldn’t get the full effect of the large space, as there was a cultural fair being set up across the entire square.
In the southeast corner of the Zocalo is the spot where Hernan Cortes is supposed to have met Montezuma (the Aztec emperor) in 1519. After the Spaniards conquered the Aztecs, Cortes had the colonial town plan drawn according to Spanish tradition. As with every other city we had been
to so far on this trip, the central square at the heart of the city was surrounded by buildings of colonial power – the church and the government. We spent some time soaking up the atmosphere in the Zocalo, which is ringed by the Metropolitan Cathedral, the remains of the Aztec Templo Mayor and the National Palace. It was full of a range of people and activities, and we people watched our little hearts out. 😊
Looking at the very obviously wonky streets around the square and the lopsided sides of the larger buildings, it became very apparent that the city is sinking. There is a lovely legend about why the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan was settled at this site (on a swamp). Apparently on orders of their god Huitzilopochtli (the Sun and War god), the Aztecs had to abandon the place where they lived and start a pilgrimage to find a place where an eagle, perched on a prickly pear cactus, was eating a snake. After a century’s pilgrimage they finally arrived at the Lake of Texcoco, where on a small island in the middle of the lake, they saw an eagle perched on a prickly pear with
a snake in its mouth. They founded their capital Tenochtitlan, and it became one of the most important and influential cities of the time. The symbol of the eagle perched on a cactus with a snake in its beak has become one of Mexico’s most important symbols – it's on the coat of arms and the flag of Mexico. And judging by the number of photos I’ve taken of that theme, it seems I’ve become somewhat obsessed with the image. 😊
The beautifully detailed Catedral Metropolitana (or the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary of Mexico City, which no one seems to have the patience to say) is on the north side of the Zocalo. It’s one of the oldest and largest cathedrals in the Americas, and had an odd mixture of Renaissance and Baroque architectural styles – which wasn’t surprising considering it took 250 years to build! Like many buildings in the Centro Historico, the Cathedral is slowly sinking too. Trying to take photos while standing on a steeply angled floor was interesting. The mainly Baroque gilded interior was quite attention-grabbing and highly detailed, with the stunning carved Altar de Perdon (Altar of Forgiveness) at the entrance
setting the tone for the other more elaborate altars and side chapels. There was a 10am Mass going on, so we couldn’t get access to the main part of the church, which I thought was a fabulous way to maintain the sanctity of a holy place. I’ve lost count of the number of rude tourists I’ve seen who arrogantly stand in front of a praying person to get that shot they apparently absolutely have to have.
The Palacio Nacional (National Palace) is an imposing structure built in 1563 on the site of Aztec king Montezuma II’s original palace. This government building, housing the federal treasury and national archives, takes up most of the east side of the Zocalo. Entry was free, but there was a long queue and we had to produce ID. Thankfully Andrew’s drivers licence covered both of us, as I didn’t have any ID on me. We mainly went in to check out the Diego Rivera murals, but the building and gardens deserved a visit in their own right. Rivera’s Stairway Mural is a triptych depicting the indigenous rule, the Hispanic arrival and modern Mexico. The Corridor Panels covered most of the main patio on the
second floor, where Rivera had created a vivid pictorial history of thousands of years of Mexican history. Rivera’s two main themes seem to be the Spanish invasion and the class struggle of modern Mexico. Given he was a raving Marxist, these themes in his work were not unexpected. I really enjoyed the murals in this setting of the Palacio, so I was glad we persisted in the queue. The many primary school groups visiting the building didn’t affect our viewing of the murals, but many of the ground floor rooms were full of them, so naturally we avoided those rooms. 😉
While exploring the very beautiful library in the grounds of the palace, Andrew whispered that he’d seen three cats walk past the entrance, and that they were following a man. So of course all interest was lost in the library as we went outside to investigate. As we turned a corner near the phenomenal cactus garden, we saw a man in a blue suit with some food in his hand feeding the cats, and more cats were running towards him from all directions. He saw our amused looks and felt he had to explain... At 11am every day
he feeds them turkey and chicken mince so they knew when to come looking for him. Apparently the cats were introduced onto the property to control the mice, and I noted that they looked quite well fed. He saw me eyeing them off, read my expression accurately and said, ‘if you want to pat one, pat this one’ as he grabbed a fat blue eyed rag doll cat and held it out to me. The others, he said, ‘were a bit…’, hesitantly searching for the word, ‘…crazy’. He asked about Australia and our cat. I mentioned that his workplace at the palace was hard to beat. He grinned self-consciously. As we walked off, I was very amused that we’d just had a conversation about cats with a government Treasury official. 😄
We loved the murals at the Palace and were looking forward to seeing more of Rivera’s work, so we walked over to Secretaria de Educacion Publica in Plaza Santo Domingo. However, it turned out there was a big protest in the square outside the building. We couldn’t quite figure out what they were protesting, but there were a few union flags and a few placards about education for
the indigenous population. We walked over to the small but peaceful Santo Domingo church on the other end of the square and wondered if the protest would dissipate soon, but it didn’t seem to be going anywhere.
That wasn’t the only disappointment of the day. We’d also tried to get into the Suprema Corte de Justicia to check out the murals in the building foyer, but they wouldn’t let us in because I didn’t have any ID. So we made plans to come back on another day to re-try our luck at both buildings.
Afterwards, on a travel tip I’d read, we walked through the incense-scented passageway called the Pasaje Catedral (where catholic statues, crosses and rosaries were sold) to a rooftop bar and restaurant called El Mayor. We had to access the restaurant via a lift in the Porrua Bookshop. We were there for the fabulous view of the ruins of the Aztec city Tenochtitlan at the Templo Mayor archaeological site… the delicious coffee and iced cold mango drink were a bonus.
Modern literally meets ancient in Mexico City - the city was built on top of the ruins of the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan. Templo
Mayor (Great Temple) was the main Aztec temple dedicated to Tlaloc (the god of rain), and Huitzilopochtli (the god of war). It was only discovered when workers digging beside the cathedral unearthed a stone depicting the Aztec moon goddess Coyolxauqui. It’s a large excavation site that neither of us were all that interested in entering, so this was our way of ‘seeing’ it while enjoying an afternoon drink too. 😊
We’d been walking for nearly four hours and my body was starting to hate me, so we made our way back to the hotel. I had a nap while Andrew caught up on his writing and then went back to El Huequito on Ayuntamiento Street for some
tacos al pastor. He also walked down to Bolivar Street where all the guitar shops were (as a guitar from Mexico City was going to be one of his birthday presents).
When Andrew returned from his solo sojourn, we walked through Alameda Park at the top of our street. It’s a large expanse of sculptures, fountains, seats and symmetrical paths, and it was nice to see so many people out enjoying a post-work walk through the park. By the time we
walked to the Palacio de Belles Artes end of the park, we realised there was a large rally in front of the building. It was a gay rights protest, and while I was very happy to see that people felt free to protest openly, it was sad to see that there was no one over thirty in the crowd. Gay rights don’t just affect young people.
We decided to have dinner close to the hotel, as it had started raining and I had knocked myself out with our four hour exploration that morning. We couldn’t believe it when we found a mezcal bar and restaurant only two doors down from the hotel. The bar was called Bosforo, and we ate at its next door sister restaurant, which in true hipster style remained unnamed (for want of a name we started calling it Bosforo Next Door, and it stuck). We asked the waiter to recommend a mezcal for Andrew (they only had about six on the drinks menu). The one he recommended was phenomenally smoky and full bodied. I think Andrew has become a lover of mezcal. And I think I might be heading there too, albeit at a slower
pace, as I was being kind to my dodgy gut. I think mezcal needs to come with a strict warning: ‘Beware, addiction will occur’! 😊
I ordered their
agua del dia (water of the day), which was a very refreshing mango and orange water. I hadn’t planned on eating that night, but when I saw
nopales (prickly pear cactus paddles) and mushroom soup, I had to try it. It was full of herbs and spices, and it was the most comforting and tasty soup I’ve had in a long time. It was also very filling, so I barely touched the fresh blue corn tortillas and salsa that came with it. It was my first taste of
nopales, and I think I’ve found a new taste that I love. Andrew had roasted marrowbones with potatoes, and he said it was delicious too. We’d found our ‘go-to’ restaurant in Mexico City.
Since we’d arrived, we had spent hours drifting through the city’s streets, taking in the colours and vibrancy of the place. As I fell asleep that night, I was aware of two things… my aching feet and my happiness at starting to get to know another city.
We’d
had a fabulous introduction to Mexico City. We were only two days into our stay, and we’d already got a good feel for the Centro Historico and Alameda Central areas, and in the process, we’d had a fantastic taster of Mexico City’s architecture, art, culture, food and history. Over the next few days we plan to raise the intensity scale further and do some in-depth explorations further afield.
See you around Mexico City.
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taracloud
Tara Cloud
Cats, murals and mescal!
How fantastic that your pre-trip prep wrestled the megalopolis into manageability, and you were able to see so many fantastic sights and taste wonderful delights in two just days! Loved the cat man, and good luck to Andrew in finding that handmade Mexican guitar. I can hardly wait to see where your next explorations will take us!