Advertisement
Published: September 13th 2007
Edit Blog Post
[youtube=-rVwGmZxnSg]
Mexico City
Our first day, picture of the Zocalo (July 30, 2007-August 1)
I met Janneth in mid-March 2007; she was my student at Interactive College of Technology. Our relationship quickly changed from student-teacher, to friends, and by the end of April to a couple.
My intentions for the summer were to travel to Mexico, and from there go south through Central America all the way to Colombia. However, those plans changed rapidly, as Janneth wanted to travel with me, and stay in Mexico, a country I had talked to her about from my work and travels there, and then she wanted to show me Bogota. Her visa was given to her easily in Atlanta by the Mexican Embassy, though getting into Mexico was a hassle due to her Colombian passport.
After arriving and orienting ourselves at the airport, we took a taxi to the Zocalo--the central area of any city in Mexico--in order to get a hotel. Around the Zocalo in Mexico City one can find very cheap accommodations, which are centrally located and close to many things. The taxi driver knew of a nice hotel, 220 pesos a night, and it was a block away from a metro stop and about 3 blocks from the Zocalo.
Mexico City
The Zocalo, a view from in front of the cathedral If you need help finding a hotel, asking a traffic cop is a good idea, as in my experience they have always been very helpful.
The three days we stayed in the DF were scorching hot. The first day was a warning on the things to come. We put our bags down in our room, and had a quick nap before exploring the area around the Zocalo, and to let the afternoon cool.
The Zocalo in Mexico City is the third largest city square in the world (I believe), behind Tiananmen Square and Red Square. One can find the cathedral and the national palace in the Zocola in Mexico city. Besides the cathedral individuals lay out mats or rugs with every kind of artisan craft in order to sell it to anyone that passes by. (It was much busier and crowded on this Monday than the Sunday I had visited three years earlier). We did not see anything that caught our attention, so we simply strolled around and saw the beautiful architecture and the cathedral. The cathedral and the national palace provide a wonderful backdrop to the enormous flag that is found in the center of the square.
On the
Mexico City
Janneth posing in front of the Zocalo, with the cathedral in the background. opposite side of the square from the national palace, and heading away from it, a very nice shopping district is found. The stores and the crowd walking along its cramped sidewalks provided a very nice welcoming. Our dinner was tacos and soda, followed by a few beers. That night we headed to bed early, as we had a busy schedule the next day to Teotihuacan--will tell all in another blog.
Our final day in Mexico City was exhausting. We woke up early, and had a mediocre breakfast. We took the metro to Chapultepec. The metro system in Mexico City is cheap and well organized, though you have to be careful at peak hours as pickpocketing is known to happen. Chapultepec is now a huge city park, a respite to the busy city, which were once the hunting grounds for Aztec royalty, and home to Chapultepec Castle where Maximiliano lived. The park is extensive, and houses several museums, including the world famous National Museum of Anthropology, a must see. However, due to time constraints, we were not able to visit it. Fortunately, I had been able to see it three years earlier.
We decided to walk all over the park,
Mexico City
Chapultepec: at the top of Maximiliano's castle even with the heat, and made our way to the top of the castle. The views are spectacular, and even more so with the hike to the top. Already exhausted we didn't even reach the hotel before we had to stop at a restaurant and rest for quite a while.
The afternoon and early evening were taken up by a visit to Coyoacan, the southwest part of the city, home to Frida Kahlo--Lucia, a great friend, had picked us up from Tesquena bus station. The zocalo here is quaint, and we spent our time quenching our thirst with ice cold beer before heading out to pick up Elkin, Lucia's boyfriend. Starving, we headed to a series of food stalls in Coyoacan, near the mall (ask for directions from there as the food stall is worth it). The more popular place being Chupacabras, named after the Mexican legend, as the place serves tacos made from three meats; lamb, pork, and beef. Delicious!
From there we made our drive to Cuernavaca.
I was really happy that Janneth enjoyed her time in Mexico City and be able to spend that time with her, and this was how it would be for the
Chapultepec
A view of Mexico City rest of the trip.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.082s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 11; qc: 33; dbt: 0.0457s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb