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I was invited on a Fam ( Travel Agent Familiarizion Tour) from Nov 8th - Nov 13th.
Day 1
We departed Toronto mid afternoon during a sudden snow storm which made it even sweeter that I was going somewhere nice and hot. On arrival to Mexico City we were greeted by Irving our tour guide and host for the 6 days. We collected our bags and we were put in a large Suburban. I thought to myself "this is so Mexican". Our ride to our hotel was only about 15-20 minutes and as we pulled up to our hotel I think all of us had the same reaction. This place is crazy. Our hotel was located right on the Zócalo. This square is huge and the square is only slightly smaller than the Red Square in Moscow. In Mexico, every city has its own square and Mexico City having 22 million people, it is justified that there is a huge square located right in the heart of the city.
We were easily checked in and off our group from Toronto went to the rooftop restaurant to have some Tacos and a few beers. The view from this place
was quite possibly the coolest thing I have seen so far. At night there is huge murals in lights of people from the revolution and similar important figures.
Day 2
We were up nice and early to hit the buffet breakfast at around 7:30. As we were eating I heard a lot of commotion going on in the square. There was around 200 military personnel that come out and put the flag up. It was an amazing site (common on this trip).
After Breakfast we headed off to for a small city tour. We went around the square to see National Palace,and the Cathedral.
Next we headed out of the city a bit to visit the Guadalupe Shrine. We stayed there for around an hour checking it out. People from all over Mexico come to see this site once a year.
We then headed further out of the city to go visit Teotihuacan Pyramids. We spent a few minute walking around checking out the ancient city and dodging people selling stuff. Then it was time for me to suck up enough energy to climb this huge structure. I am glad I did because it was
spectactular. As we sat on the top looking over the land we had a small history lesson from our tour guide. On a personal note, I felt a very calm feeling come over me; it also could have been the fact that it was the most exercise that I have done is 10 years and almost lost my breakfast on a few occasions on the way up.
We then had some lunch at a really cool restaurant, where we all had some Coronas.
We headed back into the city to visit the National Museum of Anthropology. This place was really cool, but we only briefly explored it because of the fact most of us were dead tired. There is a nice waterfall fountain in the center.
We went back to the hotel for dinner and a few beers and off to bed for another early morning.
Day 3
Next morning I got up early and headed down to the square and watched the raising of the flag. It was even better up close.
We then headed to Cuernavaca; a city south of Mexico City. I really liked this city and it seems like a
place I could live . We went to the Cuaunahuac Museum, Cathedral Cuernavaca, and we checked out the murals done by Mexican artist, Diego Rivera.
For lunch we went to this really nice steak house, where we spent 2-3 hours eating. On a side note if you are in Mexico and do not know the meat, maybe stay away. I thought it was bacon but it was actually Tripe. (Tripe is a type of edible intestine).
After lunch we headed back to hotel to rest and get ready for another day.
Day 4
The next morning we head again out of the city to Queretaro and on our way we stopped at the Freixenet Cellars for a wine tour and tasting. The tour was pretty cool but the tasting was the best. Seeing it was around 11am we all had our share of glasses of wine.
Then we were off to see the Peña de Bernal which is the second-largest monolith in the world. Apparently it has a lot of different faces in it. Honestly, I didn't see it, and believe me, I had enough wine to see just about anything.
We then drove
back about 2.5 hours back to Mexico City in which most people slept.
Day 5
Skipped breakfast and went to Puebla: high valley about 120 kilometers southeast of Mexico City. This is another place I could see myself living. It is a really nice little resort town of 2 million.We went to a candy factory, the Cathedral, and Santa Maria Tonantzintla (a Beautiful church built between 1730 and 1790). On our way home we stopped and check out Cholula: the Great Pyramid of Cholula, is the largest man-made structure by volume in the world. There is now a church on top of the Pyramid. We walked to the top and sat and watched the sunset. Again, another very relaxing time and again it might have been the climb up there. We then headed back to the hotel for the final night. We hung around the hotel saying our good-byes to the Vancouver team and then I headed for bed. The Vancouver team had an extra personal tour of Mexico City from our host Irving. Most of them stayed up since there flight was at 6am. From what I have been told we missed out.
Day 6
I got up late and we all went to the airport and flew back to Toronto. The end!
Mexican Airlines was really nice and the free booze on the flights is amazing.
Mex-Inca travel is a great family owned and run company. Their passion for travel and Mexico is inspiring.
Mexico is really interesting. Growing up in Moncton NB, and moving to Toronto to become a city slicker, it is still really odd to be in the heart of a city with 22 million people.
I absolutely recommend getting off the beaten path of just resort towns in Mexico and discovering Mexico's amazing history.
As per usual in my blogs, here are all the pictures I took . Some are good and some are not so good. My digital camera died mid trip.
If anyone ever has any questions please let me know. If I cannot answer them, I know some people who can.
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