Mexico City

This week we went on our first trip that wasn't in the US! We had six days to visit Mexico and had decided on the capital, Mexico City (or Ciudad de Mexico) because of its proximity to historical sites and ease of getting there.

We had a had a normal start time of 9am to leave for LAX and checked in our bag. We grabbed some food and waited for the flight! LAX is a very big and fancy airport, but as we walked down to our gate, and the gate going to Guatemala, it got smaller and dingier. But it was a good flight, and even though it was only 3.5 hours, we had movies and two snack breaks. 

We arrived in Mexico City 8pm local time and quickly learnt that even though a lot of people in California speak Spanish, not a lot of people in Mexico speak English, even at the airport. I'd learnt a bit of Spanish by myself and picked some up from working at the library, so we made our way through and changed some money into Pesos. We then got a burger from a chain we knew did veggie burgers and ordered a taxi from a booth inside the airport. 

We were glad we did when we got outside and saw the regular taxis being flagged down from a very busy road in a mob of travellers. We packed into a cab and drove out of the main city centre into the quieter residential area we were staying in. The roads out there were intense, with speeding, swapping lanes, driving across two lanes and very narrow roads. 

We arrived at our hotel and checked into a very cute room with dark furniture, orange walls, and a yellow flower mural above the bed. We showered and went straight to sleep as it was already 10pm. 

The next was our first day to explore so we were up early to go! This was going to be the coolest day of our stay weatherwise, so we decided to go to the pyramids as apparently there was very little shade there. We got on the metro close to our hotel and took it across town to the North bus station. Our closest station didn't have any metro cards available to buy and reload, but a nice man scanned us on (it's only $5mx a journey which is about 30 cents) and we bought our own card at a different station on the journey back. 

We got some breakfast at the big bus station and used the bathroom (which was exciting as to get into public bathrooms in Mexico you have to pay $5-$7mx to get in through turnstiles and then buy some toilet paper from a machine or bring your own.)

We then got our tickets for the public bus which went to the pyramids and surrounding town. It was a nice way to see the city and beyond, as we'd only been able to see it in the dark the night before. 

It took about an hour and we were dropped off outside the gates where there were plenty of people offering tours, alternative attractions and restaurants to visit. We headed in and headed straight for the main pyramid; the Temple of the Sun. 

It was huge, with a big empty plaza around it and steps to smaller platforms. It used to have a temple built on top and apparently archaeologists found bodies buried in each corner of the pyramid. The whole archaeology site was actually built way before the Aztecs. They found it already constructed and abandoned, and lived there until the Spanish arrived. 

The had a few signs up in Spanish, English and a regional traditional language, although I would have enjoyed reading a few more, or having a self guided tour brochure. 

To the left of the Pyramid of the Sun, was a main street with smaller pyramids along either side, and at the end was the Pyramid of the Moon. This was not as big, although you couldn't really tell scale once it got that big, and had a lot more around it. 

To one side there was a series of rooms where only some walls remained, which you could walk through and see some paintings left. There was also a section which went underground where a whole temple remained. 

It was a big site, but we were done in time to get the bus back to the city and pick up a quick late lunch at the bus station before getting back on the metro with our newly purchased card.

Both the bus tickets and the entry to the pyramids had been cash only, so we'd burnt through a lot of the cash we'd got out, so we went for a walk through our neighbourhood to find the cashpoint for our bank. It was a very nice area, with lots of people walking their dogs through the tree lined streets or going out for coffee in one of the many cafes and restaurants. 

The further we got into the neighbourhood, the roads became busier, both with people and traffic. Crossing the roads here is an experience, there are lights for the cars, but even if there is a green man, almost no one waits for him. It seems to be a case of whomever is in the junction had right of way, and this goes for cars, bikes and pedestrians.  

We stopped for dinner at a vegan restaurant and got some burritos and a green smoothie which was very nice. 

After dinner we went back to the hotel as we had a very early start the next day. At 5:45am we left our room to get to the meeting point of the tour we had booked on to. We found the group and got onto our mini bus. We drove for an hour in quiet as the sun came up, and made our first stop at a gas station where we could all go to the bathroom and get some coffee or breakfast. There were a few stray dogs around which were actually very sweet and wanted Mitchell's breakfast. 

This station had the added bonus of a viewpoint of Popocatepetl, an active volcano which was smoking quite heavily that morning! 

Our first proper stop was another hour away, and was the town of Cholula. We were immediately met by two market sellers selling fruit and giving crickets for us to try. Mitchell tried a cricket and I bought a box of fruit for us to snack on. 

In this town was the largest pyramid in the world (larger than Giza), although grass had grown all over it and it now looks more like a big hill. However, we could walk up this one, and at the top was a lovely view of the town and the volcano in the distance. 

It also had a big church, and apparently, the first few times the Spanish tried to build it on top of this ancient temple, it kept getting destroyed by lightning or earthquakes. 

After the pyramid was another cathedral filled with gold and then a walk through the town. We were taken to a taco stand which was just a guy selling them out the back of a bike, but they were very good and very cheap. 

We were then back on the bus for the next stop of Tonantzintla. This was a very little town, with just one street with a few market sellers, but just around the corner was a big church in a tree filled courtyard. Inside, every single wall, ceiling and pillar was decorated with faces. It was a combination of Spanish Catholicism and traditional Mexican values, so while it depicted heaven, there were fruits and of course, chilies. 

On the way back to the bus, we stopped for ice cream and I tried the blue maize flavour which was sweet, but creamy, kind of like oats. We also went past a chocolate shop giving out samples of beans which were freshly roasted and so tasty.

 We were then back on the bus again to Puebla. This was a much bigger town and we were dropped off in the busy historic district. Our tour guide gave us a brief tour, before showing us the meeting point and a suggestion for lunch, before leaving us for free time. 

The food was good and I even manged to request a change to the menu in Spanish so they could make it vegetarian for me. I had three mole enchiladas which was three different kind of sauces. One tomato, one spicy green and one which was definitely cooked with cocoa. 

After lunch we went for a walk around the town. We went down Calle de Dolche (candy road) which was filled with sweet shops, Sapos (frog) which had some arty shops and very bright houses. At the end of Calle de Dolche, we came to what used to be a train station, but now had a mall inside! 

We also went to visit the market and picked up some souvenirs. After that, it was back to the meeting place for the bus ride home. It took us until dark to get back to the drop off place, and we got to see a lot of Mexico City traffic. We went out to dinner when we got back, trying a vegan ramen place. We decided we'd had Mexican for lunch, and Mexico City is such a bustling metropolitan area, it has so much else to offer. Mitchell enjoyed the orange "chicken" and we ate our berries we'd bought earlier the day as dessert. 

Day 3

Day three we enjoyed a bit of a lie in at last and then went out to find a cafe for breakfast. We walked through our little neighbourhood and found a cafe. I had a coffee and a role which was like a poppyseed roll, and Mitchell discovered his favourite breakfast ever. It translated as pulled eggs and beans, but was basically refried beans and eggs mixed together and served with tortillas. The cafe was nearly empty on the Thursday morning, so we had time to sit with the very patient waitress who did not speak a word of English and make our orders. 

It was then onto the park. Bosque de Chapultepec is a big park and we were staying only 10 minutes walk from an entrance. It has a big castle on top of the hill, but we didn't have time for that in the end, or the zoo housed within. We walked through flowers, fountains, an amphitheatre, and past the big lake. 

It was very quiet at the beginning, but as we got to the main entrance by the lake there were whole streets lined with markets. You'll never go hungry in Mexico! 

Across the way, we entered into our main stop of the day, the Anthropology Museum. This museum had prehispanic artifacts from history across several areas of Mexico. Some were small pots, but they had some giant walls from pyramids, whole temples and disks used for sacrificial alters. It was amazing and so interesting. 

We stopped halfway through for some lunch at the cafe where they had designed the menu around the regions. I had chocoyotes, which were like corn and potato gnocchi. 

After visiting the whole museum, we walked around a bit more of the park and found the Monumental Fuente de Nezahualcóyotl, the fountain monument, and a Canadian totem pole. 

Day 4 

Day four, we had breakfast at a little cafe before hopping onto the metro to go and see the historic district in Mexico City. We started at the Basílica de Santa María de Guadalupe, an iconic church which is actually sinking, so they built a new one right next to it. We couldn't go inside as they were holding mass, but the outside was very cool. 

We then hopped back on the metro to get to centre of the city. As soon as we got off the metro it was so busy! There were so many people, but we found our way and managed to get a few pictures of the cathedral, government building and plaza which make up the historic centre of Mexico City. 

We went for a little walk to find the park, and stopped on the way for some ice-cream. This road was fully pedestrianised which was nice, and had all the modern high street shops. 

The end of this street brought us to the Palacio de Bella Artes, a big beutiful building which housed the architecture museum. There were so many museums in the area, from artists to history and even one about cartoons. 

We saw a street to one side with lanterns hung up and went to investigate. It turned out to be Mexico City's China Town and had lots of stalls selling bao buns in fun shapes and colours, and plenty of other trinkets.

Right next to the palace was a city park with a few small fountains and lots of benches. To one side they had a couple of long tents set up with books for sale, and to the other there were more market stalls selling souvenirs and street food. 

We walked around for a while and found a little indoor market with a vegan taco shop. It was very tasty and very cute inside (and air conditioned). 

After that, we got back on the metro, but got off a stop early so we could walk through the park. It really was a lovely park in the middle of a busy city, and we sat and enjoyed the peace for a little while after the bustle of the day. 

That evening, we went to the restaurant in our hotel as we were pretty tired and needed to get up early for our flight the next day. 

Our taxi picked us up at 6am and sped through the city to the airport. We had a great time exploring the city and other parts of Mexico. It was so nice to be in a pedestrianised city, so full of history and friendly people. You definitely need to be able to speak at least a little Spanish, but it is so worth it! I loved it and will be back to explore more if I can ever make it. 

Lots of love,

Emily and Mitchell

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