Travel Series: Best of Mexico City

The Best of Travel Series started last week with Peru and this week’s installment is Mexico City. When people heard we were going to Mexico City they were shocked, how could we go to such a dangerous place. Our response was always, What do you know about Mexico City, why do you think it is dangerous? To us, it was a chance to experience one of the biggest cities in the world. With a population of roughly 18 million, it is thought to be the third largest city!

 

Mexico City is a city full of vibrant culture, unique neighborhoods and delicious food. Mike and our friend Chris arrived a few days before I did since I was standing up in my friend Stacey’s wedding. They had a few days to go some “guy activities” and eat to their hearts content. I landed and they met me at the airport and we headed back into town to explore the huge city.

 

We spent time walking the streets and stopping at cantinas here and there for a Michelada style beer made of light beer, lime juice and a Worcestershire style sauce. Very tasty! Besides all the food, we saw museums, ancient ruins, the biggest outdoor street market we have ever seen and enjoyed a really nice room at The W in the neighborhood of Polanco. A VERY ritzy part of town, we looked funny carrying our backpacks at times But when you have free hotel points you use them!

 

 

 

 

One of my first days there we toured the amazing market and just wandered up and down the aisles looking at all the amazing spices and unique food. We even stopped at a standing restaurant inside the market for freshly made tortillas and meat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our next adventure was heading out to the ruins outside of the city in Teotihuacan. The civilization is thought to have been started in the first two centuries B.C., there was an entire town with a square, the temple and the amazing Pyramid of the Moon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The third highlight of the trip was our stroll around the neighborhood where Frida Khalo lived and painted some of her unique art. She was known for her use of vibrant colors and surrealism and lives in a bright blue house. The inside has been made into a museum where you can see how they lived their daily lives.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We took full advantage of the subway system and road all around town, other tourists were amazing by our braveness. We had NO issues talking the subway, it was about .20 cents a ride and much cheaper than the cabs who often tried to raise the fair after you got in. In all of our time in Mexico City we only felt uncomfortable once, we had walked into a seedier part of town to potentially go to a Lucha Libre match and went with our better judgment and went to dinner in a better part of town.

 

If you are looking for a good long weekend with unique culture and really good food I definitely recommend checking out Mexico City! Here is one of my favorite pictures from the trip, you can see just how packed the market it. It went for blocks and blocks filled with people!

 

 

 

Favorite Part: Seeing the Ruins in Teotihucan

 

Less than fun Part: Ending up in the hospital with food poisoning when we got back! I ate something bad and learned my lesson.