Mexico City

When I was young my family took trips to Cancun, Playa del Carmen, and (actually one of my favorite childhood trips) a private sailboat ride around the Gulf of California. Cue the beach vacation clichés.

My sister and I loathe the memory of jewelry hawkers who tried to drape silver necklaces on us in Cancun and Playa del Carmen. They pushed us to buy overpriced woven blankets and fake Mayan replicas. They tugged at our arms, pulled us one direction or another, fighting for us to come into their shops. One time, we ran back to our hotel in Playa del Carmen because we were so overwhelmed and afraid.

For many years, Mexico was a touristy party land to me. It was a trashy place to go on spring break or after graduating college. Frankly, I saw mostly American tourists ruining an authentic culture. After studying Spanish in college, I knew there was more to it but I had not found the right moment to return to Mexico on my own accord. Of course, I was also burdened with the American fear for safety which nagged at my dreams of a Motorcycle Diaries type trip through Central America.

My parents were not particularly enthusiastic about this portion of our travels. For many people living in the states, the fear and uncertainty surrounding Mexico stems from news reports that either over-sensationalize issues, or that fail to frame those situations in the proper context. Combine this with an over-saturated and tense political climate, and it’s no wonder my parents have concerns about it. Sure, there are dangerous areas, particularly along the border, but I wonder what the reality is exactly. There is much separation between truth and fiction…and therein lies the problem. There’s a significant rift between what is reported about Mexico in the news, and what the majority of travelers that I’ve spoken to experience when they visit. And so, I arrived in Mexico City unsure of what to expect.

– DAY 1 –

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Our first day in Mexico City was a leg burner. We walked something like 11 miles from our hostel near the Palace of Fine Arts (“Palacio de Bellas Artes”) to explore the hip Condesa and Roma neighborhoods and then made our way to the Chapultepec Forest and nearby museums. For breakfast, we stopped at the Rosetta Bakery. I had been recommended the Rosetta Restaurant from my past boss at the University of Texas who sent me a list of his favorite places in Mexico City but our schedule didn’t work well with going back to that area for lunch or dinner. Instead, I found out that they had a bakery and went to visit it for breakfast ¡Y que rico! This cute, dimly lit bakery cafe is a simple long room with a bar covered in pastries with stool seating. I asked the waitress to get me whatever was her favorite and ended up with a Guava pastry that looked a bit like a danish. I sipped on my coffee and split the tasty pastry with Jon while we waited for his avocado sandwich on fresh bread to come out. On my way out of the café, I saw a man in a University of Texas sweatshirt and asked if he had gone there. He was very confused by my question – he probably had not gotten his coffee yet, forgot he was wearing the burnt orange hoodie, and was surprised the gringa could speak Spanish – before he responded that no he had not, but his friend had.

From there we walked and explored Condesa and Roma neighborhoods. What a cute area! There are tons of beautiful buildings and shops. On Amsterdam Avenue, there is a pedestrian walkway in the middle of the road but lined with tall trees and bushes. There are several parks in the area as well where dog walkers arrive with a dozen (surprisingly) well-behaved dogs and they often roam without leashes.

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We stopped to admire the many architectural details of the city and for the occasional bite to eat, tea, and wifi hook up. The high elevation probably came into effect as we were more winded and tired from walking than normal at this point.

The Chapultepec Forest reminds me of Central Park in New York only that it is twice as large. We explored a bit of the sculptures in the park before heading to the National Museum of Anthropology (Museo Nacional de Antropología) across the street. It’s a giant museum, the largest in the city, and we were proud to get through about five rooms. There was an excellent temporary exhibition about the correlation of photography and documenting histories in relation to found ancient sites of Mexico. We then chronologically visited the giant rooms for different ancient societies but didn’t have enough gusto to make it to the second floor ethnography rooms at all.

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Seeing what I thought was the Aztec calendar – but in reality is not – was a big learning moment for me!

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By the time we left the museum, we were very tired and hungry so we began the walk towards our dinner spot. Expendio de Maíz Sin Nombre is an experimental kitchen, composed of an volcanic rock open kitchen, two tables, and a meeting place where you can learn all about the origin of corn (designed by architect Ludwig Godefroy). Everything is made with corn, accompanied by two or three different sauces. Before serving you, they offer you a corn quesadilla, in the shape of a small pig with fresh cheese. There’s no menu, they just serve you plate after plate until you’re full, and rotate their options weekly. They asked us what we eat or don’t eat and they prepared some lovely dishes for us with whatever was fresh and available!

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Day one in the city was wonderful! Of course, having only seeing a small section of it, I can’t say much but I certainly enjoyed it! Excited for more exploring!