Oct 8th-10th: Days 10-12
These three days were really fun because we took a vacation from our vacation!! Veronica and I got up really early and took a cab to the bus station so we could grab a bus to Acapulco! We paid extra to take the luxury bus that had large lounge chairs and mini TVs. They give you drinks and snacks on the bus as well! Unfortunately the TV shows and movies available were ALL in Spanish so we just listened to music and napped. It is a 5 hour bus ride, but we were quite comfortable and the drive is very scenic so it passed quickly.
Many people have this misconception that Mexico City is hot, but it is actually at quite a high elevation so it is more spring like in temperatures year round. Luckily when we were there it was beautiful weather each day, but we really needed to head to the coast to relax in the hot sun.
We checked into our hotel, Fiesta Americana and were immediately blown away by the great customer service. We quickly got to our room and found this:
A view!! I have never had a room with a view before because I am too cheap to pay for upgrades. A lot of rooms in the hotel had a view (it was in the middle of the bay) but it was also the off season, which I think contributed to the room and the service we received there.
We then spent the next 3 days here:
The beach where we were is not great, but it is near the bars and restaurants. The pool and poolside service were so great, however, that we felt no drive to go to the beach anyway. We first got down to the pool and ordered some drinks. When they came over we got double because it was happy hour! with tip each drink was only $3. Oh yay baby.
That night we left the hotel in search of food. We were there on a Monday and Tuesday night in the off season but it was still surprising when we picked a large seafood restaurant on the water we were the ONLY people there. The food and drinks were sooo good. At one point a magician came to entertain us and we also saw a guy go bungee jumping at the bungee jump place right next to our table (haha!)
Tuesday morning came and I told Veronica we HAD to order room service because I never ever order room service and I wanted some pancakes! So we did and let me tell you, those pancakes were some of the best I ever had.
Then we went down to the pool and I told our waiter, Noe, that i had seen people drinking from pineapples and coconuts the day before and we 100% needed one of each of those stat. He laughed and said he would be right back. About 20 minutes later these amazing beauties showed up.
They made my vacation. All the kids swimming in the pool came over to see and begged their parents for them. After enjoying our amazing drinks we got down to some sun tanning and swimming. We both wore sunscreen and reapplied but by late afternoon we could tell we had gotten burnt. I burned my back mostly, but poor Veronica was like a little tomato as the hours went on. She did sum up the courage to go to dinner at this nice steak house (I had amazing ravioli) but she couldn't finish her steak and brought it back to the room. It was lucky we turned in early because only 1 hour later a HUGE storm hit like I had never seen before! Thank goodness we weren't outside!
The next morning we went back to pool (in the shade of course this time). But by early afternoon it was time to pack up and take the bus back to Mexico City. Poor Veronica was such a trooper!!
Oct 11th: Day 13
Thursday was our last day of sightseeing and we made it count by getting up early (again, ugh) and catching a bus that was going to Villa de Guadalupe and to Teotihuacan, the pyramids outside the city! The Villa de Guadalupe is a sacred spot in the city where a vision of the virgin Mary (Guadalupe in Mexico) was seen in the 1500s. There are now 7 churches in this small area and they day we went there was a pilgrimage from villagers outside the city and it was PACKED. The churches were nice, but it isn't really mine or Veronica's thing.
Then finally we loaded back on the bus and headed to the pyramids! It was hot hot hot there, like the desert. But it was really cool and we enjoyed the long walk around the grounds and see all the ruins!
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| Pyramid of the Sun |
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| Pyramid of the Moon |
The Pyramid of the Sun is the larger of the two pyramids and I had to climb it (I mean, it was THERE. I had to!) but Veronica wasn't in the mood for the rough climb so she stayed at the bottom and did some mad negotiation of souvenirs for me while I climbed myself (Thanks Vee!). Unfortunately they closed the very last set of stairs but I did climb almost to the top! I was so winded but it was pretty cool.
I have to tell this one story because it is ridiculous. This one lady in our tour group (there were about 15 of us and the tour was in English and Spanish- she was in the Spanish group but I don't know her nationality) was wearing SIX INCH STILETTOS! Take a look at the stuff we were climbing!! We kept waiting for her to fall and yep, it eventually happened. She was walking down some steps and fell hardcore and took another lady down with her! We ran over and she seemed ok but clearly hurt her wrist (not broken at least from what I could tell). The tour guide and a police officer took her away and when she joined us again later she had a huge cast. Everyone in the group thought this woman was crazy!!
Anyway, after the pyramids we went to a local shop where they make silver jewellery and statues from this very hard black rock called Obsidian that can only be cut with diamonds. We also learned all about the Agave plant and it was really neat! Plus we got some tequila ;)
Oct 12th: Day 14
On our last full day in Mexico City, Veronica and I slept in and then took it easy and packed. We also made one more trip out for fresh juice! Finally that night we got to see Olga's daughter Sofia (she had been at her Grandfather's and then we were in Acapulco when she got back) and got to give her all the presents we had bought for her in Canada. She seemed to love everything and we had fun playing and reading books before bed.
Oct 13th: Day 15
Our last day :(
Olga made us all a delicious pancake breakfast and then we played a bit more with Sofia but heading back to the airport. We gave Olga a HUGE hug and thanked her for hosting us for two weeks and then climbed into that cab. It was a sad moment!
We then headed straight to the duty free in the airport to drown our sorrows in tequila ;). The duty free was amazing here!! This guy got us samples of the tequilas we wanted to try and then some lady made us margaritas! heck ya! However our happiness was broken once again when we realized that because of our stopover in the US, we couldn't buy ANY duty free! NOOOOOO!! Ugh. I was so pissed. Basically America makes you go through security again after you land there to get on your connecting flight and therefore you can't have a giant bottle of alcohol because it is the normal 3oz liquid rule. It is silly because we clearly haven't left the airport!
Sigh, but our flight back was otherwise uneventful. Our flight to Toronto from Atlanta turned out to be oversold, but someone we still got assigned seats together AND they were right behind first class and we had about 4 ft of foot space. I couldn't barely touch the chair in front!
Once we landed we got through customs amazingly fast for Pearson airport and then my mom and stepdad met me at arrivals and drove me home to my own bed at last!
Thus ends my Mexico adventure. It was an amazing two weeks. I kept waiting for something to go wrong, or rain to ruin a day, or even to get ripped off by a cab or something. But, besides a sunburn, the trip was seamless, amazingly fun, and overall quite low budget. Over two weeks of touring, eating, and drinking (obviously we had no hotel expense except in Acapulco) I only spent $1000 max. And I never said no to anything! Our flight was about $500, so overall we are looking at $1500 total for two weeks of amazing adventures.
I don't know if I would be comfortable going to Mexico City without knowing someone as Olga and her friends and family definitely helped us with language barriers and daily plans. But if you are up for a bit of an adventure, I would totally recommend you try a week in the city next time you are in Mexico!!
or Olga could take a second job as Mexico City tour guide for foreigners)))
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