Mexico City: Days 6-9

Back to my Adventures in Mexico!

Oct 4th: Day 6

I was starting to feel a little under the weather by this point. I was battling a cold and the food and change of routine was causing me stomach aches. But I didn't want to waste any time so I dragged myself out to go see some more sights!

First we went to Diego Rivera's studio, which was a short walk from our house. You had to pay extra for photos at this museum (we found this at a lot of small museums) so my friend took photos and I don't have any. It was pretty interesting but they only has English on the exterior information plaques. Plus WAY too many people were working here and it made us uncomfortable.

Next we went downtown to the Templo Mayor, which was once a large temple of the Aztecs, but now it is just low ruins. They are located in the middle of downtown in the Historical District, so it is easy to get to and you take paths over and through the ruins and then into a museum.

Creepy

 

After the Templo Mayor we went over the Palacio Nacional, which is right nearby, lining one side of the centre square, Zocalo. The Palace is now a government building, but is open to the public to visit. A lot of it was under construction, but we were able to see the murals painted by Diego Rivera and the museum devoted to Benito Juarez.

That night we went out for a delicious dinner at a French restaurant with Olga and her sister Anna. We had wine and I had mussels and then dessert. mmm! And with the exchange rate it only cost me $30! The exchange rate here was amazing.

Oct 5th: Day 7

On the Friday we took it a bit easy as a lot of people get off early on Fridays in Mexico City and we wanted to be fresh for whatever the evening brought. First we took a cab to Frida Kahlo's blue house! This was another pay-for-photos museum, but I have these ones so I get to share! The house was beautiful and we enjoyed walking around the grounds (this is not a long stop- I think we were only here an hour). After Frida Kahlo we walked down the street to the Leon Trotsky house, but I have no photos of that one (Veronica does). It was interesting, but a little creepy with all the shootings that had occurred there- you could still see bullets in some walls!

We then went to our friends' restaurant called Osama Bin Taco (it is Afghan themed tacos!) which we had surprisingly not eaten at yet because they close at 5pm and we usually were still out and about at that time. After feasting on some tacos we walked to a nearby mall, but we found nothing we liked in our price range. Mexico has a great exchange rate for Canadians, but the store Zara has a monopoly down there and really prevents a lot of good, cheap clothing stores from coming in. Mexico City JUST got their first Gap!!

Around this time we got a text from our friend Olga informing us that she had bought us tickets to Luche Libre!! In case you don't know what that is- it is Mexican Wresting with masks and everything. They confiscated my camera at the door (dang!) so I couldn't take any pictures, but let me tell you it was surprisingly entertaining and we really enjoyed ourselves!

After a few beers and too much junk food at the match, we decided we weren't done with our night and ended up at an amazing little restaurant where we had tequila and ginger ales and tapas and paella! mmmm. The prosciutto was amazing!

Oct 6th: Day 8

It was finally Saturday so the whole household slept in before heading out to the markets! I don't really have any photos of the markets, but picture tons of tents with small vender tables under. We went to three different ones, but we really scored big at a pottery stand in the non-tourist market. It was so much fun and really handy having Olga there to negotiate prices in Spanish! In one store Veronica spent about $85 Canadian and did all of her Christmas shopping AND souvenirs. As I said- amazing exchange rate.

That evening Olga was going to a wedding (which we clearly weren't invited to!) so we went with her husband to a party that they were catering that night. Technically we were invited by the host earlier in the week so it wasn't quite crashing :P. It was hard to meet people at first because of our limited Spanish, but we ended up meeting some people who spoke English and had a very enjoyable night. At one point Veronica was drinking a cooler that she had gotten at the 7-11 (It was BYOB) and the host, Fernando, came over and yelled at her for drinking such a sissy drink and threw it in the trash! He then made her some tequila drink, which she seemed to enjoy thankfully. We had been told beforehand that there was going to be a Pinata, but it wasn't there by the time we left around 12:00am (The party reportedly went until 7:30am so I guess it came out later).

We then took a cab to go a crash the wedding Olga was at! Dinner was over so we got in without too much problem from the bouncer downstairs. We were shocked when we came upstairs and found out the reception was on a balcony overlooking the Templo Mayor! SO beautiful! We had a couple of drinks and danced a little before deciding it was time to head home around 3am.

Oct 7th: Day 9

Sunday we all slept in after the crazy night before. We then went out for Barbacoa, which is some sort of meat (lamb? goat?) and it slow cooked in a hole in the ground. Something with blankets too. I don't know. But I didn't really like it so I only had a bit. We then ran some errands, including going to a very crowded bakery that was full of delicious things!! I can't remember what we did for the rest of the afternoon and evening, so we probably hung out at home and caught up after a busy week. I do know that in the evening we planned a very fun mini-vacation from our vacation that I will cover tomorrow!!

Mexico City: Days 1-5

Man, where do I even start to cover my trip? It was simply amazing and I am so sad to be home where it is cold and rainy. Plus I am pretty sure work wants me to show up this week and do work things, which just seems impossible to fathom as I write this. So, here is my attempt to give even a GLIMPSE of my trip to Mexico City!

A little background story. Veronica, Olga, and I used to work together but as time went on we each moved onto new jobs. Then last year Olga, her husband Sebastian, and their daughter Sofia moved to Mexico City, which is where Sebastian is from. Veronica and I decided it was high time to visit them and see the city!

Sept 29th- Day 1
I leave ridiculously early to get to the airport, just in case the TTC decides to have some sort of malfunction. Luckily I get there easily and my friend Veronica is also semi-early so we check in. Unfortunately we forgot to check in BEFORE our flight and so we don't get seats together. Boo. The first leg of our flight is to Atlanta, where we enjoy some TGIFridays before our connecting flight to Mexico. I manage to sweet talk the gate into switching our seats so we can sit together AND we got exit row seating! Sweet legroom! We arrive in the evening to Mexico where we have to wait FOREVER to go through customs only to find out our friend Olga and her sister are stuck in traffic and they end up being an hour late to get us. However, they did roll in on a Avis golf cart which was hilarious and made the trip back to the car fast.

We get home late (11pm?) and quickly change so we can head out to the birthday party of her coworker at a bar. The people there soon find out we from Canada and this is our first time in Mexico so a bottle of tequila is promptly ordered and it was good! I had no idea there was such a thing as good tequila!

Olga and Myself

All in all it was a good first night and we had a lot of fun!

Olga's sister Anna, Veronica, Myself, and Olga

 Sept 30th- Day 2

We awaken from our tequila induced comas and decide to go for a walk through Olga's neighbourhood. She lives near a big TV station and it is a nice neighbourhood with cobblestone streets and a weekend market. The market is better on Saturdays so we only look at the goods (I started to get excited for shopping!). First though, we went for brunch at a fancy inn near their home. I had something with eggs, salsa, and plantains and it was DIVINE.

That night we go to a Brazillian restaurant, which is owned by Olga's sister's boyfriend. We get sooo stuffed with food, but when meat comes by on a giant stick it is hard to say no! We also went to Walmart for some food for Veronica and I and we picked up a cheap cell phone for us to use. You can only buy these cell phones if you are from Mexico, so they aren't really accessible for tourists. It was so useful to have!

Oct 1- Day 3

Monday is here so it is time for Olga and Sebastian to work and therefore Veronica and I strike out on our own for the historical centre downtown. We take a cab, as we will most days because Olga's house isn't near the subway and the subway is hot and crowded. However, it can sometimes be better to take it because traffic is INSANE in Mexico City and it can take a long time to drive anywhere. It is cool that morning, but that was the last time I had to wear a coat on this trip!

Mexico city just celebrated their independence day, hence the decorations. Most sights are closed on Mondays but we did go to the Cathedral, which was beautiful!

Since everywhere else was closed, we took a tour bus around the city to see the sights and that is when the sun finally came out. Poor Veronica burnt her arms!

Veronica and I then got some sushi downtown before heading back to Olga's to hang out with everyone after work. Unfortunately I got a splitting headache and I spent the whole evening in bed. Apparently that can happen with the high altitude of Mexico City, mixed with the pollution too!

Oct 2- Day 4

I woke up feeling much better! Veronica and I had planned to go to the Anthropology Museum this day but it was looking to be a beautiful day so we changed our plans and headed to Chapultepec Park instead! This is park is HUGE and absolutely beautiful. It sits on 2000 acres, and it more than double the size of Central Park, if you need a reference.

First we went to buy some juice at the end of Olga's street.

Mexico loves fresh squeezed juices and I have to agree with them! You can get them everywhere and there are no additives- just fruit thrown in a blender!

Then we took a cab to the free zoo in the park. It was very quiet there, which we later found out was unusual for the zoo. But the animals were active and we saw lots of familiar and unfamiliar species- including pandas, which I had never seen in person before.

After the zoo, we walked through the park to Chapultepec Castle, which houses the National History Museum. The museum was pretty neat, especially the period rooms, but the castle itself was beautiful. It sits on a huge hill and was a beautiful mix of old and modern. It had lovely grounds too, and we enjoyed just walking around and enjoying the beauty of it.

When we had seen all there was to see of the castle, we took a long walk through the park and into a nice area of town called Condesa, where we grabbed some mexican food before taking a cab home. Poor Veronica is allergic to wheat and we had a heck of a time trying to find out if what she wanted had wheat in it. Very few people in Mexico City seemed to speak any English and both of our Spanish is extremely limited. Thankfully we found out the word for wheat and Veronica did not get sick! hurrah!

Oct 3- Day 5

Another beautiful day dawns, so Veronica and I decide to stop waiting for a rainy day and head to the Anthropology museum, which we had heard was the world's best! It did not disappoint! There were all sorts of rooms organized by geographical area and time period and most, if not all of them, also had an outdoor portion.

Inside we saw a lot of amazing artifacts, including the Stone of the Sun (the Aztec Calendar). Not to be confused with the Mayan calendar, which says we are all going to die this winter.

We took the subway to and from the museum this day. It is so hot in there!! But they have special cars for women and children (not always enforced, unfortunately) which tended to be less busy.

Well that is all I have for days 1-5! I wish I could upload more photos but blogger takes FOREVER. I will be back tomorrow with more!!