TIME VISITED: May 2017 BUSY ? Mexico City is always busy
WEATHER: 80s and sunny rained 1/2 day REASON FOR VISIT: Work conference
WHERE TO STAY: Boutique Hotel or Airbnb EXPENSIVE?: $
OH WOW THIS CITY.
I booked my trip to Mexico City just a week before the day I arrived there. I was working a HORRIBLE desk job and the guy I’m seeing, said “I have to go to Mexico City for work, quit your job that you hate and come with me.” It had been a few months since I had been on a plane, and for me, this was the longest I had gone in the past two years, so I bought my ticket at lunch and quit my job a few hours later.
BEST. DECISION. EVER.
Of course the first thing I heard from friends and family was “Oh no, Mexico City, it isn’t safe don’t go there.” Insert eye roll emoji. Oh Americans, I tell you. If I were to go to Detroit or Los Angeles for the weekend they’d all reply “OMG have a blast!” Now, this doesn’t mean I don’t pay attention to my surroundings, but I think you should do that everywhere you travel to! It is not fair to watch the news once and assume Mexico City has incredibly high crime and is unsafe throughout the entire city.
I am here to inform you that I experienced quite the opposite. Mexico City is a booming beautiful and what I experienced, safe city. So first, some fun facts about Mexico City.
- Greater Mexico City is home to 22 million people! This makes Mexico City the most populous metropolitan area in the Western hemisphere!
- Mexico City is quickly growing to one of the top “foodie” destinations in the world
- Not only is it a gorgeous city, you can venture just 45 minutes outside the city to see the Teotihuacan Pyramids dating back to 100 BC!
- The city is home to 6 different markets
- The city is home to over 150 museums
I reference the term “little american brain” many times in my posts because it is simply the truth. I love my country but it just seems we are ill informed on so many things. At least I will admit that I am. Many people think you land in Mexico City and see an underdeveloped poor city. Well I learned that was not the case extremely quickly when an Uber Eats Bicycle zoomed past me 2 minutes after entering the city. This city is extremely advanced! They have companies and services Chicago and Los Angeles are even behind on! I couldn’t believe it.
GREAT RESTAURANTS IN THE AREA
We arrived in Mexico City and immediately needed tacos. We were told to walk down the side street from the hotel we were staying at. We arrived at a small restaurant called TACONENTA. When we tried to google this place the next day we couldn’t find anything online so it is tough to give directions or give more info but we did love it! We ordered one of each taco. My favorite was the Tripa had no idea what that was but google knew this one. PIG INTESTINES. Should have never looked. This was a great late night snack but I wouldn’t see you need to seek it out, so many amazing tacos in Mexico City. Hard to find a bad one! Definitely go out and explore and find a little taco joint of your own!
PORFIRIO’S
Our first dinner recommendation came from a friend of a friend. We were quite hesitant at first because we read it was a chain restaurant. But the more reviews we heard and since a local did recommend it, we thought let’s give it a try!
Wow were we impressed. Not only was the food fresh and incredible, our service was spectacular. You would have thought we were royalty. So patient with our terrible Spanish and was so informative. He was also quite the salesman. Got us to try their Jose Cuervo Tequila. At first we thought oh no sir we want something better than that! He then explained that this was a limited edition Extra Anejo Reserva de la Familia Jose Cuervo Tequila. Sooooo smooth. Almost seemed too smooth, didn’t know that was possible, this stuff could get you into a lot of trouble! It was a splurge, but it was worth it for us! As for the food we tried their guacamole, fundido, tuna tartar, skirt steak tacos, and fundido. We couldn’t believe how cheap the food was for how much we got and how amazing the quality was! I do have to say it did look a bit too much like a chain on the inside, but the quality of food and service made you forget about that. We would definitely go back!
DE MAR A MAR
This restaurant was a 2 minute walk from the downtown Marriott. I typically prefer to stay at an Airbnb than a hotel, but Jake was there for work and it was set up prior to me booking my plane ticket! This little restaurant was incredible. As you can see from the pictures the decor was adorable. We enjoyed the tuna ceviche (Ceviche Blanco) and it was the best we have ever had! Seafood is extremely fresh, adorable decor, and excellent service! Dreaming of this place now as I write about it. I also loved their ginger cucumber drink! Absolutely give this a try when visiting Mexico City.
DAYS 2, 3 & 4
EXPLORE MUSEUMS AND MARKETS
FRIDA KAHLO MUSEUM
From the Mexico City Marriott Reforma Hotel it was a 30 minute uber that cost me $4.
I only have one picture from the Frida Kahlo Museum. Typically you will see pictures of the adorable blue building but it’s better in person! You can pay a bit extra to take pictures while you are in there, but when I give myself that option I find myself more focused on taking pictures then focusing on the information I could learn in the museum, so I opted out. Besides the pyramids, this was my favorite part of Mexico City. I can’t begin to tell you how much this museum moved me. I knew who Frida Kahlo was before I got here but I was unaware how truly miraculous she was.
You know those moments and you think wow I truly think this past hour changed me? That is how I felt about this museum. She was such an interesting, intriguing, and inspirational woman. So fierce. I also was unaware of all the hardships she encountered in her lifetime. I wish I could have rented out the museum to myself for a day and took my time reading every single thing. My favorite I saw on the wall was
“El diablo es rubio en sus azules ojos dos estrella iras incendio el amor con su corbata y sus calzones rotos el diabo me parece ex catador
The devil is blonde and in his blue eyes love was signed by two little stars in his tie and red breeches, I find the devil quite charming”
In their kitchen (which I must mention was so bad ass) there was this quote.
“If we are not our colors, aromas, our people, what are we?”
Also I learned about her obsession with maternity she had the intra uterine life poster, showing the phenomenon of reproduction. I learned that this obsession started when she found out she could not have kids. Frida went through 22 surgeries since the age of 6, multiple causes for these surgeries. Then at the age of 18 was on a bus and a tram hit the bus she was on and a pole went right through her stomach, she miraculusly survived but was unable have children.
During her recovery, she painted in bed, even in a body cast. She was resilient to say the least.
There was also a special exhibit running when I was there. There were trunks of some of her old clothes she had kept hidden for a long time and recently discovered. There was a lot of her dresses displayed. Learned that after he surgeries, her leg slowly started to deteriorate, she wore long dresses and multiple socks on one side to hide this.
What I have shared here is about 1% of the info you will learn heading to the museum. I am typically not a museum person, but this changed that. The museum is small but plan to spend at least an hour there. Lines are long so I recommend purchasing your ticket prior, here on the museums website. Enjoy!
http://www.museofridakahlo.org.mx
MERCADO DEL CARMEN COYOACAN
I walked from the Frida Kahlo Museum to one of the many markets in Mexico City! I was on the hunt for mamey juice. I kept reading about it blog after blog and had to know what it was all about! This market was insane! Ranging from stunning flower bouquets, homemade leather bound journals, fresh fruit and juice, birds, seafood, YOU NAME IT. So colorful! I came upon a colorful booth with many different juice choices. Finally found mamey! I enjoyed a fresh mamey juice for one dollar and the worker asked to practice his english talking to me ! I got this a lot wandering around Mexico City, I think it is the coolest thing. So fun, but I should really be practicing my Spanish. One day I will be brave enough to ask. In my opinion mamey is very similar to papaya but a bit more sweet. So maybe a mango-papaya mix!? As I spoke with this man more a woman came over and approached me with fresh mamey so I bought a few from her! There is also a specific artist market just around the corner from this one that I also recommend you check out! Some booths are just kids trying to sell their art they make after school for fun, others are very talented work workers, there is a little of everything!
LA SELLA CAFE
After the market I walked to small cafe to enjoy a drink, charge my phone and get some internet to call home. The decor in this cafe was so cute! I loved the spiral staircase and there was plenty of seating! I am not a coffee drinker and the menu was in Spanish, so I have no idea what I ordered! But I know it had tequila in it and tasted like coffee! BUT I do know it was delicious, had whipped cream and was served super cute!
I must be honest about eating at the markets. I was not as careful as I should have been. Mexico City may be safer than most think but when it comes to drinking the water STAY AWAY. The locals don’t even drink it. I must have ate some veggies that were washed in the local water and I got very sick! Please don’t make the same mistake I did. This kept me from a day of exploring the museums so I don’t have as much information on them as I’d like but here a list of Trip Advisor’s Top Ten! ! So many to choose from!
DAY 5
TEOTIHUACAN PYRAMIDS AND OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE TOUR
If you are in Mexico City I would say the top two things to do are see the Frida Kahla Museum and this tour! We loved this so much! You can do a join in tour for $30 each, but we decided to pay a bit more ($50) to get a private tour through our hotel. Our tour guide, Raul, was so incredible, if you ever want to go on his tour e-mail me and I will pass along his information! He will take you out to the pyramids and after to Our Lady of Guadalupe church in the middle of the city. Both were so beautiful. At the end of the pyramid tour they also teach you a bit about where the tequila and mezcal come from in Mexico! Super informative and tasty of course!
Sun and Moon Pyramids
If you are flying from the US there are super cheap round trip flights out of Chicago! I booked mine just a week in advance and paid less than $400!