CDMX: Tacos & Tequila (Day 4)

Hola todos,

Today was an excursion day to Coyoacan, a neighborhood about a 30-minute drive outside of the heart of Mexico City. We had timed tickets for the Frida Kahlo Museum, so we set off for that first.

Feeling like transit pros, we grabbed our local bus and set off for Coyoacan. There was one transfer, and I was confident that Google Maps would guide us correctly. But alas, my premature confidence was quickly eroded when the bus stop where we were supposed to catch our transfer didn't exist... Other buses were passing right by us and a few confusedly stopped for us when we waved them down to ask if they went to Coyoacan. They were replying with something to the extent of "that bus [or route or stop] doesn't exist anymore." Nevertheless, we persisted and eventually got to Coyoacan.

Online guides advised that we grab the earliest ticket times possible (10 a.m.) and show up 30 minutes before our timeslot to get in line. We're glad we did, since a substantial line formed and the museum felt pretty crowded after we made our way through.

 

The Frida Kahlo Museum is in the artist's childhood home in which she also lived as an adult. It's a beautiful U-shaped complex with fountains and green space inside. The museum focuses less on her art and more on her possessions and her life, and on how these tied in to her artwork. The museum had a wide variety of her personal effects on display, with portions of rooms standing just as they were on the day she died. Sketches and rough drafts, diary entries, personal photos, decorative sculptures, and even her wheelchair and back braces.

 

One of her bedrooms and her kitchen.

The complex's courtyard also had beautiful water features, like this fountain.

After walking around the museum, we decided to do a make-shift walking tour through Coyoacan. We stopped by the Mercado Coyocan, a sprawling indoor market with food stalls, and the artisan market across the street in a local park.

We then explored the Plaza Coyoacan, teeming with artisans selling their wares, musicians, and families. It was a lovely area to walk through and check out the small shops and houses on side streets. We also ended up finding a bench and sitting in the plaza for probably a few hours just people-watching and soaking in how the locals seem to spend a Sunday afternoon.

One entrance to the plaza.

 

Coyoacan is named for the coyotes that used to populate this area. This fountain in the middle of the Plaza pays homage to the region's namesake.

 

The Parroquia San Juan Bautista is a Fransican church that was built in the mid-1500s. Or, at least, that is when construction started. I think they finished over 100 years later in the early 1700s. It had a very austere exterior, but was gorgeous on the inside.

Big food stall culture here--and the streets were increasingly taken over by tents and stands as the day went on.

Bistec taco and chicken flautas for my lunch today.

As the day went on, more and more performers put on shows in the plaza. This was a cultural dancing troupe.

After spending most of the day in Coyoacan, we decided to finish it there, too--a nightcap at a little cafe a few blocks from the plaza.

This was one of my favorite days in Mexico City thus far--Coyoacan is small enough to be manageable and has a distinct life of its own separate from Frida Kahlo's history there. There was plenty to do and see, and as we were leaving, the nightlife was just picking up.

Besos,

Tina the ExploraDora

Step count: 60,654

Taco count: 8

CDMX: Tacos & Tequila (Day 3)

Hola todos,

Another day, another part of this city to explore. And now that we’re bus experts, it’s time to grab our metrobus card and go. Vamonos!

On today’s agenda was tackling the National Archaeology Museum. I’d read that it was large and overwhelming, and visitors recommended choosing a few exhibits to concentrate on. Our main goal was to keep learning some history and get more context for our upcoming Teotihuacan tour in a few days.

The exterior (L) and interior (R) plazas of the museum.

The museum had a ton of originals and replicas of cultural artifacts from early indigenous peoples through the Aztecs. The designs and details on the hand-made sculptures and structures were stunning. A lot of art students were walking around with their sketch pads, which was cool to see.

An exhibited burial site.

 

This was a to-scale mock-up of a court used for a ritual ball game (that sometimes ended in bloody human sacrifice).

 

While there was some context in the displays, we would have really benefitted from a guided tour or even an audio tour. There were just so many pieces and it was hard to know how they all related to the history of this region, or why they were significant.

After a few hours there, we decided to walk along the top of the Bosque Chapultepec to the Polanco neighborhood. It’s relatively quiet and felt "upscale residential". There were so many trees and it was beautifully green, and there was clearly a fun brunch culture in the restaurant area of the neighborhood.

 

We stopped for a bite a Cafebreria El Pendulo, a local chain of bookstore-cafes. (So you *know* I was in Heaven.) There was some live music for a bit, and it was nice to rest our feet in a nerdy-yummy ambiance.

We walked off our late lunch through Lincoln Park, named after Abraham Lincoln. It was a bit of a maze, and there were little water features. Since it was a Saturday, families were out and about.

Then we walked along what was supposed to be Polanco's equivalent to Fifth Ave.... but we didn't see a ton of super duper high end stores. But a pleasant walk nevertheless!

 

A famous Insta spot attached to the TANE jewelry store. And since I'm a #TravelInfluencer, I *had* to stop for a pic. (And peep Mama Seideman--isn't she so cute?!?)

A display found along a busy Polanco street.

We circled around back to the Mercado Escondido, or Hidden Market, to see what the online hype was about. It was small and a bit underwhelming--a definite pass if you're coming to town.

We caught the bus back to the hotel to recuperate, rest, and rehydrate before heading out for some evening activities. Our first stop was Cafe Nin, a *super* vibey cafe/bar. My amateur photography can't do it justice, but the brick walls, the lighting, and the floor tiling all contributed to a fabulous vibe throughout the place. We had drinks and dessert (yes, before dinner--hey, life is uncertain!) and soaked up the ambiance.

Next, we were off to Taquitos Frontera in the Roma Norte neighborhood. It was about a 10 minute walk, but it rained the whole time. So we were a little wet when we hurriedly shuffled into the restaurant. Fortunately, it was a pretty casual place. My mom got soup and I got, you guessed it, tacos: one al pastor, one pollo. The salsas were decidedly picante, so I stayed away.

Bellies full, we headed back to the hotel to strategize for tomorrow. Buenas noches!

Besos,

Tina the ExploraDora

Step count: 47,867

Taco count: 7

CDMX: Tacos & Tequila (Day 2)

Hola todos,

It was a beautiful day for us to hit the calles and explore the streets of Mexico City. And we had a morning walking tour to get to. Vamonos!

El Angel, the statue and bus stop near our hotel.

Our first adventure of the day was grabbing the bus to get downtown. It wouldn't have been difficult, except for the fact that neither my mom nor I had bothered to do any research into 1) how to obtain a public transit card, 2) whether we would need individual cards or could share swipes, and 3) how much each trip would cost. So we floundered at the station's machine for a few minutes, successfully getting one card, until two extremely kind women took pity on us. One offered to pay our bus fares, which was so generous. But we had a transfer and I knew that her short-term help was just a band-aid--we needed to learn the system! They told us that we could use just one card between the two of us and that trips were MXN $6 (6 pesos), roughly 35 cents, each. And then one of the women got on the bus with us and, after finding out we were headed downtown, told us that she was headed that way too and could chaperone us the whole way. These interactions--the sheer kindness and generosity of complete strangers--are the ones that make international travel so rewarding.

It was rush hour and the bus should have been packed, but we all got seats. In comparison to New York, the orderliness of getting onto the buses and the lack of fare evasion is almost shocking. The buses are cleaner, cheaper, and more frequent than in NYC.

The back of the bus was reserved for women and children, noted by the pink handles and poles. I've also read that subway train cars have similar reserved spaces.

We successfully made one bus transfer with our guide in the lead, and we got into the downtown area. We were now in the centro historico, surrounded by layers and layers of history (literally--archaeologists have found ruins underneath plazas and buildings), important government and cultural sites, and a weird blend of both people dressed in business attire and tourists.

We were a bit early for our walking tour, so we walked around to get a feel for the area. We stumbled across their supreme court, so of course I had to snag a photo! I'm pretty sure the security guards were a bit surprised to have someone excitedly stop for a pic.

We also stumbled across this Franciscan church/convent. If I translated the sign correctly (the odds of which are decent but not 100%), Hernan Cortes stayed here in the 1500s during a portion of his time in what would become Mexico City. Wild.

I loved walking through the streets before they were flooded with tourists and seeing what local life is like. There was a pedestrian street that doubled as some sort of breakfast/hot foods mall. People were buying lunch sandwiches for later in the day, hot coffee and fresh-squeezed orange juice para llevar, and chicken and beef tacos to eat right then and there. Pastries and churros were also in the mix.

I got a scrambled egg sandwich. The default toppings were mayonnaise, avocado, and cheese. I opted out of the mayo and got it toasted. (This sando set us back 30 pesos, or roughly $1.50 USD.)

We met up with our walking tour and got started on what would be two hours and thirty minutes of a history refresher and some fabulous sightseeing. (We did this free walking tour with Oscar. I totally recommend!) I say "history refresher" because I learned a lot about Mexican history, especially the rich history of Mexico City, in my Spanish classes in high school. It was really cool to finally be in the place where the stories I heard a decade ago actually happened.

Our first stop was the Metropolitan Cathedral, built in the most ancient part of Mexico City and right next to the Aztec's main temple. The Cathedral was even built using portions of the Aztec temple. The building that exists today took roughly 250 years to complete and so contains several architectural styles that are incorporated throughout the design. It's certainly not the most ornate cathedral that I've been in, but it was quite beautiful. And several altars and chapels had beautiful and ornate designs.

 

The red stone in the exterior of the Cathedral is volcanic stone.

Oscar told us that because Mexico City was built over a lake, it is sinking about 10-15 centimeters each year. (If you do the math, that is roughly 4-6 inches per year. Which sounds too dramatic. But Google agrees and some reporting places that number at an even more dramatic 40 centimeters per year!) Meaning that lots of buildings are leaning slightly in weird directions and there are occasional gaps between sidewalks and the buildings they're up against.

Something that my mom and I noticed separately was that the streets are fairly clean, even in the highly trafficked downtown area. There aren't piles of trash or litter on the sidewalks or streets. But there also aren't a lot of trash cans? Confusing, but appreciated.

The tour took us past two buildings exhibiting styles influenced by Arab design, in vogue in Spain at the time these buildings were made.

This one is called the Casa de Azulejos, named for its decorative tiling on the walls.

We walked by the ruins of the Templo Mayor, the main Aztec temple complex on which downtown Mexico City was built. The detailed stonework is incredible, and even more so when you consider that the Aztecs lacked modern engineering tools!

The Palacio Postal (below) is a functioning post office. It was built by an Italian architect, and the metal gates and marble floors were imported from Italy. It was the first building in the city to get electricity and an elevator, and it was beautiful to walk around and see.

And no walking tour would be complete without food recs--one street is well-known for its frequent food stalls that cater quick snacks, or anteojitos, to locals.

So, after the tour was over, we walked over to a food stall for some fresh, hot lunch. I got a tostada and a taco, and my mom got a sope. The dishes were loaded--hypothetically, they're supposed to be snackies. But they're basically full meals each.

A husband-and-wife pair manned the grill, and their son assisted with the toppings and the cash.

My mom's sope. The green stuff on top is grilled cactus!

We were both pretty tired from the walking tour and dehydrated (the sun had come out and the day was warmer than we had anticipated). And I'm recovering from whatever cold I have. So we decided to head back to the hotel for a quick midday siesta. We took an Uber (unusual for me, I know, but they're so cheap here!) and almost died several times. It appears that traffic rules are mere suggestions, and there were a handful of instances where we or another vehicle drove against the flow of traffic.

Back at the hotel, some water and a little nap in an air-conditioned room perked us right back up. We set off for some late afternoon walking in the Bosque de Chapultepec, a huge park.

The park has a ton of trees, so the walk was nicely shaded and a beautiful array of greens. And there's a sizeable body of water in the park where folks rent peddle boats for water adventures.

We eventually headed back towards the hotel, keeping our eyes open for a dinner spot. We landed at San Burgos Tacos for some tortilla soup and local culture. I also grabbed an al pastor taco because I just can't help myself. The soup bowls were *loaded* with tortilla strips and were super flavorful. We got a side of extra tortillas, not expecting the soup to be so dense. (The waiter did a double-take when we ordered the tortillas... we should have known.)

The food here also came with a sauce assortment, with flavors ranging from creamy lime-cilantro (light green) to super spicy (black, orange) to sweet and lemony (yellow). We used the extra tortillas to sample the salsas.

We ambled back to the hotel to unwind and rest up. We're both a bit sunburnt from today's walking, so we'll have to better about sunscreen tomorrow!

Besos,

Tina the ExploraDora

Step count: 32,925

Taco count: 5