Hola todos,
The series title runner-up was "Can-Tina?" but the odds are high that I will 1) spend little-to-no time in a cantina and 2) eat my fair share of tacos. (And in the interest of full transparency, I expect many more tacos than tequilas. But I can't help a good alliteration, so here we are.)
After a few days in Arizona to reset my body clock, adjust to the #DryHeat, and grab some cuddles from my parents' dog, it's time for the first leg of my 2024 Odyssey. It has been over a year since I last needed my passport to travel and I. Am. So. Ready!
Day 1: Getting to CDMX
Apparently, my comments in the introductory post about have a "special guest" along for the ride in Mexico City caused a flurry of drama. Sorry, not sorry--the guest is my mom! I'm excited to have this portion of my odyssey be a girls' trip. The last time we did something like this was when she visited me in Buenos Aires.
My dad was our chauffer to the airport--5 stars--and unofficial photog.
We had a morning flight and, since it was international, we wanted to get there with plenty of time to spare. Despite Phoenix's traffic, we got the airport on time and, thanks to no checked bags and TSA pre-check*, it took us about 15 minutes to go from parking lot to departure gate. Talk about "hurry up and wait."
*TSA pre-check is the best $85 you will ever spend. Do it. (And this isn't even sponsored!)
But what fun would a trip be without a plane delay? Upon sitting down at our departure gate, we were notified that 1) the departure gate had just been moved and 2) our flight would be delayed about 45 minutes. But it was direct, so we weren't worried about missing a connection.
We boarded with no further drama and settled in for our 2.5-hour trek. I'm getting sick, so I rested most of the flight--until there was banging on the bathroom door by a flight attendant!? Apparently, an alarm had been triggered in the bathroom and she broke into the bathroom?? Because a man was smoking in it! Talk about #unnecessarydrama. I've never seen that happen before but it was an otherwise quiet flight.
Some views of Mexico City from the plane. At 570+ square miles, it's sprawling!
We got through immigration and customs in record time, even skipping to the front of a passport line because an immigration official took one look at us, asked "United States?", and sent us to the FastPass line. There are benefits to being an obvious gringa, I suppose.
We grabbed an Uber to the hotel, and the two words that kept coming to mind to describe the city were "whimsy" and "colorful." There are so many bright colors--on signs, painted on buildings, and even beautifully elaborate murals on the side of the freeway--and the buildings and city blocks seem a bit haphazard and patchwork, with buildings of different shapes and sizes stacked on one another.
And while we didn't die on the drive in, we probably almost did (several times). But we got to our hotel in one piece, got checked in, and then got ready to set off and explore our neighborhood... except it had just started to rain! And over the course of several minutes, it only seemed to get worse. But we were hungry (because of the flight and transit to the city, we essentially skipped lunch) and wanted to get out and about! (And y'all know I get *hangry*!) As we were driving to the hotel, I noticed that we had passed a well-known taqueria just one block away. I figured we could make a run for it and start our trip off with some tacos while we waited for the rain to abate.
Apparently this place blew up even more after Dua Lipa went here. But Taqueria Orinoco was delicious in its own right. We each ordered one of each kind of taco they have (al pastor, beef, and pork) and something called a costra, which I had never had before. It's like a taco with a cheese "crust" on top. I really didn't think the simple taco could be significantly improved, but I was wrong! The costra is a fabulous gastronomical innovation. The dishes were also accompanied by a platter of small jars of salsas and lime wedges. I tried the mild salsas but the waiter made sure to let us know which ones were muy picante. (Even though no one at the restaurant spoke English and I spoke Spanish while ordering, they obviously had my number as a spice weakling. My mom, on the other hand, can handle the spice!)
The food was delicious, and a great first meal. But way more than we bargained for. We needed to get out and walk around a bit, and fortunately for us, the rain had stopped. We checked out the neighborhood near our hotel, which had vibrant shops and restaurants and a pedestrian street market.
We then ventured over to the Paseo de la Reforma, a main tree-lined boulevard that stretches for several kilometers from where we were up into the historic city center.
It was getting dark quickly, though, and we didn't want to be out in an unfamiliar area too late. So we hit up a convenience store to stock up on waters (you can't drink the tap water here) and return to the room. A successful first few hours in Mexico City!
Besos,
Tina the ExploraDora
Step count: 9,420
Taco count: 3
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