…by Mexico City….
I’m not sure what I was expecting from Mexico City when I agreed to meet my travel buddy, Jody, there for a few days before we headed out to San Miguel de Allende for a “girls” weekend with some former work buddies. Lately, I had read that Mexico City is an up and coming travel destination boasting excellent food, amazing accommodations, incredible art and interesting architecture. But, I had no idea that I would find so much there in my four days of exploration. I left there feeling totally blown away……..and totally wanting more.
Mexico City is divided into neighborhoods much like those that I found in Buenos Aires when I visited a few years back. We visited……or at least passed through……most of the neighborhoods that tourists frequent and found each one to be interesting in its own way with its own unique characteristic.
Our first exploration was in the area around our hotel in the “Zocalo” neighborhood, which is the heart of the city. Our hotel was directly across from a grand cathedral planted in the middle of a large square.
The hotel has a rooftop restaurant where we had breakfast every day, evening drinks and a few light dinners.
From this vantage point, we had a great view of the “action” around the cathedral as well as other interesting points in the square. Much to our surprise, this included an ice skating rink, of all things, at one end, which we decided was probably a leftover from Christmas.
We wandered through the square on our first day, which happened to be Sunday, and found a group of people who had come by to be “purified” in a traditional ceremony.
The “purification” ceremony was, of course, of interest to us, as we thought that we may also need to be “purified”.
One can never be too sure. After some close observation, though, we decided that we were “pure” enough and, so, didn’t participate. But, Jody did come across someone who we both thought would make a fine next husband for one of us….very cute…well built with a very tight butt….and, as a bonus, very creative attire.
We left the ceremony and did some more wandering through the Zocalo section and discovered a lovely park…..
……..lots of street vendors and a multitude of art museums.
One of the museums had a classical music concert being projected on a screen outside. There were lots of local people sitting in rows listening to the music. What a lovely way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
Jody and I are both veteran travelers, so this next point of interest will be hard to believe. Neither of us anticipated that we might have cool weather. Jody was a little more prepared than I was, with a light sweater, thin scarf and some closed toed shoes.
But, not me!
I came with the clothes I would wear at home at this time of the year….light tops, summer weight pants and summery shoes. I did have a sweater. But, as Jody pointed out, its weave had large holes, which wouldn’t provide much warmth with morning and evening temperatures anywhere from 35-55 degrees. So, we spent a fair amount of time on the first day on the shop-lined pedestrian street behind the hotel shopping for an outfit of warm clothes for me. I bought a sweater jacket, long sleeved shirt and a scarf that I used mostly as a blanket. With my funny brown packable hat, I looked like a true local.
I wore this getup every day…..same shirt, different day as they say. I am still wearing the outfit on my travel back home.
You are lucky to be reading this from another location! I desperately need a change!
In our Zocalo neighborhood we also found the first in a 10 day line-up of very inexpensive, but excellent food experiences. Our best deal on food, was at a pizza restaurant on one of the side streets from our hotel. We had 2 bottles of water, 2 Heinekens and 2 personal sized pizzas for about $10. And, it was good!
It was also here that we learned the Spanish word for bottle…..botella….for those of you who don’t know. The waiter had no English and I almost ended up with a “draft” beer, which would be just fine in the United States. But, I wasn’t sure about Mexico. I am a careful drinker in places where the water is suspect. Is there water in “draft” beer? No idea….and no reason to tempt fate. But, we had a good evening snack and a lot of fun trying to communicate with the wait staff.
So, we decided after our first day, that we were going to like this city. And, I decided that my maneuver through the complications of getting out of my small town for this adventure would be worth the effort if the other days were as good as this one!
I was hopeful………
….and blown away by my first day in Mexico City……
Travel With Betsy 
Leave a comment