Trip Report - Mexico
Our Trip & Itinerary
We spent almost a week in and around Mexico City, exploring the city’s unique neighborhoods, sampling its many tasty culinary offerings, and exploring some nearby archeological sites. During our short time here, Mexico City quickly became one of our favorite city destinations of our entire year of traveling. The city has so much to offer and is constantly buzzing with excitement. In these ways it really reminded us of our time living in New York, even with its own version of Central Park, Brooklyn, and The MET.
Mexico City | Centro and Roma Norte
We spent our first several days in Mexico city exploring its bustling center, wandering through different neighborhoods and devouring several heaps worth of excellent food. We elected to stay near Avenue de la Reforma, giving us easy access to several of the city’s landmarks, including Alameda Central - the oldest public park in the Americas. While the park itself is pretty small, it’s surrounded by interesting museums and architecturally significant buildings. Our first stop was the Diego Rivera museum, home to his exceptional Sueño de una Tarde Dominical en la Alameda Central mural. The mural was saved from its original location, the Hotel del Prado, in 1985 after a significant earthquake in the region made the hotel uninhabitable. It was moved in a single piece to its new home, where it’s now surrounded by several more of his pieces as well as a few by his wife, Frida Khalo, and more recent up-and-coming Mexican artists. The mural guides the viewer from left to right, to each person through the decades that had an impact on Mexico’s layered history. We spent a surprising amount of time studying the details in this massive 16 meter (51 foot) wide fresco, then wandered across the park towards another one of its surrounding landmarks, the Palacio de Bellas Artes. Nicknamed “The Art Cathedral of Mexico”, this one hundred year-old performance hall’s neoclassical architecture is a perfect blend of the city’s colonial and modernist elements, topped with a spectacular orange and yellow tile dome. Inside, the space is home to an opulent, art deco interior with its own set of beautiful murals, some of which were also painted by Diego Rivera. The space plays host not only for performing arts events, but also literature events and exhibitions, and while we didn’t have a ticket to the night’s performance, we could hear musician’s warming up just down the hall from the main foyer.
Now, we would have been remiss if we went to Mexico City and didn’t indulge ourselves in its amazing restaurants and taquerias. We started that culinary journey on our first night with a visit to the Michelin guide featured Cariñito Tacos. This standing-only taqueria blends Cantonese and Mexican flavors to create totally unique tacos, so good that we ordered a second round before we’d even finished our first. Over our next several nights in the city’s center, we visited several more of its delicious, cheap, taco spots. Two of our other favorites were Taqueria Orinoco for its simple yet striking creations and Tacos San Burgos Ángel for its incredibly speedy service, while still delivering top-notch tacos. Outside of tacos, the food scene in Mexico City still has so much to offer, we can’t even count how many cafes we walked by and were oh-so tempted to go in for our fourth (or fifth) snacks of the day. Around the corner from our first hotel, we found CUMBÉ Coffee Roasters, a small laid-back cafe with the best cafe mochas we’ve possibly had all year, which is saying a lot! For dinners, the options also seem to go on forever, with new restaurants around almost every corner and bars dotting many of the city’s rooftops. On our final night in the city center, we stumbled upon one of these rooftop establishments at BRAVA. We almost didn’t find it though, as to get there you walk through the isles of a clothing store in a basement, then up a secret elevator to the top floor. We were mildly disappointed when we got to the top floor and realized that the only seats left were at the bar, but we soon didn’t care anymore. Taking our first bites of the pastas and eggplant parmesan we had gotten to share, the world went quiet and all we could do was savor the melty, Italian symphony in our mouths. Each dish here could compete with the best foods we’ve had in our lives, not just on this trip! It was exceptional, amazing, mwah – chef’s kiss! Before our trip to Mexico City we had heard how amazing the food was, but now we’re shouting it from the rooftops to everyone we know! Go for yourself, try the best of what they have to offer, and you’ll want to tour the city just for the food.
Alright, now back to exploring. Returning to our list of top things to do in the city, we visited the beating-heart center of historic Mexico City, the Plaza de la Constitución. Built as the center of the new Spanish colonial city after the Aztec conquests, the plaza was bustling when we arrived, with dozens of sellers hawking their wares to last minute Christmas gift shoppers. We also witnessed dozens of people partaking in a Limpia ceremony, a traditional cleansing of the body and spirit performed by curanderas using traditional plant-based healing rituals. The curanderas stood before their patients, layered in animal skins, red body paint, and feathered crowns. Our first destination just off the plaza was the archeological site of Templo Mayor, at one point the most important temple in the Aztec world. Not much of the religious site remains today, sadly the Spanish destroyed it to build their new city and wipe out reminders of pre-Christian religion. As a result, the temple was actually lost for nearly 400 years, experts thought it was buried underneath what had been built with its remains, the Mexico City Cathedral. In the first half of the 20th century various archeologists pushed to excavate the site around the Cathedral, but it wasn’t until some electrical workers discovered a massive carved stone disk in 1978 that the city committed to working on the site. Today, nearly 50 years later, much of the site has been excavated and visitors are able to imagine how the full temple looked based on the bottom layers that still exist. One silver-lining of the temple’s hispanic destruction is that visitors can now see all seven different expansion eras at one time, getting a view of how the temple grew with different Aztec rulers. Alongside the archeological site, the city has built a terrific museum with endless artifacts from the site and around Mexico, visualizing how the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan grew for nearly 200 years before the Spanish conquests. Having spent two hours at the archeological site learning about the city’s pre-hispanic roots, we made the short walk across the plaza to the Cathedral to see what those Aztec stones had built. Once Hernan Cortez returned to Mexico City after his Central American conquests, he set about building a grand cathedral for this new corner of the Spanish empire in 1573. Things took a bit longer than he expected, as the Cathedral was only officially finished in 1813, 240 years after the first stones were laid. Stepping inside today, the massive space commands attention and is unrivaled among Latin America’s other cathedrals, really only comparable to those in Spain, Italy, and France. Each of the cathedral's 16 chapels and its primary altar, the Altar of the Kings, are finished in gold, reflecting beautiful light across the whole cathedral. While we of course the Templo Mayor deserved to survive in all its magnificence, the Spanish Cathedral built in its place highlights the stunning architectural influence of another time.
Toetihuacán
On our third day in the city, we took a day trip out to Toetihuacán, one of Mexico’s premier archeological sites just northeast of the city. Our day-trip started with our arrival at Autobuses del Norte, Mexico City’s shockingly well organized northern long-distance bus terminal. Sadly, this organization and efficiency did not extend to our bus journey itself, which included an unscheduled bus change, nearly a dozen street sellers who boarded the bus, and one on-board musician who might need a few lessons first. Mercifully, our bus ride was only an hour long this time, and we narrowly escaped without being talked into buying any unnecessary items. We arrived at the archeological park directly in front of its most iconic element, the Pyramid of the Sun. Construction on the pyramid was completed in 100 AD and is still the world’s third largest by volume, dominating the skyline of the park alongside its smaller cousin, the Pyramid of the Moon. In between them runs the Avenue of the Dead, the old city’s main thoroughfare, around which thousands of homes and dozens of other religious structures were built. We started our time at the park by turning left at the Pyramid of the Sun and walking up to the square in front of the Pyramid of the Moon. Here, visitors are able to get a sense of this place’s immense scale by looking down the full length of the four kilometer Avenue of the Dead towards the Ciudadela and Temple of the Feathered Serpent. In the same square, we caught our first glimpse of the impressive wall paintings that have survived for nearly 2,000 years. At its highest point, almost all of Teotihuacán was painted in rich reds, with murals depicting animals, religious ceremonies, and the inhabitants of the city. Today, little remains at the site itself due to preservation efforts, but if you look closely, you can see detailed paintings of lions or surprisingly crisp colors in hidden corners. We followed the site’s suggested path through a partial reconstruction of one of the site's many residences and down into a basement with some of the most impressive remnants of these paintings. We stood quietly, taking in the details of these murals and comparing them to some of the tomb paintings we had seen in Egypt at the Valley of the Kings. Emerging from this lower level, we returned down the Avenue of the Dead and rounded the base of the Pyramid of the Sun, stumbling upon the hidden-gem Teotihuacán Museum. This small museum does a great job explaining the history of the site and is packed with artifacts from the grounds, including a terrific scale model of the whole site and mummified remains. Having already spent nearly two hours at the archeological park by now, we decided to hurry up our pace to fit the rest in, as there’s just so much to see here. We strolled down another kilometer or so of the Avenue of the Dead to the Temple of the Feathered Serpent, which has survived in surprisingly good condition, given its constant exposure to the elements. What remains of the temple is covered in stone sculptures of snake and Tlaloc heads, jutting out of every layer of the pyramid towards visitors. Not wanting to get back to Mexico City too late, we breezed around the rest of the Ciudadela, back through a few partial reconstructions along the Avenue of the Dead and out of the park towards our bus stop. Thankfully our bus ride back to the city didn’t come with the unrequested extras we’d endured on our way out to Teotihuacán. Upon arriving, we cycled through seven (!!!) different disappearing Uber drivers before one finally actually showed up and took us back to the center of town.
Mexico City | Coyoacan
After three days in the center of town, we moved to a slightly quieter part of town, the historic Coyoacan neighborhood, once home to some of Mexico City’s famous individuals, from Frida Kahlo to Leon Trotsky. We posted up in a cozy little Airbnb close to the heart of Coyoacan’s most notable sights, and after leaving our luggage there, we wandered through small twists and turns in the historical streets, each rooftop adorned with fuchsia bougainvillea. The street began to widen and opened up to the main square, the barrio’s epicenter. Street vendors are scattered across the square and restaurants spill onto the cobblestones, all below the impressive walls of the Parroquia San Juan Bautista, a former convent and church founded in the 16th century. The neighborhood is full of hidden spots, vibrant markets, great coffee, and of course, delightful food. The markets offer a huge selection of artisanal products - from painted skulls, to delicate talavera tiles from Puebla, to intricate beadwork. Within one of these markets, the Mercado de Coyoacán, we discovered the most incredible taco place. Trinidad Ritual de Sabores stands out among the other stalls with its boppin’ music, stone countertops, and bustling staff. The first time we went here (yes, we went more than once), we did have to wait for 20 minutes in the lunch rush hour, but the food was well-worth the wait. When we sat down, we were immediately given a massive platter loaded with salsas, pickled veggies, and other goodies for our meal. The menu options are a dream and included an amazing selection of vegetarian options for Sarah. The tacos are juicy and absolutely heaped with perfectly prepared toppings, like zucchini flower, slow-cooked pulled pork, or lightly breaded fish. To top things off, the horchata is homemade with marzipan and a touch of cinnamon - we’ll be dreaming of it forever! It’s easy to see why Frida Kahlo and Leon Trotsky found their homes in this part of town. While their iconic figures are long-gone, Coyoacan has done an amazing job of preserving their homes as they once were, down to the clothes left in their closets. And, given their influence in these parts, the area still attracts creatives and thinkers today. The streets are filled with art spaces and galleries, including one that features the photographic work of one of Frida Kahlo’s descendants! While Coyoacan is fairly far from the hustle and bustle of the city, we found great comfort in taking things slow here, immersing ourselves in the art of all things Mexican.
On our final day in Mexico City, we decided to wander through its version of central park, Bosque de Chapultepec, stopping at many of its most important museums along the way. As we wandered through the quiet pine groves, we couldn’t help feeling a thousand miles from the center of any city. The constant sounds of honking, street vendors, and barking dogs had disappeared, replaced by the hum of the forest and the chirping of birds. This tranquil dream was short lived however, as we were thrust right back into the heart of a weekend market by Lago de Chapultepec. Fighting our way through the feverous pre-christmas crowds we crossed the park’s only road to the National Museum of Anthropology, one of the world’s great institutions. When we arrived, we had no idea how long it would take us to get through this massive museum, we figured an hour or two, in and out, no need to be overwhelmed. Boy, were we wrong. It would have been easy to spend the entire day here, the rooms just seemed to go on forever, and each one was filled to the brim with artifacts alongside detailed explanations. The museum is laid out in chronological order anti-clockwise, starting with our most distant ancestors. Of course we hadn’t come here to relearn our early evolutionary history, but instead had come to see remnants of the Olmecs, Toltecs, Mexica, Aztec, and Mayan peoples. In this regard, the museum did not disappoint. Each significant pre-hispanic culture was given its own section of the museum, diving into the finest details about their peoples’ day to day lives and significant cultural aspects. In the first few rooms we went through we stopped at every display, reading the meaning behind pottery shards and figurines, but by the time we got to the Aztecs, our brains were having trouble fitting any more details in. The sheer size of the museum’s catalog was overwhelming, in the Aztec area alone there are over 2,000 artifacts, enough to keep a particularly studious person entertained for hours in a single room. In the end we spent over four hours making our way through the entire museum, trying to absorb just as much of it as we could and marvelling at the architectural beauty that houses so much history.
With our brains sufficiently fried, we decided to take it easy with a short visit to Mexico City’s Contemporary Art Museum for some relaxing paintings and sculptures. However, and rather unfortunately for us, the art on display here was anything but simple, pleasant colors. Each piece seemed to have a description that detailed how the random blob of clay was about solving world peace or the traditional land rights of South America’s indigenous people. With no relief found in this museum, we abandoned the park and walked off for our final dinner of this primary round-the-world extravaganza. We had chosen to visit Licoreria Limantour for a pre-dinner cocktail or two, followed by an enticing meal at Pigeon, weird name but great food. Licoreria Limantour is ranked among the top 50 bars in the world, yet doesn’t seem as exclusive on first glance. When booking online, we did a bit of research and were told (by trusty Reddit users, of course) to reserve a spot in the Licorería, a speakeasy-style room in the back of the establishment. On arrival, we were escorted through the loud, buzzy main bar, then through a nondescript door at the back. Once inside, everything went quiet. We were seated on the single L-shaped couch in the room, alongside four other guests. We were then briefed on the the menu by Alessandra, who went through the effort of sitting with us to do so. We selected two whisky-based drinks, which the room’s bartender, Cesár, meticulously crafted and hand-delivered when they were perfected. This place is truly a must-visit for CDMX!
Feeling rather boozey, we giggled our way to Pigeon. While Pigeon classifies as fine dining and is mentioned in the Michelin guide, it doesn’t ooze fancy. The food is fairly reasonably priced for a renowned dining experience and the interior is elegant, yet casual. Dishes are a creative blend between different Mediterranean influences – from marinated salmon with labneh to gnocchi with pumpkin flower. Throughout the whole meal, there was an incredible attention to detail and our needs. Fueled by an Old Fashioned, we devoured our meal with passion while nostalgically reminiscing on the last 12 months.
Recommendations
Where We Stayed:
Mexico City
Some of Our Favorite Restaurants:
Mexico City | Centro
Mexico City | Roma Norte
Mexico City | Coyoacán