MEXICO CITY - had to be my last stop!

TUES DEC 16 – DAY 68 - SAN PEDRO SULA, HONDURAS TO MEXICO CITY, MEXICO

Nothing spectacular from Honduras to Mexico.  Took an uber to my AirBNB in Mexico City and I knew immediately I could not stay there.  It looked like a rough part of town.  AGAIN, my phone not working.  I asked the woman if I could use her wifi for 5 minutes and booked the first nicer place I could find in Condesa, a better area. 

I took an uber to the new place, rang the doorbell, and no answer!!  Since my phone was NOT working, I walked to a restaurant area, sat down in an Italian place.  Used their wifi – contacted the place through Expedia – at which point they told me Expedia made a mistake and there was no vacancy. 

At this point it was night time, dark outside, I have no phone and no bed.  I started to feel some panic a bit.  My phone not working was the worst of anything and I was angry about this.  since I paid for an unlimted plan and have had issues in many countries, I will NEVER use Holafly again. 

I booked another AirBnB with good ratings – paid for my $43 Italian meal that actually I did not even enjoy at all, Cartegena pasta was 10x better and this was a specialized itlaian shop run by a Lebanese guy.

The instructions to get into this 8th floor apartment were more what I had seen in Asia.  There were multiple steps with codes and hiding places for keys, lock boxes, etc..

I am carrying my bags, exhausted, upset.. but somehow let myself in as the host was not at home.  This was certainly an upgrade.  The view was spectacular of downtown MX City.  I settled in, showered, and stayed in bed.  Massive windows with views so in the end, I was ok. 

TUES DEC 17 – DAY 69 - MEXICO CITY, MEXICO

I got up at 7, had a coffee and oatmeal pack – still from what I brought from home!  Almost through it. 

Took an uber to Zocalo Square – downtown.  Started my Hop On Hop Off day.  I did half and got off.  Ended up spending my day around Chapultepec Park – what a place.  Went to the National Museum of History, the Bosque de Chapultepec, National Museum of Anthropology, walking down the infamous R. 

I ubered over to a store called Declathon – a Mexican version of Patagonia (sort of lol).  I loved this store, spent time and money here.  Checked out a massive mall across the road.  This area of Polanco is the posh part of town – and it oddly felt very familiar.  I guess North America in general is more high end feeling compared to much of the world. 

I could not catch my bus anywhere.  I ended up running all over the city with a Mexican man named Alejandro Garcia from Jalisco – cutest man ever.  I finally flagged down a bus who did not want to wait, I forced this driver to wait for Alejandro.  What a nice man – we had a good laugh.  We ended up getting caught in a total downpour of rain as well.  Wow. 

My phone stopped working again.  I was in a massively busy area and it was late and dark – so upsetting.  I tried for a very long time to find wifi but it was more of a ‘locals’ area and nobody had wifi.  I walked forever and spotted a Burger King.  Stood outside and ordered an uber.  Finally got home, had ramen noodles, oatmeal and chips for dinner.  Early morning tomorrow!

WED DEC 18 – DAY 70 – MEXICO CITY, MEXICO

My alarm went off at 3:15am!!  I had to be at the pick up point for the tour by 4:15am and it was a 30 min drive and traffic in this city is madness. 

Today I went on a hot air balloon as the end of my trip treat to myself for making it.  And WOW, just WOW. 

We went up with what must have been 100 other hot air balloons.  I was matched with Ella from England and Judith from Louisiana.  We watched the sunrise from the sky.  We floated over the Teotihuacan ruins.  The weather was perfect.  Nothing could have topped this morning really. 

We went for an incredible buffet lunch – it was so good!  I hung out with Holly and Danny from England.  So fun!

We went to some markets, tried different liqueurs, I bought earrings and a ring – they even sized it properly for me. 

Then we went to the Teotihuacan ruins and spent a couple of hours there. Incredible!  Much grander than Chichinitza.  Absolutely amazing. 

Lastly, we ended the day at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe.  There are 3 cathedrals here, actually more if you count the ones just off the properly.  2 MILLION Mexicans come to this basilica every year on Dec 12.  The service was full of people, and our amazing hilarious guide Francisco told me there are services every day of the year and they are always full. 

What a day.

THEN – I ubered – and..  it is incredible the stories you hear in these ubers.  Omar, my driver told me he is doing an ayahuaskca ceremony in 2 days.  I couldn’t believe it- I don’t think I have ever met someone who has done that.  Traffic was so bad so we ended up driving for an hour together – he missed a number of streets just because we were talking lol – you definitely meet all kinds while traveling that is for sure. 

I dropped in at my place, brushed my teeth and hair, changed, and headed to my cooking class.  We made I think 10 things she said on the ad?.. I was in a class with 5 girls from Chicago all 23 yrs old.  Wow.  I felt like their mama.  But they made me feel so welcome, they all wanted to connect on Instagram.  I even woke up to this message from one of them the next day. 

Hi Jen, thank you for joining into our shenanigans!! We had a blast cooking with you 😚🫶🏼

Me:  Awww you are so sweet.  I had a great time you girls are a blast.  I was just exhausted now cozy in bed 🥰🥰. Enjoy your last night !!!

yess!! It was amazing, i’m inspired by your traveling I really want to travel the entire world and you gave me the inspiration to do so. I hope you have a good flight and day tmrw, and ofc happy holidays!! We will definitely be looking at your blog from now on 💕

thanks girls for making an old gal feel younger haha.   Fun night.

I was exhausted.  Went home – showered – fell asleep pretty early.

THURS DEC 19 – DAY 71 – MEXICO CITY, MEXICO

 I had a great sleep.  Got up at 8am sheesh, a treat!!  I know my flight is later tonight at 2am so I tried to rest well. 

Got up, had my last coffee pack and my last oatmeal pack haha. 

Packed, took my time.  Then took an uber to Aremi’s house since my AirBnB girl will not allow me to keep my bags here I have to be out by noon!!  Aremi said no problem. 

I have a bag of things I’m leaving behind as well so I gave that to Aremi. 

Ubered downtown – got stuck in a shop where I bought myself 2 pair of pants!  A long sweater / jacket and a dress WOW.  I guess since I fly home tonight I’ll fit it all in somehow!! 

I bought Jado a final Christmas present.  I googled Mexican food downtown and found one that has 3 stories and 4.8 star reviews of 7K people so I walked over there.  Massive line up out the door, and a wait list at 2pm!?  Crazy.  I waited.  And it was worth the wait. 

Nicest restaurant I went to on this trip.  I ordered a Mexican beef taco dish recommended by the waiter.  It came with WORMS in it!!!!!  The waiter said, oh this is very Mexican!!

I told myself I’m ok… I ate my meal – worms and all.  They were crunchy. I ate them with the beef so I could not have a distinct flavour, I tried a piece of one on it’s own and did not like the flavour alone lol. 

I stayed for a coffee after my meal and what I had not noticed when I sat down is there was a piano directly behind me.  A man started playing just after I ordered my coffee.  Wow.  I switched sides of my table so I could view him while I enjoyed my coffee and typed out this blog. 

At 4:30pm I had a historic downtown Mexico tour.  My guide Mar was great and I was the only person w her so I got a fast and most amazing tour.  I loved it!! 

I got an uber to grab my bags by 7pm from Aremi’s house.  My driver – Martin was teaching me Spanish the entire drive so I offered him cash to wait while I grabbed my bags and he take me to the airport to continue my Spanish lesson.  Turned out the Bad Bunny concert was tonight and MX City turned into a GONG SHOW.  Martin turned into a Formula One driver and it took 1 ½ hours to get to the airport as he was racing and braking.  I was getting so nauseous. 

We arrived alive.  I am now sitting in a restaurant waiting to check in.  it is 9pm now, my flight leaves at 2am but check in starts only at 11pm.  I’ll sit here and work until then, I got a great comfy booth to work from. 

RECAP MEXICO CITY

Anybody who knows me knows I love Mexico so I knew this city had to be my last stop since this was a spot I had never visited before. 

Mexico City has a population of 9.2M people.  It is a massive area.  The city used to be an island on a lake.  The Aztecs originally built MX City on the island in 1325 but when the Spanish took over in 1521, they drained the lake, using the water as their resource and built MX city on top of the ruins!  For this reason, MX City is sinking.  4-6cm per year and in some areas one foot each year. 

The tour was fascinating – they discovered ruins in the middle of downtown in 1976 – which is now an open area to view.  Seems hard to believe there is an entire city under the existing Mexico City. 

Some of the existing restaurants used to be residences – mind blowing beautiful homes / restaurants / shops – used to be casino as well. 

As with most cities, the area matters in this city. Some safe, some dangerous, some rich, some poor. 

My overall opinion was that the city was not nearly as beautiful as others I was in on this trip. 

Buenos Aires for example was a stunner of a city.  Mexico City doesn’t come close.  However, I still love Mexico most for so many reasons. 

I loved every activity I did in this city.  The Teotihuacan pyramids were incredible.  The hot air balloons were unbelievable.  I loved Chapultapec Park!  I really liked a few areas / zones as well.  I also really enjoyed the downtown area.  Insanely busy but I liked the energy. 

Mexico City – I rate you 8.5/10. It was not my favourite city but there is no humidity and I just cannot do humidity.  Mexico just feels comfortable to me so this is the reason for the higher rating.