We've had quite a bit of love for this country of Mexico for some time now with frequent visits to our Southern neighbor in Baja housing some of our favorite cities like Tijuana, Rosarito, Valle de Guadalupe, Ensenada & mountainous regions that roll just East (see previous blog posts for travel tips on these areas). Not to mention the other luxurious beach towns we've had the opportunity to visit like Cabo San Lucas & Cancun. After hearing so much about the ever so booming metropolis of Mexico City for some years now, we decided to venture into the heart of Mexico & 365km North West (or an hour flight) as well as to a little bustling colonial town called, Guanajuato, where we left our hearts & appetites... for now :).
Bienvenidos a Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico City; where you can eat, dance & eat until 6 in the morning, every morning. 3rd largest city in the world w/ about 23 million people. <3
This most recent trip in mid-June was a super quick 5 day getaway to two cities in the wondrous viva Mexico! With 2 days in each city and a good but bearable amount of traveling in between, we really felt like we did quite a lot without trying too hard and we're excited to share them with you hoping to encourage others that are skeptical of what Mexico has to offer, especially with the unrealistic fear of this place known to be maimed by media everywhere in the US and perhaps other parts of the world. Believe us when we say that there's so little to fear relative to what you think you know. We've seen no crime of the sort or even came close to seeing anything scary or even sketchy.
TIP: When traveling, we sensed that people are very similar in most places of the world. The universal language seems to be energy and when you're respectful to all those you encounter with smiles and perhaps a slight bow of the head if your ego allows you, then you will inevitably get respect in return. <3
Pollo, Bistek, Al Pastorrrr, Chorrrrizooooo. Street Tacos is where it's at! The sketchier looking the better, just make sure there's lotsa locals there & good smiles, don't be scurrrrred!
Our sick butt Airbnb in La Condesa <3 <3 <3
I thought I knew, but I had no ideaaaaaa. So BOMB mango con chamoy
Vegan Taco stand going off at midnight. Super yummy & just an all around good time! En La Roma district.
Frida & Diego's Casa Azul can not be missed. Housing some of her most famous works, personal collections & I mean come on, you're in her freaking HOME! <3 Daniel & I still don't know what we did wrong or right as we are very intermediate beginner coming to Spanish. So the line at the Museo Frida Kahlo is like always an hour long, but there's a shorter line for tours. Long story short with very little understanding of what we did wrong or right as I had mentioned before, the line for tours was only 10 minutes & the tickets were 10 pesos cheaper?!.... So anyway that totally worked out because we were about to leave when we got there and was told the line was an hour & I would have been heartbroken. But anyway, no guarantees, but try this if you're ever visiting the Casa Azul!
In Frida's actual painting studio with her personal wheelchair, easel, books, so many intimate things, it was really chilling. In the best way possible!
Mardonio Magaña paper-mache sculptures are all over the place & totally dreamy.
Palacio de Bellas Artes. From the 3rd floor of the Sears building across the street...
This lovely man was flashing his sign offering free hugs in Mexico City's historic Center. Daniel didn't understand what he was saying fully so offered to give money after the hug but the guy said "no no no." After a bit of hanging out, we soon realized he was studying psychology and was conducting an experiment. Apparently Daniel was the only one accepting the hug, 3 to exact. jaja
Pancho Villa squad goals. Before the trip, daniel got a bit obsessed with the Mexican history.. pre-colonial, mexican revolution and all so felt compelled to meet Pancho Villa.
Mezcal ++++++ <3
Serendipitous cafe around the corner, don't remember the name cause we were seriously hungover & had to leave for the airport in 45 minutes. SO lovely & wonderful. Chilaquiles & Oaxacan Mole Tamale, so legit.
Felipa, our Airbnb's housekeeper & the sweetest thing you ever did see <3
Guanajuato: The colorful, effervescent, classical colonial town.
Sopas con queso, chile verde, squash blossoms y salsa salsa salsa. Made by a charming husband & wife with a food stand view of all of gorgeous Guanajuato.
Mercado Hidalgo. What you want?! Papaya? Pinata, Torta, Chicharron, Terra Cotta, Mexico T-shirt, Talavera Tile, Jewelry?! You got it, here.
Outside Mercado Hidalgo for even more fuuuuud!
Albondigas & Chile Relleno enchiladas y papas.
Churros con Frea y Cappuchino
Tortas y Tacos y Seriously Cool Dude. Wanted to tip them but like a lot of vendors in Mexico, it was denied, which reminds me of how small the tipping culture is world wide; that until us westerners come and spoil that with our customs. I think tips are great and all but when it becomes an expectation versus something that is... a tip, the energy there gets weird.
El Santo? I think it's called.... The cafe on the bridge that we crossed on our way home <3
We stayed on Calle Sangre de Cristo & at the end of the street is an amazing roundabout of vendors that's all locals, I don't know what the area is called.... but you can buy household supplies to fresh produce to ice cream & toys for the kids to some bomb ass street food like this Senora's TLACOYOS & GORDITAS her masa is to die for! & she also loves watching telenovelas while her wood burning grill/oven thang do their thang. & Daniel may or may not have ventured into some intestine tacos at the stand across the way... #authentic
Gorditas
tacos with pig intestines. yikes! Definitely took daniel a few bites to acquire.
Also, the Panaderia de San Sebastian with all of your crusty buttery carbs filled with cheeses & meats & other amazingnesses delight! Esta, Picadillo, so yummy!!!!
Selling some bomb ass herbs apparently.
Despite the horrible forecast, it fortunately turned out a bit gloomy and sprinkling at times in both cities only but overall we thought the weather to be quite exceptional.
See if you can spot my heart <3 !!!!
For the budget conscious individuals or groups, this overall trip costed us 5 days and about $2000. Conversion at the time of our travels is about $18 pesos per USD.
Flights:
Santa Ana, Ca ---> Mexico City $300 round trip per person. SouthWest
Mexico City ---> Guanajuato (leon airport) $200 R/T per person. AeroMexico
AirBnB
Mexico City: 2 nights for $90 each = $180 ( La Condesa, host Alejandra )
Guanajuato: 2 nights for $120 each = $240 ( Casa Antiqua de..., host Nayelli )
Spending $$
$400 USD in Mexico City
$200 USD in Guanajuato (GTO)
We totally felt like we spent more money in Guanajuato so have concluded that we must've somehow dropped cash during our travels in Mexico City. Everything is so inexpensive!! Overall, I'd say $2,000 seems about right. Not bad for such a memorable experience for us and we soooo can't wait to return in December to visit Guanajuato again and rent a vehicle to drive 4 hours over to their neighboring state of Jalisco. We hear Guadalajara is quite the spectacle as well and when that time comes, our Spanish will hopefully have improve lots since we're dedicating 1 day out of the week to speak only Spanish. This is crucial to us because it'll allow us to further relate to most of the folks there that do not speak English.
Welp, that about sums up our trip and we hope that it sheds a bit of light into this exotic country that most of us are unaware of due to its Mexican stigma. If you have any questions that we can help answer, please feel free to reach out to us because we care to help those looking to expand their awareness for life through traveling!
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