Mexico City 2022

Well, I don’t think I’ve ever let 4 months pass without blogging before…in fact I very much know I haven’t. But I had a good run up until now…I post this post on the 18th anniversary of my first blog post. Oh how the blog tide came in and went out! Yet here we are. A new post about recent happenings and a many month gap in content.

So.

In the middle of May I had the tremendous pleasure of going down to Mexico City with Liz, Kristen and Cory! We stayed in a great and beautiful Air B n B that Kristen found us in Roma that was basically positively perfect except for not having air conditioning and actually, in spite of what I expected, it did get rather hot in there.

DAY ONE: After an early flight out of Chicago, Liz and I arrived a few hours ahead of Kristen and Cory and got lunch at a Taqueria Orinoco then walked through Condesa and Parque Mexico, passing a couple famous taquerias and getting one little burger at Mr. Blanco’s, before heading back to the Air BnB. (What even is the right way to write that?) ALSO if you’re in Condesa, you’re going to see a LOT of posters for Martin, the missing cat with the $500USD reward.

Kristen and Cory arrived and we went up to the roof to start off our trip with a Fanta toast then walked through Roma to Panaderia Rosetta, looked for Jenni’s Quesadillas (Not found, probably closed?), went to Rio de Janeiro park to see the Witch House and David, then walked over to Taqueria Tizne, a place I had recently learned out that specialized in smoked meat tacos. I rather liked it. I would like to go back and try more of the menu. It was on a lively little bit of a block. Nice place.

At the end of dinner I gave the group a choice between going back to the apartment (as we had all had long days at this point) or a Surprise Adventure Option. The group chose the Adventure Option. What a group! So we walked up through Pushkin Park, where everyone was learning to rollerblade or working on their dance numbers, to…

Arena Mexico for the Lucha Libre! I went up to the box office and asked for their 4 best seats and, for $25 each, got 4 second row seats right by the ramp the wrestlers walked down. It was a dream come true and a life goal fulfilled (the life goal, since the mission, being to one day sit ringside at the Lucha Libre…I’m calling second row ringside enough).

(You’ll find much more exciting photos from the night on Kristen and Cory’s blog.)

We Uber XL’d back to the apartment, gathered our energies, and headed out for one more dinner…a visit to Orinoco to introduce Kristen and Cory to the excellence!

DAY TWO: You know what? Let’s just see how much I’m willing to fit into this post today.

So, Saturday, Saturday we decided we’d go out to the Pyramids. The group grabbed provisions from our corner Oxxo while I had a ham and egg taco from our corner guisado taco stand. Then we hired this lousy Uber to get us out there. Everyone, goes without saying, but don’t let your Uber driver talk you into going off-app and just paying him yourselves, and then talk you into having him wait for you at the pyramids to take you back into the city, blah blah blah, the story goes on and on, never gets real bad, but is annoying/frustrating/puts a bit of a bad taste in your mouth. ALSO. The Pyramids are CASH ONLY to get in. ALSO. They Pyramids themselves, it turns out, are CLOSED to climbing because of Covid? But you can walk up to them and be a little glad you aren’t allowed to climb them if your left knee has stopped working. Anyway, even wit all those items in play, the pyramids are still cool.

From the Pyramids we had our “uber” driver take us down to the Basilica of Guadalupe and no more on him, he didn’t turn up at our apartment that night to shake us down for more money or send thugs to rough us up, so I’ll say no more. Anyway. When we got down there it was definitely totally lunch time, so we powered- up with a lunch at McDonald’s and then did a very thorough touring of the Basilica grounds.

After the Basilica we Ubered to the Historic Center of the city and walked a nice loop beginning at the Palacio of Bellas Artes that eventually lead to my super beloved Cocuyos (which I belove a little better at night when the street is a smidge calmer/the threat of being run over by traffic slightly lower), Pasteleria Ideal (where the cake salons are currently closed due to Covid), El Moro, the el Huequito from Somebody Feed Phil, through Chinatown, and back to the Palacio and Alameda Park before we ubered back to the apartment and called it a Saturday.

DAY THREE: Am I going to cover the whole trip in one post? It’s starting to seem like it!

We got up and went to church. And then we went back to the Center to eat breakfast at El Cardenal. I learned something. While you can walk right in at 9 on a weekday morning for your breakfast there, at 10:30am on a Sunday it’s a different story. Even with a crowd of people waiting to get in and the restaurant fully packed, we only had an hour wait, which we used to give the Centro another walk around (I realize while I type this that I should’ve gone back to Los Cocuyos then) before enjoying a El Cardenal breakfast feast. What a place!

Post-Cardenal we went into the Palacio of Bellas Artes and then took ourselves a long Sunday walk that lead to, among other places, the Citadela market (note: when I came to the Citadela in 2019 I went to this one shop for Lucha Libre dioramas where they had a brand new baby hanging out…I come back in 2022 and they’ve got a 2+ year old eating lunch there…think I’ve got to keep coming back to watch this kid continue to grow), Cicatriz, Reforma, and the Camino Real Hotel in Polanco. From the Camino Real Hotel we ubered to El Molino Pujol which was a sun-blastered whimper of a meal, went to a gluten-free panaderia, and retreated to the Air BnB to rest up for a bit.

With new power in us, that night we walk through Parque España and Parque Mexico to enjoy a terrific dinner at Tortas al Fuego while also keeping an eye on the lunar eclipse.

DAY FOUR: …wouldn’t it be funny if I posted the first four days here and then saved the fifth day for it’s own post? Anyway. DAY FOUR! We return to Panaderia Rosetta for a pan dulce and chocolate breakfast before Ubering to Polanco. First Stop: a gigantic and amazing supermarket I wanted to show everyone (and they all agreed it was gigantic and amazing) Second Stop: Museo Soumaya!

After Soumaya, where there’s always lots to see, we walked through Polanco to Parque Lincoln. And post-Parque Lincoln and prior to Pujol, I popped into the Pendulum bookstore and purchased a Spanish edition of Finnegans Wake.

And then it was time for one of our main events, lunch at Pujol. Sauces were stars and aside from that the main thing I remember was the extremely strong incense they were burning in the dining room and the well behaved toddler (not sarcasm!) at the table next to ours. Cory and I got full on bonus dessert courses, which we enjoyed out in the garden, because we had had birthdays.

Although rendered quite full by Pujol, as is tradition, we went to Turix after our meal where I scarfed down a panucho as we waited for our Uber to arrive. And then we went and got Covid tests so we could go back to the United States the next day. I’d say the whole trip up to then there was a little (or not so little) bubbling concern of “what if I have Covid and don’t realize it and have to stay in Mexico an extra bunch of days [which would be nice except for the logistical complications on it]) so all of us passing the test, that was a relief and lightened an already light mood for the last 24 hours of the trip. And of course, no photos here to represent the testing, but all of a sudden I find myself in the mood to type about it.

We recharged at the apartment and re-upped our hunger and went out into the night once more seeking what to eat. Stop #1: Doña Isa’s antojito stand. Amongst ourselves we enjoyed tostadas, sopes, and a chicharon gordita as well as Isa’s excellent hostessing. A real hit of a streetside meal, just ask Cory’s google review…or was it Yelp? Followed that up with a little Condesa walk.

And then we thought we’d pop into Orinoco one more time for one of those nice cold jamaica drinks of theirs. But this escalated into us splitting a Campechano Especial w/o the tortilla, tortillas on the sides, and a lot of talk about how we could bring Orinoco to Utah, or at least borrow the idea. What a place! I’m glad it hit with my travel companions so hard.

Day Five: Well, looks like I really wrote about the whole trip in one post!

Tuesday — the little half-day that could! We left the apartment kind of early and walked to Chapultapec Park and through Chapultapec Park to be among the first visitors to the Chapultapec Zoo that morning. The goal was to see the pandas, but many many more animals were enjoyed along the way. The zoo enjoying gobbled up all our park time, so we’ll have to visit the Anthropology Museum or Castle on the next trip. But what do rocks and royalty have on living creatures in an actually very excellent zoo, anyway?

And then we headed back for the apartment, stopping along the way for lunch at Tacos Don Juan AND El Pescadito. My digestive system situation had grown a touch delicate at that point for some reason, so I enjoyed watching my travel companions enjoying their tacos. And then we went back to the apartment and Just Like That Kristen and Cory were off to the airport. And a few minutes later, Liz and I were off to the airport ourselves. And before I knew it, I found myself in Los Angeles. Vacations in Mexico City. Funny how they can just come and go. But really there’s nothing better.