¡viva méxico!

I have been asked numerous times about my recent three day solo journey through Mexico City. That's right, solo. I went traveling by myself, and to anyone thinking of traveling alone, do it. Just go. You will never regret it.

I arrived in Mexico City (CDMX) from Fort Lauderdale on a Wednesday afternoon. I did set up free international roaming from my cell phone provider before I arrived in Mexico, but if you don't have international data, you can easily log into the airport's free wi-fi. I hired an Uber to take me straight from the airport (after hitting the ATM for some pesos) to my Airbnb hotel. About 40 minutes and 100 pesos later ($5) I arrived at Hotel Parque México in the Hipódromo /Roma/ Condesa neighborhood. The hotel, complete with rooftop bar and restaurant, hooked me up with a free margarita. It felt amazing to finally relax after a day of traveling. That evening, post-margarita, I didn't do anything specific. I wandered around and, though I was intrigued by the Roma Market, it felt like a tourist location, with overpriced fancy foreign cuisines. Not the Mexico City food I was truly searching for. Instead, I walked around the block, stopped at the first roadside stand I could find, and ate way too many tacos al pastor. They were delicious!

The Airbnb Hotel Parque México

On Day 1, Thursday, I was up early and out the door. The night before I purchased a ticket to the Frida Kahlo Museum for 10:30am (the museum opens at 10am). I highly recommend purchasing your ticket in advance. You'll wait in a much shorter, quickly moving ticket holder line. There was a minimal fee for purchasing the $7 ticket online but it was totally worth it.

Starting from my hotel, I took an Uber south to the neighborhood of Coyoacan. The ride was so quick that I had enough time to stop at the fantastic neighborhood café, El Beneficio, about 4 blocks from the museum. I had a delicious latte, along with free samples of decadent brownies. I spoke with a few patrons who highly recommended the egg dishes I was eyeing. If I had more time, I definitely would have ordered some breakfast.

Visit El Beneficio Café if you're in Coyoacan

Once I arrived at the Museum, I waited in a short line to get in to the Blue House, where Frida and Diego lived for decades. Their home has been converted into the Museo Frida Kahlo and it houses everything from recently discovered paintings and photographs to Frida's actual wheelchairs, braces, and even her ashes. 

Visitors can take photos inside the Museo Frida Kahlo

I also absolutely loved the additional temporary exhibit, devoted to how Frida dressed. Complete with every type of brace she used over the years, the exhibit included a sampling of each of Frida's clothing items. I spent about an hour and a half there and saw the entire museum. I then decided that since it was a quick walk to the Leon Trotsky House Museum, I would check it out as well. When I arrived the museum was empty. After a quick look around, I left Coyoacan via an Uber and headed downtown to the Palacio de Bellas Artes.

The Palacio de Bellas Artes is also a museum

I knew that the Ballet Folklórico was in the Palacio de Bellas Artes for a few more nights. I had looked into purchasing a ticket online via Ticketmaster the week before my arrival, but the fees were just too high. Also the ticket would have to have been picked up at an unknown location in Mexico City, not the box office. Instead I quickly ran into the Palacio, found the ticket window, and purchased a ticket for the performance later that evening. For $300 pesos total, no fees (around $15). The show would start at 8pm.

I then headed underground and took the Metro from Bellas Artes to Chapultepec Park. Although I had to transfer lines, the metro was easy to learn. A metro train arrives every 2 minutes. It's amazingly efficient and also happens to be the least expensive public transportation in the world (5 pesos or $.25 per trip, including transfers). The metro is also its own underground city. There are plenty of places to eat and kiosks to buy anything you may need. If you go to Mexico City, I highly recommend you venture into the Metro. It is an integral part of the city and is not to be missed.

Once back above ground at the Chapultepec station, I walked for a long time through Chapultepec Park, eventually entering the Museo de Antropología. After a quick tour of the museum, I grabbed some fresh cut fruit and freshly made potato chips from the vendors outside the museum. I also tried the Dorilocos for sale. If you get the chance, be sure to try them, as they are a Mexico City specialty. And very, very popular.

The Museo de Antropología is CDMX's highest rated museum

After leaving the museum and heading toward the Chapultepec gardens, I eventually found myself following the crowd and heading up a giant hill to Chapultepec Castle. The castle is was worth entering, albeit there are no English explanations of anything you'll see. Despite the hot, direct sun at the top of the hill, I loved the Palace, which happens to be the former residence of past Mexican presidents. I also got a 360 degree of Mexico City from the top of the Castle, which was really gorgeous.

It's a trek up to the top of Chapultepec Castle

After heading back down the hill and meandering through the Chapultepec gardens for a while, I walked out from Chapultepec Park over to a restaurant recommended to me, Delirio, located in Condesa, which happened to be not too far from my hotel. I had a fresh seasonal bocadito at Delirio, a fancy latte and wandered around the Condesa neighborhood. I ended up back at my hotel. I was exhausted. After a short rest, I headed out again. This time I headed back, via metro, to the Palacio de Bellas Artes. I walked around the plaza, taking in the monuments, the architecture and the sheer crowds of people out and about in the days before Christmas, finally heading into the Palacio for the Ballet Folklórico performance. The ballet was breathtaking; consisting of nine different types of traditional Mexican dances. I was mesmerized. After the ballet, it was pretty late, so I quickly took an Uber back to the hotel, but I just as easily could have taken the Metro. But I had already walked over ten miles that day.

Photos and video are permitted during the Ballet Folklórico

Friday, Day 2, began early as well, but was a little more relaxed. I walked a few blocks to Chilpa, a tiny cafe that specializes in Chilaquiles. I had the Chilaquiles rojos with a fried egg. And a cafe con leche soya. Next, I walked to the Metro (my hotel was about an eight minute walk to the metro) and took it all the way out to the end of the line at Tasqueña. At the Tasqueña station I transferred to the light rail (which costs an additional 3 pesos) and took that train to the end of the line at Xochimilco. From there, it was about a five minute walk out of the Xochimilco station to arrive at the Museo Dolores Olmedo. 

Dolores Olmedo was a Mexican businesswoman, philanthropist, and friend of Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo. Dolores donated her estate and everything in it to create the public museum that stands today. The museum houses over 100 Diego Rivera paintings. I was blown away; photos of Dolores, Diego, and Frida. The art, including paintings, sculptures and photographs by Frida and Diego, was outstanding. And the estate even includes all the original furniture, stoves, and serving pieces from when Dolores lived there. Although situated slightly outside the city, this museum is a gem.

The gardens at the Museo Dolores Olmedo are stunning.

The Museum, located in La Noria, is part of the city of Xochimilco, which is also full of canals and boats and little islands. But since I don't like boats and I had limited time, I ended up taking the light rail and then the metro back to downtown Mexico City. This time I got off at the Zócalo stop. Zócalo is the historical center of the city, formerly the site of Tenochtitlan. It took me a while to find the entrance, but I eventually elbowed my way through the crowd and into the Palacio Nacional. The National Palace houses a large collection of Diego Rivera murals. Entrance to the Palacio is free, as long as you leave a photo ID at the entrance as you walk in.

The Palacio Nacional is an oasis in the middle of madness. Mexico City is, at Christmas-time, filled with people. And two ice rinks. And a giant ice slide. And a giant Christmas Tree. And lots of shopping. And lots and lots of people. The Palacio, on the other hand, is filled with gardens. And some of the most magnificent art I've ever seen. And just a handful of people. Suddenly, the day before Christmas, I found myself at peace. And falling even more in love with Mexico City.

The Diego Rivera murals are breathtaking

After the Diego Rivera murals, I walked around the old city of Mexico, grabbing a green juice from Frutos Prohibidos (orange, grapefruit and chaya) and eventually taking the metro back to the hotel. After a quick rest I took a long walk through the Parque España to Pizza Nosferatu. It was a treat to try different wood-fired pizzas, each covered with a random assortment of meat, vegetables, or greens and doused with balsamic vinegar; I was in heaven. Then it was back to the hotel to try to get some sleep.

On Day 3, Saturday morning, I woke up early and quickly took an Uber to the El Norte Bus Station. Once inside the station, I found gate 8, bought a ticket to the ruins at Teotihuacan, and got on the bus. About an hour later, the bus dropped me off at the entrance to Teotihuacan at gate 1. Once again, I found myself climbing up large pyramids in Mexico. After a few hours, I was hot and sunburned and ready to head back to the city. I walked out of the ruins via gate 3, through a parking lot and onto the side of the road. After about 10 minutes a bus heading back to the city picked me up and took me back to the El Norte station. From there I took the El Norte Metro back to the Zócalo. I had one more museum to see: the Museo Templo Mayor.

 

Teotihuacan is located an hour outside the city

After another quick tour of the Templo Mayor ruins at Tenochtitlan, I grabbed a fresh berry smoothie and took the metro back to the hotel. In the mood for more tacos, I wandered around the Roma/Condesa area again and found a tacos al pastor restaurant, El Tizoncito, open on Christmas eve. I ate way too many tacos, stopped for pan dulce at Panadería Lecaroz and headed back to the hotel for the night.

Me + Mexico = Ruins + Tacos

Sunday morning, Christmas day, I finally slept in, packed up, and checked out. I had enough time for one last chilaquiles meal. But first, I walked from my hotel to the Monumento de la Independencia, a long pedestrian pathway that runs on a diagonal across town. It starts at Chapultepec Park and is filled with large statues and roundabouts. It was a perfect last minute tourist stop. On the way back to the hotel, I stopped for lunch at Ojo de Agua, which was thankfully open on Christmas day. It was one the few places open and it was booming. I had chilaquiles, once again rojos with eggs, and a fresh squeezed juice in a giant mason jar. This place was swimming in fresh produce and loud conversation.

One last chilaquiles meal after a walk around Condesa

I quickly walked back to my hotel a few blocks away, grabbed my luggage, took an uber fast Uber to the airport (there is little traffic on Christmas Day) and said goodbye to Mexico City. I still had a lot more traveling to do, so I tried to recharge myself for Mérida and the next leg of my journey.

In the end I took over 700 pictures during my 3+ days Mexico City. And I still feel like I could have taken more. Mexico City definitely has my heart. The people. The culture. The history. The beauty. CDMX has it all. While there were only a few things I did not get to do because of the Christmas holiday, almost all of them revolve around restaurants I wanted to try. So I will have to come back and try them. Hopefully it will be someday soon. Until then, hasta luego, México!

the end of the road

Veo al final de mi rudo camino, que yo fui el arquitecto de mi propio destino. 

I see at the end of my rough journey, that I've been the architect of my own destiny.
- Amado Nervo

I feel pretty comfortable driving in Mexico. Actually, I feel comfortable driving just about anywhere. And I'm almost always the driver. Rental cars don't bother me. I like getting to test drive different cars. Every time I've gone to the Yucatan to volunteer with Proyecto Itzaes, I've rented a car. And the only mishaps I've had have been regarding the actual renting of the car. No matter what time you arrive, the process of filling out the rental paperwork and getting to drive away in your newly rented car takes several hours. I don't exactly know why, but it just does.

This is how much Mexican country-side I typically drive through

But then, while driving through the Yucatan last month, my car rental luck ran out. A rock hit the car's windshield. And at the very most top part of the windshield, half on the plastic that seals the glass to the roof. But just low enough to embed itself at least partly in the glass. But just high enough that I didn't know that was the case. However, once the crack started to spread in a long line down the window, I realized exactly what had happened. In the five minutes it took us to get home the crack had successfully run the entire length of the windshield. And it was only getting longer. I panicked. I didn't know what to do. This had never happened to me before. Not even in the US. I once had a windshield bashed by some thugs with baseball bats in Potrero Hill. But never a rock in the windshield. I guess it was about time this finally happened to me.

I quickly tried to decide what should I do; get an estimate from a nearby mechanic and pay for the repair before the rental was due back? Or break down and call the rental car company, knowing it would be a long painful process. I knew I couldn't drive the car again, so I had to do something. I called the rental agency. They were so nice. Surprisingly nice. With amazing customer service. I had never experienced this before. I was still skeptical this would go off without a hitch, but the nearest car rental depot (not the one we originally rented from) would send a driver out to our home, bringing a replacement car for us. It sounded too good to be true. Especially because I had to head to a village for an appointment and wouldn't be home for a few hours. They assured me they would sent someone in a few hours. It would all work out.

When we go home from Dzemul, there it was; a brand new, identical but red (our first car was turquoise) rental car, along with two patiently waiting agents. Though I had arrived only five minutes past my scheduled time, it seemed like they had been waiting for quite a while. When I asked the rental agents the length of their wait they politely responded that they had been there for an hour. Yet they didn't seem restless. Perhaps they were enjoying the sun, sand, and ocean. Yes, they assured me, the windshield will need to be replaced. ¡Que mala suerte!

So there we were, new and improved rental car at our disposal. Which was convenient. Because we were planning to leave the beach, drive south a few hours to my favorite ruins (Uxmal), and many hours later arrive at Bacalar, situated just south of Playa del Carmen. On the other coast. It was about a six hour drive but we planned to make it into one long day of driving and sightseeing along the way. We set out very early in the morning.

And we were driving along just fine. Highway driving in Mexico is pretty self explanatory. The highways are nice and new, although mostly two lane. Since the speed limits are high (at least 110 kph), it's completely normal to pass slow moving vehicles. When the roads aren't curvy or dangerous. I'm a pro at passing cars on single lane Mexican highways. It takes a lot of patience, but you can always eventually pass.

Which is why I was very perplexed when I quickly came upon seven cars going slightly slower up ahead of me. They were clearly waiting to pass a slow moving van. Wow, I thought, they must have some serious patience to wait so long to pass. But in time, I knew, we would all make it safely past the slow moving vehicle. We had many many more hours to drive; we couldn't exactly afford to drive so slowly for a very long time.

None of the cars ahead of us were going particularly slowly, nor were they inching to pass the slowest car at the front of the line. I thought about it for a split second before heading on to pass the cars myself. There was no use in waiting, after all. Except that the roads through the Yucatan can be windy. So I wouldn't have enough time to pass all seven cars at once. I started passing them two at a time. I passed the first two cars. They seemed content to be where they were. Hmm, I thought, maybe they're driving in a line. I wonder why. I can't be sure, but it doesn't seem as if they are trying to pass the front car. So I quickly passed the next two cars, and then the next two cars. Eventually I was right behind the slow moving van. And that's when I saw it. The giant picture of the Virgin Mary staring right at me. It was posted conspicuously in the rear view window.

It looked like a regular covered truck to me

Because it was a hearse. Carrying a corpse to its final resting place. And we had placed ourselves prominently first in line at a funeral procession. I swallowed hard. Was what I had been doing wrong? Was I not supposed to weave in and out of a funeral procession? Was there some tell tell sign early on in this process that I had completely missed? Or did I not know what was going on until just that moment? And once I realized where I was, was it wrong to try to head out and pass the hearse? So I did just that. I waited for a clear view of oncoming traffic and sped over and passed the hearse. What else was I to do? They were going far and long; but they were also going slow. They didn't need me embedding myself in their mourning processional.

So we drove on. And on and on and on. We were going to take Highway 184 from Uxmal to the Caribbean coast. Highway 184 would meet up with Highway 307, the main road from Cancun all the way down to Belize. We'd hit into 307, turn right, and drive a few miles down the coast to Bacalar. We'd been driving for hours, but we started passing the signs telling us that 307 was just ahead.

According to Google Maps, Highway 184 bisects Highway 307

Which it probably was. But we'll never know for sure. Because we never merged onto Highway 307. We never go that far. Instead, we drove on Highway 184 until the road just ended. That's right, the highway just stopped. So we stopped. And then we looked around. There were people coming towards us on foot. They were walking over with suitcases and backpacks. They were getting into taxis. They were driving away, the only direction the road went - back to where we had just come from.

I found a narrow place to turn around. And then attempted to ask a taxi driver for directions. He and his friends laughed as us. The road didn't intersect with the coastal road, at least not yet. The road would be built, someday. I couldn't believe it. The maps/gps indicated we could drive right on through. Except that we could see right in front of us; there was no actual road. Only a parking lot. The taxi driver drew us a map; we'd have to backtrack for a while, then turn off and pass through three villages before finally hitting 307, south of where we were. But we would hit it eventually. In only a few hours time.

So then I asked about the people coming towards us, from what appeared to be the other, coastal side. No one could answer me. Apparently there was an airport some place nearby. But that didn't explain the cars and people I could see ahead of us, driving inland from the coast to meet us. Except we wouldn't meet. Because there is a strip of highway missing. That just hadn't been built. Instead of continuing on the way we had planned, we had made it to the very end of the road. So we turned around, drove back back, turned off at a random desvio, and ended up in paradise. Because that's what happens in Mexico. Paradise is always just one wrong turn away.

Bacalar