Mexico 2022 day 6 Fri - cycle to Tule

 Day 6 Friday.

We had breakfast at the hotel, located on a pretty sun terrace overlooking the pool.  Rob was feeling a lot better but my stomach was really bad (maybe shouldn’t have had a spicy dish last night when I was already feeling a tad fragile).  However we had booked a cycle ride for that day, so I just had to hope I would make it.

Met with our guide, Ivan, a few blocks south of our hotel.  There were 5 of us all together and once he selected suitable bikes for us all, we started off on the bumpy streets of Oaxaca to the cycle path which would take us to Tule.  It was about 10km to get there and once we got used to the bikes, it was an enjoyable way to travel through the suburbs of Oaxaca.  Tule is a pretty little town/village famous for having the widest tree in the world.  On arrival, we parked up the bikes and went to see the tree – more interesting than I expected, a fascinating old plant with so many interesting formations.  We had lunch at the local market and then set off for the bike ride back.  Although the return route was slightly downhill, a combination of tiredness, sore bum (partly from stomach problems and partly from a bike seat akin to a razor blade!) and everyone else eager to get back, did make the journey very tough and uncomfortable for me.  I guess I could have stopped, but pride wouldn’t let me be the fat unfit one of the group that was holding everyone else up, so I struggled on close to tears at one point. 

When we got back, decided we needed to treat ourselves to icecream, so headed to the Merced Market.  Couldn’t find any icecream there but eventually came across a roadside vendor where we had a cup full of the most delicious tuna icecream.  (tuna icecream isn’t fish, it’s the fruit from the nopal cactus, aka prickly pear, and is officially the tastiest thing on earth).  Headed back to hotel but a combo of getting confused by the grid street system and icecream vendor not quite on the corner shown on the map, I managed to mis-navigate us several blocks in the wrong direction, on a day when the temperature was reaching 28c!  By the time we got back to our hotel, the pool was just what the doctor ordered and we spent the afternoon either in or beside the water.

In the evening we headed to Gozobi rooftop bar, where we’d enjoyed a lovely sunset drink last time, and this time decided to have a meal aswell.  The food was fantastic, they had a wonderful range of artesan beers and we had a great view of the parades passing along the street below.  The sunset was pretty awesome too.

Photos https://vampyresheep.smugmug.com/Holidays/2022-Mexico/10-28-Tule-cycle-ride-and-Oaxaca

Mexico 2022 day 7 Sat - Santiago Apoala

 Day 7 Saturday

Another early start, as we met up with Tanya and Ralph from Go Well tours for a trip to Santiago Apoala.  Although we’ve only met once before, we’ve had a bit of communication online during the pandemic and we were warmly greeted as old friends.  It should have been a 2.5 drive to Apoala, but that didn’t factor in the road closures, so the final journey was more like 3.5 hours.  “No hay paso” became a very familiar term but it was fascinating to experience the rough country roads – if they could actually be called a road – and no idea how Ralph managed to get us there!

On arrival, we took a walk down many, many steps, through a beautiful ravine with the sound of the waterfall getting ever closer.  The first drop of the fall was a bit of a perilous clamber to get to but it was worth the peril.  A beautiful fall, dropping into an azure blue pool, with a way to swim into a little cave behind the waterfall.  The water was damn cold, and Rob was hesitant but determined to reprise a “Last of the Mohicans” moment, he braved it into the water and joined us in the cave.

There was another plunge pool a bit further down, so we clambered over the perilous rocky path, still in our swimming gear, where we got to have another swim.  Absolutely heavenly!  We also had the added bonus of an adorable little dog who followed us down to the pool and back up again.  After our swim, we headed back to the car, where we were taken to a nearby picnic spot at the entrance to the ravine. A beautiful peaceful spot, where we were accompanied by a couple more friendly dogs, and we tucked into a delicious picnic salad prepared by Tanya.

The journey back was less problematic, having been advised of a short cut – in exchange for a Squash which Tanya purchased from a passing lady as thanks for the directions – and we were dropped off back at our hotel looking forward to meeting with them again in a couple of days.

 

Spent the evening wandering around town, where I managed to buy myself a crazy big floral crown with a glittery skull – didn’t consider how I would fit that into my luggage later!

Photos: https://vampyresheep.smugmug.com/Holidays/2022-Mexico/10-29-Apoala-trip

Mexico 2022 day 8 Sun Zaachila market

 Day 8 Sunday

I wanted to visit one of the local villages and Zaachila had advertised some Dia de Muertos events, along with a small archeological site which apparently opened weekends, so we headed south of the Zocalo to find a collective to Zaachila.  Our first collectivo experience. Despite all the covid cautiousness still in place, collectivos still packed as many people in a car as possible, so we were squeezed in with 4 Mexicans, and the driver, for a 30 minute journey.

Zaachila was a colourful, vibrant experience.  We were dropped off near the cemetery, so we visited that first, lured in by the colourful murals outside.  It turned out that the town centre was filled with a market in the run up to Dia de Muertos, so the town was packed full of people and much fun to explore.  The low canopies of the market did make it feel like we were too tall for this place, and we were pretty much the only non-Mexicans there.  Sadly the archaeological site was closed, but there were a few murals around depicting the owl carving I wanted to see, so we went back to the market and sat in the town square for a while, with a huge agua fresca (tuna flavour of course!)

The return collectivo terminated at the Abastos market, where the friendly driver advised us to “be careful” as we departed.  Slightly unnerved, we set off in the direction he pointed to, to overshoot and end up in the red light district!  I only realised, when I stopped to check my map and noticed all the women were dressed in crazily tight clothing and high, high heels, unlike the more modest women out and about in Oaxaca.  Managed to get our bearings and was very relieved to see the familiar sight of the Mayordomo chocolate restaurant, so we stopped there for a late lunch. 

Getting a light snack is near impossible in Mexico and my “I’ll just have a small tamale” turned out to be a massive but delicious gut-filler that swamped the dining plate!

In the evening we met up with Doreen and Kevin, who had arrived in Oaxaca the night before.  We had hoped to catch a comparsa but seemed to have missed it, so instead went down to Plaza de la Danza, where we caught a “muerteada” performance by La Mera Meras.  Kevin observed that the story seemed similar to mummers plays in Europe, for which they did a little background research to learn more about.

We went for dinner at a nearby rooftop restaurant, Terraza Istmo, which had lovely friendly staff, tasty food (a recurring theme for this trip!) and interesting range of local artesan beers.

https://vampyresheep.smugmug.com/Holidays/2022-Mexico/10-30-Sun-Zaachila

Mexico 2022 day 9 Mon 31st Oaxaca wandering and evening cemetery visit

 Day 9 Monday (31^st October)

Shopping day!  Well it wasn’t planned as such, but we strolled down toward the 20 Noviembre Market, planning to first go to the Textile Museum – which we somehow walked right past, thanks to Google maps being wrong.  Instead, we got a bit carried away shopping in the 20 Noviembre Market, followed by the Artesenal Market.  Not sure where the time went but it sure disappeared, and we headed back up the Alcala to look for a late lunch stop – even outside of peak hours we couldn’t get into Los Dazantes, so we carried on up the hill to El Escapulario, a down-to-earth homely restaurant.  Unfortunately they didn’t take credit cards and we’d spent most of our spare cash in the market, so we did confuse them with our bizarre mix of side dishes and starters, shared to ensure we had enough to pay for it.

In the evening, we went up to the Panteon General, open for the first time since the pandemic.  On reflection it was a tad too early for the Dia de Muertos liveliness, but it was a beautiful and contemplative way to spend a couple of hours, seeing families start to decorate their graves and the few with candles just about lighting up the pathways.  Headed back into town after supper at one of the stalls outside the cemetery, and wandered a bit before an early night as we had a very early start the next day.

Day time photos https://vampyresheep.smugmug.com/Holidays/2022-Mexico/10-31-Mon-Oaxaca-wandering

Evening photos: https://vampyresheep.smugmug.com/Holidays/2022-Mexico/10-31-Mon-eve-Panteon-General

Mexico 2022 day 10 Tues 1st Nov - Aztompa and Jalatlalco

 Day 10 Tuesday (1^st November)

At just after 5am, we were picked up by Tanya and Ralph of Go Well Tours to take us to Aztompa cemetery.  We’d spoken online about my experience last time, that I felt uncomfortable being there at night with the coachloads of tourists, many of whom paid little respect to where they were, and Tanya suggested it would be better to go there for the sunrise, so here we were!

We got there just as sun was breaking, so got to experience this beautiful place, memorials adorned with massive candles in the dusk and then in more detail as it got lighter.  Many local residents had completed their vigils and were leaving for the day, and those who still remained had evidently been at the mezcal all night.  It was friendly and jovial, and a lovely way to experience this beautiful cemetery.

Tanya had prepared breakfast, and we sat on the steps at the cemetery entrance with our delicious morning picnic.  We then got back into the van to continue uphill to Aztompa archaeological site.  Not as complete or as well known as the neighbouring Monte Alban, it benefited however in the lack of visitors and stunning views of the hills around and Oaxaca below.  It truly was a special experience.

We were dropped back to our hotels, Rob and I saying our goodbyes to Tanya and Ralph, talking about whether we will be back a third time.  We spent a couple of hours at the hotel, Rob snoozing on one of the pool loungers and me going for a swim.

For the evening, we knew the main comparsa was going from Jalatlalco that evening but it turned out to be later than I thought, so instead, Rob and I popped to Jalatlalco for a late lunch at La Terraza del Copal and then a wander around the pretty streets, stopping for icecream of course.  We returned to our hotel early evening to apply some Dia De Muertos face make up.   As the hairdresser next to our hotel wasn’t doing make-up this year and I was slightly overwhelmed by all the options in town, I had instead bought all the makeup at market the day before and now had to work out how to apply it.

Headed into town to meet with Doreen and Kevin, Doreen was getting her face done by one of the street artists.  Once again a tad confused by the comparsa routes – one of our epic fails this time round was missing most of the ad-hoc parades we loved so much last time – we decided to go the safe option of heading to the Plaza de la Danza to watch the performance and then follow them when dancers and giant statues set off to parade.  This worked at least, we got a fantastic view and it was great to see, even if it was one of the big, organised events.  We followed the parade to the Zocalo, where the crowds got too much and we set off our respective ways to our hotels, with Rob and I deciding on a late night cocktail at Gozobi first.  Not such a great experience this time, as the service was pretty terrible when the place was more crowded.

Photos Aztompa https://vampyresheep.smugmug.com/Holidays/2022-Mexico/11-01-Aztompa-Jalatlalco-Plaza-de-la-Danza

Jalatlalco and Plaza de la Danza https://vampyresheep.smugmug.com/Holidays/2022-Mexico/11-01-Tues-part-2-Jalatlalco-Plaza-de-la-Danza

Mexico 2022 day 11 Weds - Xochimilco, Jalatlalco and drones

 Day 11 Wednesday (2nd October)

Our last day in Oaxaca.  Where had the week gone?  I wasn’t ready to leave and head to smoggy, busy CDMX just yet.  We made the best of our last day though

Started at Santo Domingo where I asked tourist information for how to get to the Xochimilco aqueduct, he also gave me a *tip about going to Jalatlalco in the evening for a comparsa.

We had a look around the artisan market that had now been set up at the end of the Alcala, managing yet more shopping.  (Christmas presents!) and continued up hill to Xochimilco, passing street after street of beautiful murals, skeleton decorations and colourful houses.  This district is so pretty its not real!  The giant aqueduct was a fascinating structure at the end of our walk and then we stopped at a nearby café with pretty roof terrace for lunch – Café El Empedrado.  I had my first enchilada of the holiday, after much enchilada disappointment last time, but this was the enchilada suiza to beat them all! Tasty spiced chicken wrapped in tortillas, covered in a creamy, spicy sauce and lots of cheese on top – food porn for sure.

On the way back we stopped at Xochimilco cemetery (on the advice of the tourist info guy) and this was an interesting place to visit, although we didn’t feel as comfortable here compared to other cemeteries we’d visited, like uninvited guests to a party.  We didn’t stay long and paid our respects to the locals we passed by, then headed back into town.

Dropped shopping at our hotel, had a brief rest and final swim, then headed back to the Panteon General in time for sunset.  This was so different to Friday, packed full of local residents (and visitors like us I’m sure), with a full party atmosphere.  Graves were decorated, candles lit with singers and musicians performing at so many family gatherings.  It was good to go back to see this spot a second time.

Following the tourist information advice, we strolled over to Jalatlalco for a comparsa.  It was a bit of a creepy walk down a dark street, making us wonder if we’d made the right decision, but soon reached the familiar murals and lively atmosphere of the barrio.  *it turns out that the tourist information guy was wrong, and there was no comparsa here, but the streets were full of life and it was good to rest our feet and people watch for a while.

Headed back into town and over to Plaza de la Danza for the final drone “spectacular”.  We stopped at the adjacent Plaza de las Nieves for a final icecream sundae first and then to the main square for the drone show.  This was a great way to finish our final evening in Oaxaca.  Well, not quite finish, it was still early and I fancied a cocktail, however every bar we passed going back to the hotel was full and not letting anyone else in.  We eventually ended up back at Santo Domingo, and chanced the rather posh looking La Rueca, as we could see they had a roof terrace.  It was a bit posh but the lady at reception asked if we minded sitting at the bar, and took us there, where we had attentive service directly from the bar man.  It was a perfect way to finish our time in Oaxaca, with a great Mexican take on an Irish coffee.

 

Xochimilco photos https://vampyresheep.smugmug.com/Holidays/2022-Mexico/11-02-Weds-Xochimilco

Evening photos https://vampyresheep.smugmug.com/Holidays/2022-Mexico/11-02-Weds-eve-Panteon-General-Jalatlalco-drones

Mexico 2022 day 12 Thurs Oaxaca to CDMX

 Day 12 Thursday

Checked out of our lovely Oaxaca hotel and got a taxi to the airport to fly back to CDMX.  I was a bit worried about this flight, having heard so many bad things about Viva Aerobus, but we had no problems at all.  The only uncomfortable part was a very crowded departures area at the airport and some ill mannered tourists who decided that queues didn’t apply to them.

At CDMX airport, we got a taxi straight away no problem (another thing I was worried about after seeing reports of long queues on Trip Advisor).  A friendly guy who was very apologetic about all the traffic and road closures, however its CDMX, what did we expect!  We got to our hotel on Republica de Uruguay sooner than expected.  We were staying at the City Centro Ciudad de Mexico, and it was absolutely beautiful.  A gothic exterior with a stylised modern gothic interior, complete with an old fashioned lift.  Staff were top notch too and we were taken to our room to show how everything worked. First stop had to be to check out the rooftop pool and bar.  Unfortunately the pool was way too small to swim in but fun to pose for some pics with the striking view of the Torre Latino-americana in the background.

We had decided to splash out for our first night and booked a table at the terrace restaurant at the Grand Hotel Ciudad de Mexico (aka the one in the Bond film!).  Stupid me didn’t consider that we wouldn’t see the beautiful stained glass ceiling at night, doh!  However the view of the zocalo from the balcony more than made up for it.  A bit disappointed to see the cathedral all covered in scaffolding, however at night it took on a wonderfully ghostly air.

The food was good, but not as great as one would expect for the price – we were paying for the view.  I had a delicious tortilla soup to start, followed by the squid ink seafood pasta (OK but a little tough) and a baked Alaska that was set alight at the table for dessert.  A tad disappointed to have missed the margarita menu for drinks, but we were hurried into ordering drinks before I’d even downloaded the menu – please restaurants, bring back real menus, doing it on the phone is so faffy!

After our meal, we walked back to the hotel, which was a little eerie now the streets were dark and empty. Not sure I’d made the right choice to stay in the centro, but it would be convenient for the day and I absolutely loved our hotel.

Photos from the day https://vampyresheep.smugmug.com/Holidays/2022-Mexico/11-03-Thurs-from-Oaxaca-to-CDMX-Zocalo

Mexico 2022 day 13 Friday - CDMX Centro Historico

 Day 13 Friday

We had originally planned to take a bus out to Tepoztlan, a hill town to the south of the city known for a pyramid on the hill and being a bit spiritual, but figured we were staying in the centro so should make the most of being there instead.  As this was our second visit, we were keen not to retrace the same steps, but at the same time there are some familiar sights one has to revisit, so toady was mainly for visiting sights we missed last time

We went to Café de Tacuba for breakfast, one of the oldest restaurants in the city, with stunning décor. Breakfast was absolutely enormous, so we really shouldn’t have ordered a sweet pastry too (didn’t realise that was an additional item) but they were happy to let us take them away with us.

Strolled back towards the Zocalo, with our first stop being the Secretaria de Educacion Publico offices to see the murals.  We asked to see the murals at the door, and were ushered in, asked to leave a form of ID at their desk and then allowed to just wander around the courtyards.  The main feature are the array of murals painted by Diego Rivera, celebrating the history of Mexico.  For me, I was more blown away by the Siqueiros mural over the staircase near the entranceway.

Nearby was the elusive gothic clothes shop Horror Boutique, that we failed to find last time.  It was tucked away on the 4^th floor of a “shopping centre” with security on the door and on arrival at the shop we had to ring to be admitted.  That was a bit awkward, being followed around the shop by the owner and her assistants (all very friendly but keen to make a sale).  All the items there were hand made and absolutely lovely, but nothing I needed for this trip or could take home with me.

Went to watch the dancers perform outside Templo Mayor, yep I know its touristy, but its wonderful to watch! And as we were at the Zocalo, we crossed over to go back into the Gran Hotel to see the stained glass in daylight, absolutely stunning.

From here we headed back up Av Francisco Madera towards Bellas Artes, stopping off at the Palacio de Iturbide (Citibanamex Culture Palace).  Free to get in, the main exhibition was on Spanish renaissance art. Not usually my thing but these were very interesting, particularly a few that had speech bubbles of a kind coming from some of the characters – renaissance comic book art!

Continued our walk past the Palacio De Bellas Artes (absolutely love this place but we did visit last time) and to Alameda Park, where we just sat by one of the fountains for a while, eating our pastries from breakfast, resting our feet and watching the world go by.

We had time for one more visit, so decided to go to the Franz Mayer museum.  Not quite what I expected from the online images, as most of the exhibits were in modern galleries and the collection felt not to dissimilar to what I’d see at the V&A at home.  However we emerged out into the pretty courtyard, decorated with Catrina statues, and decided to stop here in the café for coffee and icecream.

Walked back to the hotel, stopping off at a little crafts market nearby and then up to the rooftop bar for a drink.  As soon as our drinks arrived, the skies got darker and a massive storm broke out!  The few of us left in the bar huddled together in the one bit of shelter in the centre, screaming when a massive clap of thunder happened right above us!

For the evening, we got a taxi to my favourite horror bar, Café Bizarro in the Roma district. It was busy but we managed to get a table, and spent the evening there eating and drinking.  Their Bizzareada cocktail is to die for – beer blended with fresh fruit and ice.

 

Photos: Café Tacuba and SEP https://vampyresheep.smugmug.com/Holidays/2022-Mexico/11-04-Fri-pt-1-Cafe-Tacuba-Public-Education-Office-murals

Around the zocalo and Palacio de Iturbide https://vampyresheep.smugmug.com/Holidays/2022-Mexico/11-04-Fri-pt2-zocalo-Citibanamex-Culture-Palace

Alameda, Franz Mayer museum and Café Bizarro https://vampyresheep.smugmug.com/Holidays/2022-Mexico/11-04-Fri-Zocalo-to-Alameda-park-sightseeing

Mexico 2022 day 14 Saturday - Ribera and El Chopo districts CDMX and night cycling

 Day 14 Saturday

Today we were discovering a new district, which, not going to lie, I was a little nervous about, in case we ended up in a sketchy area.  We took an Uber to the Vasconcelos library, deciding that would be a safe place to start  (turned out we had nothing to worry about all day in this area!).  This building, whilst starting to show its age, is absolutely stunning, like something from Terry Gilliam’s Brazil. Library blocks and walkways seemingly suspended in the air above us, you almost expect them to start shifting around!

Next door was El Chopo market, the reason for our visit.  This is a massive outdoor market for the alternative scene and far from being dangerous, it was absolutely wonderful.  Felt like being back in Camden market as a teenager, stall after stall of clothes, music, ornaments, accessories etc catering for punks, metallers, goths etc.  We spent a lot longer there than intended, and bought a lot!  So much so that we ran out of cash, and had to search for an appropriate place to withdraw some money so that we could buy food and drinks later.  Armed with more cash, we ended up back in the market buying the things we had thought about the first time around!

Eventually dragged ourselves out and continued walking to Santa Maria La Ribera and its beautiful Moorish style bandstand in the park.  Sat here for a while with a drink and just enjoying the ambience.

Next stop was the UNAM Geology museum next to the park.  Sadly it was undergoing major works, so there was no access to the beautiful art nouveau staircase I had gone there for, but one of the staff kindly allowed me to pop behind the barriers to get a better look and a photo.  It was a lovely museum though, very old fashioned with beautiful wooden cabinets – and dinosaurs!

Walked from here to the El Chopo museum but were too tired to go inside so booked an Uber back to the hotel.  The drive back was incredibly busy and we had a grumpy Uber driver.  The only bad one of our trip, he didn’t bother responding to our greetings, sighed and grumbled at the traffic all the way and after we got out, he reported us for not wearing masks!  (we had worn them in cabs up until then, but many didn’t need it and I was too tired to think - and all he had to do was ask!).  Barred from using Uber, I got in touch with their customer service who quickly confirmed that he was in the wrong, its no longer compulsory to wear masks, and reopened my account.  A sour note to end an otherwise fantastic day.

In the evening, the traffic had got even worse.  Reason being was that many roads had been closed to traffic for the Noche de Bicicletas.  If you can’t beat them, join them! Our hotel had bikes to hire, so soon we were out on the streets, cycling through Mexico City on a bike with no lights, no gears, and barely any brakes. 

The event itself was crazy!  1000’s of people on the streets, on bikes, skateboards, rollerskates, walking, with dogs, in Halloween costumes etc.  At some points it was gridlocked with bikes, but the atmosphere remained jovial and our route took us all the way down the Reforma to Chapultepec Park, back via the Revolution Monument and finishing at a little square a couple of blocks from our hotel – Plaza Tlazcoaque.  An absolutely fantastic way to spend an evening in CDMX, even if I was aching so much by the end.

Photos: Ribera and El Chopo https://vampyresheep.smugmug.com/Holidays/2022-Mexico/11-05-Sat-El-Chopo-Ribera-and-night-bike-ride

Mexico 2022 day 15 Sunday - alibrijes and Chapultepec park

 Day 15 Sunday

After another breakfast at Don Toribio restaurant (we discovered this wonderful restaurant near our hotel the morning before), we got an Uber to the start of Reforma to make the most of car-free Sunday mornings and see the alibrijes on display along the street.  This time we had a far nicer Uber driver, who first complimented me on my Spanish and then chatted with me for the entire journey, dropping us off at the best spot to start our walk.

We didn’t realise just how many alibrijes there were on display!  So colourful and cute, lining both sides of the street.  In addition, for the first part of our walk there were giant Catrina models, followed by Mexicraneos (giant brightly painted skulls).   I took so many photos.

My original plan was to walk up to the Anthropology museum, mainly to find the stall where I purchased some delicious esquites last time.  (esquites are sweetcorn, off the cob and warmed in a broth of herbs and spices, served in a polystyrene cup and topped with mayonnaise and cheese. Delicious!)  However, instead we took the wrong route and ended up in Chapultepec Park.  Not a problem, it was a lovely day and we decided to spend some time in the park instead.  Firstly I dragged Rob onto the land train – this was a fun way to rest our feet whilst getting a quick tour of the park.   After this, we retraced some of the train route to the beautiful Fuente del Quijote and then on to the boating lakes.  I purchased some Dorilocos – had to be done, as I was too ill last time we were here to face this local snack (Not sure I will try it again! Doritos covered in chilli/chamoy sauce, peanuts, grated carrot, jicama and jelly sweets) and we sat next to the quiet lake enjoying the beautiful day and getting bothered by cute squirrels.

Finally made it to the Anthropology museum and just sat outside with esquites, watching the Voladores.  Didn’t do the museum itself as we had visited it last time we were here and just wanted to sit outside in the sunshine, knowing we were soon to return to cold, rainy UK.

Walked back up the Reforma to see the rest of the alibrijes and continued our walk to the Popular Art museum – a longer walk than we thought!  So glad we finally made it here though, as its probably my favourite museum that I have visited in Mexico, folk art, creativity and historic artefacts, right up my street.  Too tired to walk any more, we got an Uber back the short distance to our hotel.

That evening, we went back to Café Bizarro in Roma district.  It was a lot quieter than Friday night and for some reason they seemed to have run out of practically everything on the drinks menu, but the music was great and it was perfect to spend our last evening in our favourite place in CDMX.

Photos part 1 – Reforma, Chapultepec park and many alibrijes https://vampyresheep.smugmug.com/Holidays/2022-Mexico/11-06-Chapultepec-Reforma-and-Popular-Art-Museum

Part 2: Popular Art museum and Café Bizarro https://vampyresheep.smugmug.com/Holidays/2022-Mexico/11-06-Sun-part-2-Popular-Art-Museum-Cafe-Bizarro/

Mexico 2022 day 16 Monday - La Ciudadela and homeward bound

 Day 16 Monday.

Our final day!  Had breakfast on the hotel roof terrace.  Rob was suffering from a bad stomach, which started the day before and was getting worse, guessing it was from the terrible burger he had at VIPS on Saturday night, so we took it fairly easy for the day.  Packed and checked out of our room, putting luggage in the hotel storage (arrived in Mexico with rucksacks, left with 5 bags, much to the amusement of the hotel Porter!) and walked to La Ciudadela artisan market.  Yes, it’s a tourist trap and we definitely noticed the higher prices this time round, but its still a great way to spend our final pesos.  (still had a tiny bit of space in my luggage for some final gifts and souvenirs!)  Had lunch in the market café, where I first tried tortilla soup on my first visit to Mexico, so I wanted to have that for my final meal here.

Walked back to our hotel.  The plan was to visit the nearby Miguel Lerdo de Tejada library to see the murals, but Rob really wasn’t feeling well, so instead we spent our last hour resting in the hotel lobby and repacking the luggage to fit our final shopping.

Our flight home was that evening, we had another chatty friendly driver to take us to the airport and the journey through airport security and the flight itself all went well.  Very grateful that past me decided to splash out on an upgrade for the journey home, that little bit more space and comfort was needed!

So, my second visit to CDMX.  Last time it was a culture shock and I felt I had only scraped the surface.  It wasn’t the original plan to spend 4 days here this time, originally intending to go to Tepoztlan with just an overnight stop here before going home, and we did feel we were repeating too much of our last holiday. However, it was good to revisit some favourite places and get to others that I didn’t make it to last time. Not sure I love it as a city, but this might have been down to staying in the Centro Historico on a street which just wasn’t pleasant at night.  However it is an incredible, and fascinating city, with so much to see.  Will we visit a third time?  Who knows what the future might bring!

Photos https://vampyresheep.smugmug.com/Holidays/2022-Mexico/11-07-Mon-Ciudadela-market-and-journey-home