vampyresheep

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

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

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