So Mexico City did happen, but I'll be honest, not somewhere I'd go back to again. We went without expectations since the last time I went I actually didn't spend much time in the city, rather I spent all my time in Acapulco and the Pyramids.
Daniele and I were reading about how there has been a renaissance of sorts in the city, making it safer and more "bohemian". Safety was never an issue for us, we weren't expecting it to be dangerous and we never felt like it was regardless of which neighborhood we walked through. On the other hand we discovered quickly that "bohemian" was another descriptor for "hipster" and found a lot of what was supposed to be trendy to fall flat. Mexico City has potential for sure, but it's just not quite there yet as a standalone destination. With four days in the city we really wished that we only used Mexico City as an 8 hour layover on our way to somewhere else in Central or South America.
The highlight of our trip was watching the protest go through Sevilla Street, right outside of our apartment rental. We were there in support of the protesters, but it did make us feel uncomfortable when the protesters would stare at us as if we shouldn't have been there. Only when the buses drove by and each bus driver waved hello to us did we feel like our presence was more welcomed.
For those unaware, the protests are over the disappearance and alleged mass murder of 43 students. It is believed that the mayor of Iguala, Jose Luis Abarca, sent orders to have the students captured and handed over to a drug gang for execution. It's difficult outside of Mexico to get straight facts about what happened and what is currently happening in Mexico. From what we gathered this murder was the final straw for many over the rampant corruption found within the government.
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| Mexico City Protest, December 6th, 2014 |
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| Mexico City Protest, December 6th, 2014 |
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| Mexico City Protest, December 6th, 2014 |
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| Mexico City Protest, December 6th, 2014 |
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| Mexico City Protest, December 6th, 2014 |
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| Mexico City Protest, December 6th, 2014 |
I don't know if the current protests in Mexico have changed the state of mind in Mexico City, but I do have to say after traveling to 30 countries, give or take, Mexico City was the first time I felt really unwelcomed. Of course this wasn't everyone in the city, we met some really nice people, but the general feeling was one of being ignored when trying to interact and stared at while walking down the street. Daniele was able to communicate somewhat since Spanish is similar to Italian, but I found my vocabulary for Spanish words was much greater than his(who knew one week of Spanish at the age of 13, growing up in California, and multiple trips to Spain would be so useful). We were able to get by with our combined Spanish, but for the first time I felt looked down upon for not being a fluent speaker, that didn't even happen in my visits to Paris! I'm not going to dwell on that for the rest of this post, but it still sucked.
On to food. Daniele and I were excited to try out the food since we're both fans of Mexican food in general. I still salivate at my first taste of ceviche and shrimp cocktail over a decade ago during an impromptu visit to Mexicali.
We tried a variety of street food and restaurant food, but felt so heavy that we quickly decided to spend basically all our meals eating ceviche. We were little piggies each time we ordered, but I just can never get enough of ceviche. A highlight for us was
De Mar A Mar in Zona Rosa. We ate there twice and really enjoyed the ceviche and tuna tartare. Another favorite includes
El Caguamo (a kiosk in the Centro Historical),
Tostadas Coyoacan (inside the mercado in Coyoacan), and surprisingly our favorite ceviche came out of the kitchen of a chain Cuban restaurant named
La Bodeguita del Medio (the ceviche verde was so addicting we had it three times). The only bad one we tried was at
Fishmarket in Colonial Roma.
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| Del Mar A Mar, Blue Corn Tortillas & Salsas |
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| Del Mar A Mar, Craft Beer |
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| Del Mar A Mar, Ceviche Blanco |
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| Del Mar A Mar, Ceviche Peruviano |
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| Del Mar A Mar, Shrimp Cocktail |
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| Del Mar A Mar, Tuna Tostada |
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| La Bodeguita del Medio, Ceviche Verde |
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| La Bodeguita del Medio, Masitas |
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| El Caguamo, Ceviche Tostada |
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| El Caguamo, Pulpo Tostada |
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| Coyoacan Tostada, Ceviche and Jiaba Tostada |
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| Coyoacan Tostada |
When it came to food we enjoyed almost everything we ate. Mexican food felt heavier here than what we were used to in California, but still tasty.
As for sights, we were actually really disappointed, this is part of the reason why we won't be in a hurry to go back to Mexico City. If you've never been out of your country and decide to go to Mexico City as your first trip, it could be nice, but many seasoned travelers would quickly grow bored. It is up and coming with pockets of trendy neighborhoods, but if you're used to big cities you won't be too impressed either.
One more thing I want to note. Although Mexico City has an extensive metro system, anyone with mobility issues or small children will have problems. This came to mind because my brother originally had an option to live in Mexico City for 6 months or Germany, he chose Germany. We tried to imagine him or my sister-in-law trying to get around with two toddlers either in the metro or walking along the broken pavement on the streets, not an easy task in Mexico City. One more thing I noticed was difficulty breathing inside the metro. I expected there to be some adjustment to the altitude in Mexico City, but the only real problems we had were while inside the metro. It was even more difficult for me than walking around and climbing in Tibet! I'll end with one final picture, we were surprised by the wheels on the metro train, it's the first time Daniele or I ever encountered wheels on a metro train!
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