After waiting forever for my luggage and freaking out that it was lost, it finally arrived and I passed painlessly through customs to find my best friend Kristina waiting for me! We got in a taxi to her neighborhood, la moderna, which is near the Xola subway station. We spent the evening catching up and eating homemade spaghetti with her roommate, Liliana. I "practiced" my Spanish, and realized I basically can't speak it anymore. :/
Liliana & Kristina
On Friday Morning, Kristina had to teach an English class, which was luckily her only obligation the whole time I was there! When she got back we took a train to el centro (downtown) and exited the station right into the zócalo, which is one of the largest public squares in the world.
We walked around el centro and went to an exhibit at el museo de la ciudad. There was an intense photo exhibition of several graffic events that had happened in the past year in Mexico.
A picture I liked- a special transvestite bathroom
Some of them were too bloody and gory for us, so we had to skip them. Continuing through, there was a graffiti exhibition with political/social commentary that was amazing.
We continued through the gorgeous building and were in awe of the architecture and decor.
After the museum, we stumbled upon a bead/gem shop called MineraliA, where we bought some stones to make earrings. Then we were hungry, so we walked down la calle gante and chose a Mexican restaurant from a large selection of eateries. After lunch we decided to get a view of the massive city at the torre latinoamerica, which used to be one of the tallest buildings in Mexico. At the top we could really take in the full effect of the sprawling city.
el zocalo
Palacio de Bellas Artes
We continued on to the mercado de artesanías (arts & crafts), which reminded me of the markets at the Tijuana border. There are tons of souvenirs to buy and bargain for. No trip to Mexico would be complete without haggling your way through a market like this. :)
It was beginning to get dark, and we walked back to el zócalo just in time to wander into la catedral metropolitana at 7:00 mass. It was hard to get a good photo because I couldn't use a flash, but it was breathtakingly ornate, beautiful, and massive. We stayed long enough to hear a haunting chant, then left since we felt like we were intruding.
Not a good pic, but you get the idea
That evening, I was lucky enough to enjoy an authentic Mexican performance by some of Kristina's friends. They brought their instruments over and played and sang for hours, in the style of music called "huapango." The lyrics are mostly improvisational and the point is to rhyme and boast with the other performers, while catering to each unique audience.
"Hutch" playing the violin, Fernando playing the jarana, and Daniel playing the aquinto
Kristina and Liliana dancing
The party ended up going on until 5 in the morning, making the next morning a little difficult to get going. :) On Saturday, we took the subway back to el centro so I could pick up some souvenirs at the gift shop attached to el museo de la ciudad. Here are some photos from walking around the city.
Ornately carved door
church
everything is beautiful!
In Mexico City you don't even have to leave downtown to see ancient ruins, they still stand right in the center of the city!
The Templo Mayor is an amazing cultural site of Aztec ruins.
After the ruins, we walked through a museum that was the original site of the first university in Mexico (I can't remember the name), which ended in a little break in a beautiful courtyard where we ate a typical Mexican antojito (snack) called molletes. It was bread toasted with beans, cheese, and pico de gallo. Mmmm!
beautiful courtyard!
After lunch we wandered the city and stopped for dessert at a panadería, then went into the fine arts museum, Palacio de Bellas Artes.
The day and sun had worn us out, so we decided to go back and rest before dinner, where we went to la condesa, a hipster neighborhood full of bars, clubs, and fusion restaurants. We ate dinner with Kristina's boyfriend Nerssvin ("the N" as I call him) at a delicious Italian restaurant called Santino, near Parque Espana.
There was such a choice of bars and clubs that we had to try several out that night. :) Our first stop was Zydeco, which was small and energetic, packed full of a mix of young and old.
Kristina and the N
Our next stop was Makena, a tiny dark bar underground where I tried (and failed) to order a Long Island Iced Tea (which no one could figure out how to translate).
We really wanted to dance, so we stopped into Bling, where they had stopped playing popular American top-40s from earlier in the night and switched to reggaeton.
The crowd was too young, and after a drink we tried our final destination, called Kaya, a reggae bar. This proved to be the best by far, and we had an amazing time, although it was almost 3:00 when we arrived so we didn't have long until closing time. We got home around 4:00 after a great night on the town.
dancing to the Fugees at Kaya
On Sunday, we decided to allow ourselves to sleep in a little before we returned off to Bosque de Chapultepec. Little did I know, this would be my biggest adventure yet. After we got off the train to the park, we saw a large crowd around a payaso (clown). Normally we wouldn't have stopped, but we saw that the center of the act was a foreigner in a crazy outfit, so we stopped for a second. Of course we were spotted immediately, and before we knew it, I was being dragged into the center of this giant crowd and became part of the "make fun of foreigners" act!!! I had to dance with the Australian tourist (who really had it much worse than I did because he didn't speak or understand a single word of Spanish) and that crazy payaso. Everyone was cheering, laughing, and taking tons of pictures. I was mortified, but decided I had no way out, so I went along with it. Luckily Kristina got lots of pictures so I could document my embarrassing/exciting moment of fame. :)
James being humiliated by the clown
Humiliating myself
Jumping on the Australian.
the whole gang... LOOK AT THAT CLOWN!
James carrying me and showing me off to the crowd while "Unchained Melody" plays in the background (yes, this all really happened)
planning my escape
When we finally ran away we took the walk up to el castillo (the castle) de Chapultepec, where Maximilian and Carlota lived when they came over from France. The day was gorgeous and hot (of course I got a massive sunburn). I got lots of great shots around the castle, although I could only sneak a few inside because photos weren't allowed.
torre mayor
After a few hours admiring the castle, we were on our way out, where I stopped to buy a mascara de luchadores as a souvenir. It was scary.
We took a cab back to la condesa to an organic restaurant that had caught my eye the night before, la buena tierra (the good earth). We enjoyed a delicious dinner followed by a walk through a local outdoor vender's market- bazar de arte y diseno, in Parque Mexico. I wanted to buy everything I saw, but resisted because the trip had already been so cheap, I decided to keep it that way.
We were basically exhausted after such a huge weekend and decided to come home for the night. The next morning I was off for an all-day flying/layover adventure again to come home and try to recover from the terrible cold I had on my vacation. That was the only downside to my trip- the air is practically toxic to breathe in Mexico City. Now I'm back in Seattle recuperating before I'm off to Egypt!! I had an amazing trip and I hope to go back someday for a little longer...
Here are some bonus pics to admire. :)
1 comment:
what great pictures! glad you had so much fun! can't wait to read/hear all about egypt. :)
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