We Went to Mexico City
¡Cuidado! Make sure you take your naps
My friend Tess had lived in Mexico City for a stint, and told me all about the colorful city filled with delicious food. I think I had been holding off on visiting because going to another city doesn’t feel very much like vacation to me. However, this winter was really putting me in a deep depression hole; so being in a hot, alive and fun place was exactly what I was looking for.
Setting it up
I love when plans click right into place. In January I reached out to my friends (group chat name: Gabagool) about wanting to go to Mexico City in the spring. With a unanimous and quick yes, we looked into the cheapest flight dates and locked in our seven day trip within the week. An incredibly satisfying feeling.
Getting There
Notes to self:
Don’t leave from Jersey unless you’re in Jersey. The flights from JFK always look a little more expensive than Newark, but if you’re leaving from Brooklyn, that’s the difference of an Uber. At the end of the day, it’s the same price.
Please start upgrading your seat. I literally said the same thing in my Napoli blog and did not listen. My legs are long and we’ve got blood clotting in my family; the squished seats ain’t it.
Do not book flights in Chase’s travel center. Convert your points through an airline.
Convert cash before traveling. We all knew this, but didn’t realize you had to put in a money order from the bank days out. Now we do!
From EWR to MEX was a little over five hours. Once we landed and got through customs, everyone got pesos from the exchange booth in the airport. We hopped in a cab to Roma Sur which costed around $40 total.
Where we stayed
Thankfully, the most expensive part of the trip was the flight. Our Airbnb in cost our group of six only $250 each. It’s probably because there was no AC, which we didn’t realize until the day before. No AC with 80 degree, sunny weather was a big risk. 66% of us made it work with the tower fans in each room. The other 33% headed out to a cute hotel on day two.
For the original and downsized group the apartment had a great set up with three bedrooms and two bathrooms. It was in a complex with front desk security (which made us feel safe especially being in a new place), pool and a gym which we actually hit frequently (and by “we” with the gym, I mean me one time and Osiris everyday).
Things we did
The day of, we booked a trajinera to see the floating gardens of Xochimilco. For $30 USD a person we got a private boat, a tour guide who took shots with us, someone making quesadillas the whole trip and a bucket of beers. You could definitely show up to the port and book a boat for cheaper, but because our Spanish was weak, I was happy we booked in advance.
This was by far my favorite activity of the trip. A silver jewelry salesmen hopped on at the beginning; we could have paid for a band to come on and play music; there were bar-boats and other food options also floating down. We were on for three hours but I truly could have gone for eight.
Morgan — one of my friends on the trip — was recommended HiHi Nails. I have never gotten special nail designs, so for $40 USD I booked that appointment so quickly. After searching up and down Pinterest, I showed my nail tech what I wanted and she executed perfectly.
Everyone was telling us to go to the Museo Nacional de Antropología, which wouldn’t be my typical stop on vacation. However, it’s important to note how rare it is to have these many ancient artifacts. Without them being stolen at that. The exhibits all flow through outdoor spaces which further tell stories of Mexican history. It was really impressive and beautiful.
When we headed to El Bazaar Sábado, our intentions were to hit the silver market. We somehow never found that, but we did spend the entire afternoon here and in the outdoor tents. The vendors are varied between jewelry, textiles and art. I bought a bottle of mezcal to bring back from a local distillery.
In New York I avoid any place like Yu Yu, because I don’t like clubbing. We were in a different country so it’s automatically going to be better. The electronic DJ in a small room with low ceilings and lots of fog exhausted me, so two of us missed what the rest of our friends have described to be the best night of their life at Estéro. Drag performers, microwave pizzas and inexpensive shots. In the moment there was absolutely no way I was going to wait to get into another club, but I am happy that they did!
Unfortunately we never made it to Teotihuacan to see the Pyramid of the Sun, but I am adding it to this list to make the point that we could have with our given time. Unfortunately, the morning we were supposed to go (two days before we headed home) Montezuma got his revenge on me. If you know, oh boy do you know. It was rough but maybe, just maybe, it just means that next time I go out there, my body will be a littttlleeeee stronger.
Places we ate & drank
What a better segue than that to talk about food, huh? If you’re big on trying elevated restaurants, you must book in advance. It happened more than once that we were turned away because we didn’t plan. Without that, there are a lot of taco carts with tables, filling the air with the enticing scents of carne asada, chorizo, chorizo, and sometimes a plain french fry.
As soon as we walked into Rosetta I was so confused that it didn’t have a Michelin Star. As it turns out, a week after we left CDMX, it was one of the first restaurant in the entire city to receive a star. It’s a gorgeous Italian restaurant with excellent service with a creative and delicious menu. We had an estimated hour wait, but sat at the elegant bar upstairs which was no trouble.
I was so happily overwhelmed walking into their sister cafe, Pandería Rosetta. I think only the bakeries in Chinatown could compete with the amount of pastries on display. I grabbed a concha de hoja santa (Mexican pepperleaf) and a role de ricotta y limón amarillo.
Babüin Cafe was our super cute local spot. The staff was very friendly to us (even when we tried and failed speaking Spanish) and the cortados never let me down
The night before I left for CDMX, Sean took me to The Four Horseman in Williamsburg which could be a close cousin of Bar Hugo. A friend who had just moved to the city at the same time we were visiting joined, and the seven of us were able to get a seat at the bar immediately. The wine selection was great, and even their cocktails were delicious. The menu was short but everything that came out was alluring and enjoyable. I’d always rather a well executed concise menu than a large, mediocre one.
We stupidly tried to roll up to Handshake Speakeasy without a reservation. It has been one of the top 50 bars in the world for years; of course you need to get on OpenTable before. It was so worth the couple-of-days-wait. The cocktails resemble the classics, but have innovative twists.
Because of my illness towards the end of the trip, I missed Botánico, Baltra Bar (on the list for North America’s 50 best bars) and Maximo Bistro, which my friends said were incredible. Oh well. Next time!
Wanna take a moment to send love to my friends on this trip. We’ve been friends for so long and I think hopping on a plane and being each other in a new environment has brought us closer.
Upon reflection I’ve also realized how exhausted I was on this trip. At this point of the year my brain was ready to be completely offline. So although I automatically feel relaxed with this group of people, I think being in a new city kept me from being able to chill. And then I missed Estéro! And then my gut was all messed up. Lessons learned. Still a great time.
My favorite part about it was the amount of nature in the city. Tall, fat, old, beautiful trees are found ten times on every block. When we were leaving for the trip, the trees had yet to bloom into their current lusciousness, so I was so relieved to be surrounded.
My next and probably last plane ride this year will be to Sonoma, CA. BUT, where should I be planning to go in 2025? Let me know in the comments!