¡Hola, Mexico!

We’re back from two weeks in Mexico – tanned, tired and well padded out with cheese and chocolate. We spent a week in Mexico City and a week in Oaxaca – it was really good to see perhaps two extremes of the same country. Here’s a first bunch of photos and my thoughts on our first stop, Mexico City.

We were almost put off Mexico City (known locally as DF, District Federal) before going, with the consensus being it’s too big, crowded, hectic and completely impenetrable for a short visit. Luckily I didn’t find that to be the case at all. I think that was partly the neighbourhood we stayed in, Condesa, and the lovely Airbnb we called temporary home (this one) which was a great base to return to and chill out for a bit in between scampering around. Condesa is a really nice quiet area, but with loads of restaurants, bars, shops and cafes. It borders the more buzzy Roma and Zona Rosa and isn’t too far from the historical centre either. It reminded me of London in the way each neighbourhood has a distinct vibe so you can choose where to hang out based on your mood. The Chilangos (inhabitants of DF) also reminded me of Londoners – they’ll generally stay out of your way but be friendly and helpful if you’re looking for it.

One thing that really surprised me was how green a city it is. There are lush tropical planted parks every few blocks which break up the concrete. Mexico City is pretty pleasant to take in on foot once you get used to the uneven pavements and, er, unorthodox approach to traffic lights and pedestrian crossings (we quickly learned to just go when a local crosses!). It’s very clean in terms of litter and it felt safe to walk around areas like Condesa and Roma after dark. Plus the weather in mid-late October was in the mid-20s, perfect for wandering around.

Other options for longer trips include taxis and the metro. Taxis are very cheap and safe as long as you book them from the ranks situated every couple of blocks – $100/£5 will get you anywhere in the centre. The Metro is even cheaper – at $4/20p it’s amongst the cheapest in the world – and generally a safe bet. On the downside, it got hot and sticky at peak time (5-6pm and onward) and also had a tendency to make long stops with no announcements as to what’s going on. There are women and children only carriages at the front of every train but I didn’t feel the need to use them. There are also buses and hire bikes, which we didn’t try. I’ll show some of the other areas we visited a bit later on.

Like Ecuador and Panama, there’s colour everywhere, from handpainted signs to ornately tiled buildings.

Food is everywhere too, at all hours! Street food shacks and carts on ever corner offering every variety of corn meat cheese you can imagine – I’m now well-versed in telling a memelita from a tlayuda. If you were on a budget you could eat street food three times a day for about $50 pesos (£2.50). The pound is pretty strong right now, which made everything seem pretty bargainous to us anyway. We ate a vast variety of amazing food, from 50p street tacos to allegedly the highest-end restaurant in Mexico – I’ll post more about my favourites. We even found veggie restaurants! In fact eating veggie there was really quite easy: a fondness for cheese will definitely help though.

Another highlight for me was the volume of markets – my idea of heaven is walking around a fresh produce market; even if I can’t buy the fruit and veg I love to see what’s available and how deliciously vibrant it all looks. Plus of course there’s all manner of stuff we could bring home, like dried chillies, hot sauce, chocolate and crafts… I’ll write some more about specific markets later.

Lots more to come soon on what we saw, did and ate!