Today was our day trip to Teotihuacán! This will be the first ruin complex we’ve seen post-covid, although we did see some castle ruins in Okinawa last year. I'm big into ruins :)
The guidebooks and travel blogs all suggest leaving the city by 8am to beat the crowds at Teotihuacán. Getting up early didn’t seem to be very vacation-ish so we just had a casual morning and left the hotel at 10am.
Walked out of the pedestrian area to catch an Uber. Our driver suggested a flat rate to go there and back, which we agreed to as it just made logistics simpler. We also agreed to take the toll highway which cut travel time in half!
And so we arrived at Teotihuacán a little after 11am. Paid our entrance fees (95 MXN each, about 6.50 CAD), took a pic of our driver’s car to remember it, and then we were off!
Sat on some steps in front of Pyramid of the Sun and read the Moon Guide overview of Teotihuacán. Then we walked down Avenue of the Dead towards the Pyramid of the Moon. When I backpacked through in 1997 it was still possible to climb both pyramids, however all the ruins are now off-limits to protect them. Probably we shouldn’t have been climbing them back in the 90s either, although the number of tourists was far lower.
Near the Pyramid of the Moon is the Palace of Quetzalpapaloti. I didn’t remember the excavated palace from my first visit; it was cool to see. Also we lucked out with the timing, in a lull between tour groups. Teotihuacán is huge and can absorb a lot of people, although it didn’t seem very crowded while we were there. The small enclosed spaces in the palace can get busy though.
Next was the 2km walk down to the other end of Avenue of the Dead, to see the Temple of Quetzalcóatl and stone carvings of serpents’ heads lining a staircase. Along the way took a million pics because the lighting was great over the pyramids.
It took us just under two hours to see the main attractions in Teotihuacán, with lots of time spent stopping for pics. For me, the most impressive thing about Teotihuacán is its size. The ruins aren’t as artistic as others but it is massive.
Our driver was waiting for us at the exit, and we took off back to the city.
Had lunch at the very busy taco place across from the hotel. Every time we’ve looked out from our balcony there’s been a line-up, mostly with locals, always a good sign. Shared the special of five tacos and a Coke for 65 MXN (4.50 CAD). They were yummy and hit the spot.
Cause we used the tolls roads, we still had the afternoon for more touristing. Started with the Metropolitan Cathedral in the Zócalo. The cathedral itself is quite amazing, with two enormous pipe organs.
Somehow we found our way inside the pipe organ room in the middle of the cathedral, and were able to see them up close. It’s a 30 MXN ticket to enter, and after we were inside, the ticket person closed the door to further entrants. Still not sure how we made the cut but oh well. There’s a free daily performance of the pipe organs at 9am; we may try to see this tomorrow before breakfast.
Next checked out the interior of the Gran Hotel de la Ciudad, to see the Tiffany glass ceiling. It was pretty cool.
We were heading back to our hotel when we realized the lighting in the Zócalo was perfect, with the low sun highlighting the large Mexican flag against a dark grey sky. So we took another million pics.
Finally made it back to the hotel, just before it started raining at 5pm as forecast.
For dinner we finally ventured off campus, and ate at Limosneros. It’s a modern take on Mexican classics. We really enjoyed it.
Saw the preparations for Inauguration Day tomorrow. There’s a very loud sound system set up in the Zócalo. Last night they were doing sound checks at midnight! The sound system does have excellent bass though - it totally shook the doors to our balcony last night.
Monday, September 30, 2024
Sunday, September 29, 2024
Alameda Central, CDMX, Mexico
We felt much better this morning, having had a day to acclimatize to the elevation. Had French toast for breakfast which was excellent. I always find literal translations of odd English food names funny, like perros caliente (hot dog) or in this case, pan frances.
We had tickets for the Symphony Orchestra at Palacio de Bellas Artes for their 12:15 performance. It’s only on Sundays that they have a mid-day performance, which we prefer.
It was about a ten minute walk down the pedestrian-only Av Francisco I. Madero. The police barricades had been taken down overnight so it made it easier to navigate the historic centre.
Every 2nd building we walked by was some amazing looking historical building that had some gallery or museum. We could easily spend another week here :)
The police barricades were still up around the Palacio de Bellas Artes so we walked 180° around to enter the grounds, and then back 270° to get to the Palacio entrance. Good thing we were way early!
Most institutions are free to the public on Sundays so it was pretty crowded inside. It was still easy though to get a good view of the floor-to-ceiling murals on the 2nd and 3rd floor. These alone were worth the visit!
It was about noon so we lined up to enter for the symphony. I had bought tickets months ago to get front row in the balcony, just to see the Tiffany glass curtain behind the stage. The only way to see the glass curtain is by going to a performance, so here we were :)
Unfortunately, for Symphony Orchestra performances, they back the stage with wood panels (I’m assuming for the acoustics?) and so there was no view to be had :( oh well
The symphony was quite good. We had a lot of things we wanted to see before the forecasted rain started at 3pm so we left at the intermission, or half time as I called it accidentally.
Unfortunately the forecast was wrong at the rain had already started :(
We tried to get into the 8th floor cafeteria in the Sears department store across the street for the classic pic of Palacio de Bellas Artes. There was a long wait that we didn’t care for. Then I realized it’s not just the cafeteria that has the great views, it’s every floor! So went to the 9th floor and leaned over some boxes of merchandise to get my pics.
Walked through Alameda Central to Museo Mural Diego Rivera, which houses just a single massive mural, Dream of a Sunday Afternoon on the Almeda Central. We had a bit of trouble finding the building, finally resorting to Google maps.
Due to the rain, there were only a handful of other visitors, so we were able to get great people-free pics. Spent about 15 minutes observing all the details in the mural.
Next up was lunch. We were in the heart of busiest tourist attractions on a Sunday and so every restaurant had a long wait. Found a busy local restaurant on a side street and had their comida corrida, a very typical 3-course meal served for lunch (chicken soup, rice, and then a choice of main). (2nd day in a row I’ve used an Oxford comma). Lunch was quite tasty!
It was pouring rain when we finished lunch, so we skipped the last couple items on the list for today (Palacio de Mineria for some more murals plus four meteorites, and Sanborn’s for the tiles) and just headed home.
We dried off a bit and then went down to the hotel restaurant for a double espresso and split a dessert. Chatted with the manager about the best way to get to Teotihuacan tomorrow (Uber). Also asked about the Pink Panther exhibition currently showing in the gallery part of the hotel. He offered us a VIP tour as guests (so we didn’t have to go with a group). The exhibition turned out to be by various prominent Mexican artists and their take on the Pink Panther. It was pretty cool, and not at all what I was expecting!
We had tickets for the Symphony Orchestra at Palacio de Bellas Artes for their 12:15 performance. It’s only on Sundays that they have a mid-day performance, which we prefer.
It was about a ten minute walk down the pedestrian-only Av Francisco I. Madero. The police barricades had been taken down overnight so it made it easier to navigate the historic centre.
Every 2nd building we walked by was some amazing looking historical building that had some gallery or museum. We could easily spend another week here :)
The police barricades were still up around the Palacio de Bellas Artes so we walked 180° around to enter the grounds, and then back 270° to get to the Palacio entrance. Good thing we were way early!
Most institutions are free to the public on Sundays so it was pretty crowded inside. It was still easy though to get a good view of the floor-to-ceiling murals on the 2nd and 3rd floor. These alone were worth the visit!
It was about noon so we lined up to enter for the symphony. I had bought tickets months ago to get front row in the balcony, just to see the Tiffany glass curtain behind the stage. The only way to see the glass curtain is by going to a performance, so here we were :)
Unfortunately, for Symphony Orchestra performances, they back the stage with wood panels (I’m assuming for the acoustics?) and so there was no view to be had :( oh well
The symphony was quite good. We had a lot of things we wanted to see before the forecasted rain started at 3pm so we left at the intermission, or half time as I called it accidentally.
Unfortunately the forecast was wrong at the rain had already started :(
We tried to get into the 8th floor cafeteria in the Sears department store across the street for the classic pic of Palacio de Bellas Artes. There was a long wait that we didn’t care for. Then I realized it’s not just the cafeteria that has the great views, it’s every floor! So went to the 9th floor and leaned over some boxes of merchandise to get my pics.
Walked through Alameda Central to Museo Mural Diego Rivera, which houses just a single massive mural, Dream of a Sunday Afternoon on the Almeda Central. We had a bit of trouble finding the building, finally resorting to Google maps.
Due to the rain, there were only a handful of other visitors, so we were able to get great people-free pics. Spent about 15 minutes observing all the details in the mural.
Next up was lunch. We were in the heart of busiest tourist attractions on a Sunday and so every restaurant had a long wait. Found a busy local restaurant on a side street and had their comida corrida, a very typical 3-course meal served for lunch (chicken soup, rice, and then a choice of main). (2nd day in a row I’ve used an Oxford comma). Lunch was quite tasty!
It was pouring rain when we finished lunch, so we skipped the last couple items on the list for today (Palacio de Mineria for some more murals plus four meteorites, and Sanborn’s for the tiles) and just headed home.
We dried off a bit and then went down to the hotel restaurant for a double espresso and split a dessert. Chatted with the manager about the best way to get to Teotihuacan tomorrow (Uber). Also asked about the Pink Panther exhibition currently showing in the gallery part of the hotel. He offered us a VIP tour as guests (so we didn’t have to go with a group). The exhibition turned out to be by various prominent Mexican artists and their take on the Pink Panther. It was pretty cool, and not at all what I was expecting!
Saturday, September 28, 2024
Coyoacán, CDMX, Mexico
Our flight from Toronto to Ciudad de Mexico (CDMX) yesterday evening was really smooth, considering we flew over the hurricane. Immigration was fully automated - scanned our passports, took a pic and we were in Mexico! Customs just waved tourists through the Nothing to Declare line.
We were a bit rusty with our travel and took a taxi not from the official taxi line up. Oh well. The price was similar to what I read it should be. Our driver was friendly, apologizing when he hit a pothole.
Our hotel was just off the Zócalo (the main square in the historical centre), accessible via a pedestrian-only road. There were police checkpoints due to the recent protests against the government, and we had to show our hotel reservation to enter the street. Normally we won’t be getting back to the hotel at midnight so probably won’t need to again.
This morning, we were feeling the effects of being at an altitude. CDMX is at an elevation of 2,240m, enough to wind us after climbing the stairs to our room on the 3rd floor.
The hotel manager gave us a warm greeting when we went down for breakfast. (I’d been corresponding a bit with Emanuel while planning the trip.) Breakfast was excellent, Heather was able to practice her Spanish.
We had reservations at the Frida Kahlo museum for timed entry at 1:30pm. Took an Uber and had about an hour to kill so wandered up to Jardín del Arte Allende. There was some really good quality art, we ended up buying a print. The artist, Enrique Mañón, doesn’t title his art but instead asks the buyer to name them. We called ours Mujer Pensada, which was our maybe incorrect translation of Woman Thinking.
Across the street was Coyoacán Market so we checked it out. Bought a couple items on my list for the key stand - a molinillo (used to whisk hot chocolate) and a couple Otomi dolls (dolls made from fabric ends).
We still had some time before our entry to Frida Kahlo so tried the squeeze in a quick bite at a coffee shop. Their coffee was quite good (so were our cappuccinos at breakfast) but we had to eat our food quickly, and if you know how slow we eat, you can guess it didn’t end well. Had about half a sandwich each and then rushed over to Frida Kahlo’s.
The museum was excellent. My favourite was where they showed pieces from around her house and how they were inspiration in some of her art.
There were some very dark clouds in the distance but my iPhone said it wouldn’t rain until 6pm so we walked over to Díaz de Cossio Experimental Ceramics Workshop but it closed at 2pm so we just caught another Uber back to the centro.
Walked in the last 20 minutes cause the traffic was really bad. There’s lots of street food, I tried a popular taco stand which was amazing. We passed by another hole in the wall (literally, it was sandwiched between two buildings and about the size of a broom closet) which smelled amazing and was super popular. Anyways looks like we’ll have no shortage of food options on this trip.
Walked through the Zócalo to get to our hotel. Some access points were blockaded in case of protests and so we took a circuitous route back. It had just started to rain so we pulled out our umbrellas. We were lucky with the weather today - we got to do everything we wanted under beautiful sunny skies. A pretty successful start to our little vacation!
We were a bit rusty with our travel and took a taxi not from the official taxi line up. Oh well. The price was similar to what I read it should be. Our driver was friendly, apologizing when he hit a pothole.
Our hotel was just off the Zócalo (the main square in the historical centre), accessible via a pedestrian-only road. There were police checkpoints due to the recent protests against the government, and we had to show our hotel reservation to enter the street. Normally we won’t be getting back to the hotel at midnight so probably won’t need to again.
This morning, we were feeling the effects of being at an altitude. CDMX is at an elevation of 2,240m, enough to wind us after climbing the stairs to our room on the 3rd floor.
The hotel manager gave us a warm greeting when we went down for breakfast. (I’d been corresponding a bit with Emanuel while planning the trip.) Breakfast was excellent, Heather was able to practice her Spanish.
We had reservations at the Frida Kahlo museum for timed entry at 1:30pm. Took an Uber and had about an hour to kill so wandered up to Jardín del Arte Allende. There was some really good quality art, we ended up buying a print. The artist, Enrique Mañón, doesn’t title his art but instead asks the buyer to name them. We called ours Mujer Pensada, which was our maybe incorrect translation of Woman Thinking.
Across the street was Coyoacán Market so we checked it out. Bought a couple items on my list for the key stand - a molinillo (used to whisk hot chocolate) and a couple Otomi dolls (dolls made from fabric ends).
We still had some time before our entry to Frida Kahlo so tried the squeeze in a quick bite at a coffee shop. Their coffee was quite good (so were our cappuccinos at breakfast) but we had to eat our food quickly, and if you know how slow we eat, you can guess it didn’t end well. Had about half a sandwich each and then rushed over to Frida Kahlo’s.
The museum was excellent. My favourite was where they showed pieces from around her house and how they were inspiration in some of her art.
There were some very dark clouds in the distance but my iPhone said it wouldn’t rain until 6pm so we walked over to Díaz de Cossio Experimental Ceramics Workshop but it closed at 2pm so we just caught another Uber back to the centro.
Walked in the last 20 minutes cause the traffic was really bad. There’s lots of street food, I tried a popular taco stand which was amazing. We passed by another hole in the wall (literally, it was sandwiched between two buildings and about the size of a broom closet) which smelled amazing and was super popular. Anyways looks like we’ll have no shortage of food options on this trip.
Walked through the Zócalo to get to our hotel. Some access points were blockaded in case of protests and so we took a circuitous route back. It had just started to rain so we pulled out our umbrellas. We were lucky with the weather today - we got to do everything we wanted under beautiful sunny skies. A pretty successful start to our little vacation!
Friday, September 27, 2024
Toronto, Canada
We're almost off on our next vacation, this time a week to Mexico City. Oddly, this is the first time Heather will be traveling to Mexico! I backpacked through Mexico on my longer trips in the mid-90's (from San Diego through to Belize, eventually down to Panama City). It's also our first time back to a Spanish-speaking country since 2011, so my Spanish is definitely rusty! Heather's been studying on Duolingo and has picked up quite a bit.
We're flying Air Canada and so were glad when the labour dispute settled. There's also a hurricane sort of in between Toronto and Mexico City. I checked on FlightAware this morning and it showed the flight path taking a bit of a detour west. Maybe I'll skip the hot beverages on this flight in case of turbulence.
Mexico City is somewhat like Rome -- there are ruins right in the heart of the city, and lots of museums and art galleries and history. We've pre-booked just a couple things: our visit to the Frida Kahlo Museum (it's timed entry), and the Sunday morning performance of the Symphonic Orchestra at the Palacio de Bellas Artes. The rest will depend on the weather.
We're off to the airport shortly, ¡hablamos luego!
We're flying Air Canada and so were glad when the labour dispute settled. There's also a hurricane sort of in between Toronto and Mexico City. I checked on FlightAware this morning and it showed the flight path taking a bit of a detour west. Maybe I'll skip the hot beverages on this flight in case of turbulence.
Mexico City is somewhat like Rome -- there are ruins right in the heart of the city, and lots of museums and art galleries and history. We've pre-booked just a couple things: our visit to the Frida Kahlo Museum (it's timed entry), and the Sunday morning performance of the Symphonic Orchestra at the Palacio de Bellas Artes. The rest will depend on the weather.
We're off to the airport shortly, ¡hablamos luego!
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