CDMX

Taking advantage of the flexibility of WFH, we decided to go to México for a bit. We ate a ridiculous amount of excellent food off of street stands and in nice restaurants, and tried so many kinds of mezcal that by the end I wasn’t even sure which ones I liked most.

Getting to see friends and family who I hadn’t seen in a long time definitely made the whole trip a lot more enjoyable.

Most of the photos below are from my digital camera, but I also went through a couple of rolls of film while I was there.

We arrived at night, and went for a walk around the neighborhood. We were staying near Parque España, right between Condesa and Roma which are the two popular hipster neighborhoods where most tourists apprently stay.

We walked through little alleys which made me think of El Chavo. They even had signs up saying “Prohibido jugar a la pelota.”

We started our day at El Péndulo. It’s cool that often Mexican bookstores also double as restaurants.

We walked around aimlessly, and ended up in less walkable parts of the city.

We lucked out at the Casa Barragán and were able to tour the house and studio even though we hadn’t booked ahead. They charged $25 (USD) to take pictures inside, so all you get are these photos from the garden.

Vanessa.

I knew there would be a lot of street vendors, but I was surprised by the complexity of their setups.

Many of the stores in Roma and Condesa definitely cater to a tourist crowd. On our walk back to the Airbnb we saw this arts and crafts market was closing down. This could have easily been plucked out of the hipster part of Brooklyn or a street fair in San Francisco.

The next day we did a walking tour in the historic center.

There’s a lot going on downtown.

La Casa de los Azulejos

There was a suprising number of tourists from the US and Europe.

Bellas Artes.

El Correo.

We stopped for a snack at the Cafe de Tacuba. There was a crew of Japanese and Korean guys filming a travel show, and this poor dude walked back and forth on this hallway carrying this tray multiple times while we were eating.

Tacos at Los Cocuyos were not the best of the whole trip, but their campechano was pretty close to the top of my list.

We walked through the Biblioteca de México. There were like 3 or 4 other libraries with confusingly similar names, and I’m still not sure we went to the right one.

This might be my favorite shot of the trip.

Dog school at Parque España might’ve been Hannah’s favorite part of the whole México trip.

The bike share program in the city seemed extensive and very widely used. It was pretty cool to see how many people bike.

We met up with Nathan and Simmy for drinks. I took this photo while we waited for them.

El Expendio de Maíz was one of the most interesting places we ate at. You sit down, and they ask if there’s anything you don’t eat (such as meat or bugs). Other than that you don’t have a say over what you’re eating, as they start bringing dishes out. It was super interesting food.

I talked Hannah into trying the ants and the grasshoppers.

Rubeng. Hadn’t seen this guy in five years. Time flies.

On Friday, we went to Coyoacán to see my aunt. We started the day at Frida Kahlo’s house. The garden was beautiful.

Coyoacán was a little odd, though.

The experience of traveling and carelessly hanging out while an international conflict exploded halfway across the world felt pretty surreal. This was a day after the invasion started.

Our friends planned a trip to Xochimilco, which Hannah described as Dolores Park but on colorful boats.

Nathan y Simmy.

I hadn’t seen Melanie in ~10 years. Especially odd because we used to drive to school together every single day since elementary school.

Totally normal store on the side of the river.

Los hermanitos.

Agu.

Vanesseit.

We got off the boat to go see animals. Here’s Memo making friends.

The mariachis go from boat to boat, taking requests.

Viva México cabrones.

I have another half a roll of México photos in the camera, waiting to be developed, so expect a reprise soon.

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