Mexico City Part II

Day 392.

The sheer size of Mexico City and the fact that we'll be spending a few weeks here has left us with no choice but to break these posts up, if not just for my sanity alone, so here goes part II.

After 5 days in CDMX we said goodbye to Mauricio and headed out of town to meet Laura, our new host who was a complete contrast in terms of person and location. A rather scatty, if not slightly crazy single mum who housed us in a separate apartment attached to her rather grand house on the outskirts of town - a real treat. Weren't big freinds of the rather scary and bite happy dog at first but learnt to love her.

Our first chance to explore this tranquil part of town was going for lunch. After a stern discussion recently limbster decided to go big, ordering an array of local dishes she had not tried before, only gathering a vague idea as to what they were in spanish from the very kind owner. Amazingly this paid off and by sheer luck we were presented with a huge platter of local delights, that quite frankly we didn't know we had ordered at all. Spending a few hours here over a horchata and discussing future plans was certainly not the worst decision we've made.

After the previous days unsuccessful attempt at shipping our goods to the UK we headed back into town to try again. I was dealt a fairly harsh blow early on and was informed Bri's Xmas gift wouldn't make it through customs, having to hand it over to the police after lugging it around for 5 weeks straight was a fairly sad start. Limbster didn't go unscathed either quickly realising milk based products once carried around for a month in the Mexican heat will not last. However things did improve, the Harry Potter style Palace post office was certainly a great setting to be packing our things home. Three hours later and 5k lighter we felt good - Now just to pray those skulls make it!

After a long breakfast with Laura, and another pint of oxxo coffee for me we headed out to Xochimilco. With Laura's vague and exhausting public transport options in hand we slid ourselves into the much more economical backseat of an Uber (once out of sight of course) and were on our way.

It's hard to describe a place like Xochimilco, known as the little venice of Mexico City - miles of pre Hispanic waterways, thousands of colorful Trajineras (colorful punting boats) and all the Mariachi and Cerveza you could ask for. Deciding there was only one way to find out what happens here we hired our own and set off. The following hour turned out to be one of the funniest we have had, cruising the backwaters with Mariachi Bands sailing past (boarding your boat on request) canoe sellers offering everything from more beer (of course we indulged) to the classic Mexican snacks. Watching boats full to the brim with family's dancing away at midday was certainly the highlight.

After this surreal experience we headed to the more upmarket neighbourhoods of Roma and Condesa to explore, although this sounds casual this was actually a train ride, 2 metros, 2 buses and a 15 minute walk! But for sampling the oldest churros in town and for the first time getting that Xmasy feeling it was certainly worth the trip.

After some serious persuasion I had convinced Limbster to head out to see the Teotihucan ruins with me. Although not a history buff she accepted and we were on our way, opting to crack out the ever stylish travel hat today becuase it was crazy hot and that forehead needs protecting. As well as being amazingly preserved it also has the world's 3rd largest pyramid, which we were quick to scale to admire the views!

Sensing after pyramid number 3 I was loosing limbster we jumped back on the bus and headed back to town just in time to see the much spoken off sunset flag ceremony at the Zócalo. Watching the soilders chase down that flag as if their life depended on it (actually may well have done) was certainly entertaining, but not as much so as watching limbster eat an Elote. Never have I seen someone shamelessly make as much mess with a single piece of corn in one sitting.

After hitting 25km walking for the 3rd day in a row we were exhausted, opting to end our evening with a night at the museums therefore seemed rougue, but was well worth the visit. Exploring the most grand art museum (accompanied with some live jazz) by night felt like something right out of a movie.

Come Day 4 it was farewell to Laura and time to move more central. Left on a high after a visit to our favourite breakfast spot and collecting my newly repaired favourite shirt - it had certainly been a great stay!Read more