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Mexico & Arizona 2023Mexico & Arizona 2023
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Mexico & Arizona 2023

February - April 2023
Exploring Mexico City, San Miguel de Allende & Tucson. Read more
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  • TravelerMexico & Arizona 2023
    Day 1

    Phoenix on route to Mexico City

    February 25, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Nexus worked well in Toronto, so got through relatively quickly. Flight was delayed by 2 hours, though, so we didn't get to the Hilton Garden Inn after midnight - expensive hotel - $US 238. Popped in my Simcorner SIM card, but had trouble getting it activated. They responded quickly to my emails, though, and soon I was all set to go. Now that I've discovered other SIM cards, I can't imagine travelling without them. This one cost $52 / month and I bought 2 as we'd be travelling for the next 6 weeks or so in the US & Mexico.Read more

  • TravelerMexico & Arizona 2023
    Day 2

    Mexico City Day 1

    February 26, 2023 in Mexico ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    Phoenix airport worked well. Nice guy checked us in, accepted our Nexus card and gave us pre approval. We zipped through security - no need to remove anything. We booked seats in advance but still didn’t board until Zone 5. There was no inflight entertainment - at least not that we could figure out.

    When we arrived in Mexico there was a huge queue. We left the line to see if there was another way - signage was confusing. Fortunately when we came back a young American girl working with an NGO for animals let us back into line where we were before.

    As luck would have it, when we were about 1/3 the way to security, they open the rope and ushered Americans & Canadians to another line and we got through quite quickly.

    We took an Uber to Hotel Gillow. Super efficient and cheap - only problem is the car totally stopped at one point and the driver had to open the hood and fiddle with something. It stopped again, but fortunately he was able to get it going again and we made it to the hotel

    Hotel Gillow is in the heart of the old city, just off the main walking street and close to the Palace. It’s old but charming - rooms encircling the inner courtyard. We had a room on the 6th floor with a fair sized balcony. Needless to say we climbed the stairs up and down for 3 days. A good workout especially at that altitude - 7,000 ft.

    We headed out to explore and I actually felt a little weird - the combo of heat, sun reflecting off the slate streets, and altitude made me feel light headed.

    That evening we found a little place on the walking street for dinner - panini and Bohemia light for me, salad and Bohemia dark for Peter. It was actually really good.    Read more

  • TravelerMexico & Arizona 2023
    Day 3

    Day 2 Centro Historico & Grand Hotel

    February 27, 2023 in Mexico ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    Had a lovely breakfast at Hotel Gillow, included with the room. The waiters don’t speak English, so using Reverso and lots of gestures we made our choices - which worked out well. We then headed out to explore the surrounding area.

    We headed down the nearby walking street, popping into an exhibit by Marysole Warner Baz - impressive - then past China Town into the modern part of the city.
    One building looked like a fabulous museum of indigenous artist, but was in fact a Casino. Disappointing.

    From there we headed to the Arch of the Revolution for a quick view, then walked back to Zócalo, the main square with the Presidential Palace. The had been a huge protest there the day before so there were police everywhere - lots of women - and the square was roped off to cars.

    From here we went into the Grand Hotel overlooking the square, which friends had recommended. The architecture was stunning. Our timing was great - we didn’t have a reservation, but as we were there early there was room. Luckier still, it coincided with the lowering of the flag with lots of high goose stepping officers. Quite the spectacle. A lovely end to the day.

    .    Read more

  • TravelerMexico & Arizona 2023
    Day 4

    Day 3 Bus Tour & Sky Bar

    February 28, 2023 in Mexico ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    We didn’t chose well for our breakfast today - never choose Continental in Mexico - slices of white toast, not much more. Lesson learned.
    We then headed to Zócala to catch a hop on hop off bus tour with Turibus. We bought our tickets there and it worked well. We got off at the Archeological museum - helped us get a better understanding of the origins of Mexican people - native, then the Spanish came with their black slaves and the groups intermingled, hence the different skin tones here.
    We then wandered to the Modern Art Museum- were told there was a good restaurant there - but it was closed. We were so famished we didn’t spend much time in the museum and ended up buying some fresh fruit from a vendor outside the museum to keep us going.

    We hopped back on the bus intending to go to the Frida Kahlo Museum but it was too late by then. Still hungry, we walked to the Miralto restaurant on the 41st floor of the Latinamericana building. Amazing 360 view of the city, but not a great vibe - American music playing and not many people.    Read more

  • TravelerMexico & Arizona 2023
    Day 5

    Day 4 Palace, Museums, Terazza Cha Cha

    March 1, 2023 in Mexico ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    We headed down to the main square - President’s Palace etc - a short walk away. It was totally blocked off due to protests the day before because President Obrador was trying to excerpt power from the courts. There was a group for men protesting, and in the same square several people being « cleansed" - old & young,

    From here, we headed to Belles Artes - WOW impressive especially the large mural by Diego Rivera that was taken down in New York due to his support for Communism, so he duplicated it here.

    From there, we took an Uber to Frida Kahlo Museum. Impressive- was a bit like seeing the Neitzsche Haus - both idols from their countries. We didn't have reservations and the queue was long, but I used my "old lady" spin and the fact that we'd spent $$$ coming to see the museum, and a young girl took pity on me and sent me to her manager who instantly let us enter. The plus of being "old."

    The Highlight, though, was dinner at Terazza Cha, Cha, Cha, overlooking Plaza de la República. Beautiful.

    Tomorrow we head off to SMA. Should be good fun.    Read more

  • TravelerMexico & Arizona 2023
    Day 6

    San Miguel Here We Come

    March 2, 2023 in Mexico ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    Bajiogo shuttle worked well, but was super expensive- US$100 each. Will try to find a cheaper way back. The driver arrived on time and we had the car to ourselves. He took us directly to El Chorro #50. The lock box opened and we found 3 keys, which worked well. A great start.

    The place was tiny but with a huge courtyard, which I loved. After decluttering for a good hour - pots, pans, plants, ornaments, everywhere - I felt more at home. The shower trickled and ran out of hot water after a few minutes, but otherwise it had a lot of charm.

    From the tiny Juliette balcony we heard a neighbour speaking English. Seems he left his cell phone is a taxi and was trying to retrieve it, with no luck. They did invite us over, though, and their place was spectacular - humungous garden, beautiful artwork, but only 1 bedroom. It came with full time maid & gardener. Turns out Edith is an author and David retired, never said what he did, from Bowen Island. They gave us good instructions on where to find groceries, etc. Diego, the 27 year old owner of our place, hadn’t left any instructions so I had to keep emailing him with questions - wifi, garbage,groceries, etc etc.

    We then headed out along the narrow cobblestone streets. Charming but not easy to walk on. We found the main square - Jardine, pronounced Hardeen- complete with 4 mariachi bands competing for attention.The weather was amazing - about 25 in the evening.

    We picked up some groceries at a tiny shop near by, then at Madeline’s suggestion, had dinner at Manantial, a small restaurant nearby that specializes in fish tacos etc. The place was cute, the ambience vibrant. Such fun.    Read more

  • TravelerMexico & Arizona 2023
    Day 7

    Festival of the Conquistadors

    March 3, 2023 in Mexico ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    We really lucked out today. Little did we know it, but the first Friday in March is the Festival of the Conquistadors.

    What an amazing sight. We wandered into the Jardin about 10am and it was packed with hundreds of dancers all in ornate traditional costumes. They were still there when we passed by again about 10pm, dancing as enthusiastically as ever.

    Googling a bit, I found out that this has been a tradition for 400 years. The dancers are paying their respects to El Senor de la Conquista, a 1575 stature of Christ housed in the Parroquia de San Miguel Arcángel (beautiful church). People who enter the church this day say 33 prayers, one for each day of Jesus’ life.

    After lunch we climbed up behind our place on El Chorro to get a view of the city, - so much larger than we thought - then we were invited to John & Madeline’s for drinks, followed by dinner at Hecho en México a nearby restaurant. Food was delish and the servings were huge.

    Such fun seeing Sariya & family after all these years. We decided the last time we’d seen her she was still at Dartmouth College - YIKES about 25 years ago. Was great to meet her husband John, daughter Ariadne, in first year at McGill, a son Fred heading to university next year.

    What a wonderful start to our stay in SMA.    Read more

  • TravelerMexico & Arizona 2023
    Day 8

    Parque Benito Juárez, Playhouse Theatre

    March 4, 2023 in Mexico ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    Another interesting day in SMA. In the morning we wandered down past the Casa de la Cultura El Chorro to Parque Benito Juárez. The Cultual Center holds all kinds of classes - art, dance, piano, etc- and the park is huge and beautiful - displays of arts & crafts, children’s play area, basketball court etc. We even found an exercise area with bars etc.

    In the evening we met Glenn & Sharyn Tarver and their friends at the San Miguel Playhouse. The performer, Leah Alonzo, was amazing - rich voice like Amy Winehouse, and songs & banter that told the story of her life - the good, the bad & the ugly. The audience was totally charmed.    Read more

  • TravelerMexico & Arizona 2023
    Day 9

    Unitariun Church & Exploring the City

    March 5, 2023 in Mexico ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    We rarely go to church, but Glenn encouraged us to come to the Unitarian Church just to see what it’s all about. To our surprise, it was extremely interesting - and totally non religious.

    It’s located at Hotel Posada de la Aldea - a lovely building with beautiful landscaping. To our surprise, Sue Atkinson approached us. We hadn’t seen her in about 10 years, but we quickly picked up where we had left off. We took pics to send to Jim & Jacqueline.

    At the service, two female lawyers - Rebecca Eichler & Careen Shannon - spoke about helping a mother, her daughter & son migrate from Honduras to the US. The story is captured in their film Las Abogadas.

    After church we went for lunch with Glenn & company again at Heche en Mexico, then wandered around the city enjoying the sites & sounds.    Read more

  • TravelerMexico & Arizona 2023
    Day 9

    Mercado de Artésanias

    March 5, 2023 in Mexico ⋅ 🌩️ 29 °C

    Collecting garbage is interesting here. At 11 am the truck comes down the street ringing a bell. Although El Chorro is one way, it goes down & comes back up again. This is great because it gives you enough time to dash out with your garbage - black bag only, none of this sorting into 3 different bags. Soooo easy.
    Peter caught them in time.

    Our adventure today was to wander into the Artisan’s market - a random collection of everything from veggies to crafts. Soooo colourful . . . .

    By chance we ran into Madeline as we wandered around the city after, then stopped at La Sacristia, a lovely hideaway for drinks. It never ceases to amaze me what beautiful courtyards there are hidden behind doors.

    My other delights are the colourful walls, doors decorated with fresh flowers, and Mojigangas - 15’ tall puppets everywhere. They trace their origins to Spain, where they represented politicians etc, but in SMA they’re more fanciful & comical. The brides & grooms are favourites at weddings.    Read more

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