Five and a half days in Mexico City
Five and a half days in Mexico City
“The wish to travel seems to me characteristically human: the desire to move, to satisfy your curiosity or ease your fears, to change the circumstances of your life, to be a stranger, to make a friend, to experience an exotic landscape, to risk the unknown.” – Paul Theroux
Sure, we can do this in 5 ½ days. We all agreed that yes, we would not see all the sights, but we could probably do everything on our bucket list. My husband, Lionel, myself and our good friends Anna and Bob researched, planned and were very confident that this was doable. We, of course, do our research and make a wish list of places to see. It always seems that we fall a little short on our time estimate and have started adding an extra day or two, ‘Just in case.’ Mexico City, we soon discovered, requires more than an extra day or two. Yes, we saw the majority of sights on our wish list but we had to spend more hours per day to do so. Yes, we saw a lot and just about everything on our list but we were exhausted. First, we did not get an early start and hence had to rush a bit to fit everything in. My advice? Set a time in the morning to get started. If you are a late riser, then take that into consideration when planning. None of us are late risers, but it seems that this trip was different. We tired easily. I think it probably had to do with the high elevation of the city and the pollution. Breathing can become more difficult if you have any problems in that area.
We stayed at the Revolucion Hotel Plaza. The price was $60.00 Cdn. per night. The rooms were comfortable and reasonably large. The staff was friendly and helpful.
We arrived mid afternoon and decided to do a tour on the Hop On, Hop Off bus. Definitely worth it. We got an excellent overview of the city and major sights. Just watch out for low hanging tree branches if you are on the top! Buses depart from key locations and operate on a coloured route system. There are interchange points to go in a different part of the city. There are four routes. There are interchange points on each coloured route to switch from one to another. The tickets are valid for 24 hours and cost approximately $30.00 Cad per person.
Some sights from the bus:
| Protestors |
| Yes, that man is ironing! |
The first place we ate at was La Casa de Los Azulejos (The House of Tiles). Once a private home in the 1900’s, Sanborns rented a mere 30 sq. meters for its pharmacy and soda fountain. Now they occupy a total area of 1500 sq. meters, which includes the restaurant and gift and novelty department.
We were a little daunted by the lineup, but it went quickly. The staff were dressed in traditional folkloric costumes. They also had a clown making balloon creations for the kids. The food was good and relatively inexpensive. Thank you, Anna, for the suggestion.
| traditional folkloric dress |
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