After the saying goodbye to all our family and friends we took off to our first location of our epic trip across the Americas. We departed London Heathrow in the late morning and after a small mishap with Izaskun’s ESTA (US Visa), which we managed to quickly purchase while waiting to check-in, we were off to Miami. Fortunately we had a tranquil day flight so not much to report on the 10 hour flight. However, once we landed in US we were subjected to too much paranoid over zealous security checks. We were forced to present our passports, collect our luggage, re-check-in and wait for a chaotic re-scan of all our belongs. The entire process took us about 2 hours, luckily we had about a 3 hour wait so in the end we only had to kill 1 hour. After all the chaotic waiting and rushing we boarded the flight, which again was relatively empty.

 

Day 1:

So, we had finally made it to Mexico City. The air was sticky and humid but we were pleased to have arrived. Now we only had to wait to go through immigration and collect our  luggage, a vast difference in attitudes compared to the Americans just a few hours ago, the security checkpoint barely glanced at me or my passport. I had my luggage re-checked through a random process of me pressing a button. If the light is green you don’t need to be re-checked, which Iz luckily managed but if the light is red a re-check is required. I asked if the guard if I needed a re-scan with my rusty Spanish, the guard gave me a brief chuckle as I had actually asked him if he would like to scan my big handbag followed by a scan of my little handbag. I passed the scan but he wanted to look inside, but once opening my bag he decided it was probably too much effort so I was allowed to pass.

On the outside we were in need of a taxi (it was about 10pm Mexico time) and stuck with a hard decision, do we turn left or right. We decided on right. The next decision was which taxi company to pick The one with the bright colours was the obvious choice. Luckily having read the guidebooks a bit we were wise not to go outside and pick a random taxi, only authorised taxis are to be trusted (there are apparent 4 types of taxis in Mexico City, each with the own characteristics). We paid $400 (Pesos – they use the same symbol as US dollars which at first provided some confusion with us) and were on our way outside, which was only a 2-minute walk down. We were informed later that we should of only paid $250 so keep this in mind for anyone reading this, always bargain. After a 45-minute taxi ride through a dark and ever changing surroundings of a urban and rural mixture we arrived at Las Alcobas. All in all we had travelled a total of 24 hours considering the time difference so it was only due that we lay our heads to rest.

 

 

The hotel was fantastic, it was modern and intimate with exceptional service. We were situation in the Polanco suburb, on Avenida Presidente Masaryk, which when mentioned to the locals is followed by a lot of “oooh” and “ahhh”s due to its exclusive reputation as the upmarket shopping street. As you might know we are not too interested in shopping but we were pleased with its location and variety of restaurants and things to see.

 

Day 2:

The next morning we woke up early, really early due to our jet lag but still we preserved to get out of bed to get breakfast and plan the day ahead. We were informed that there was a large protest on the day, which would mean most of the historical district, will not be safe or accessible but we could still walk around the Paseo De La Reforma and the Bosque de Chapultepec. The aim or the reason of the protest didn’t seem to be very clear, or perhaps people were not really willing to us why. After some time we discovered that the protests were organised by the teachers of the country’s schools and it was due to a new government legislation that teaching jobs were no longer allowed be passed down from parent to child or sold to others. Apparently teaching jobs can be inherited and sold much like an asset. The new legislation seems to make sense for me but appears the locals didn’t see it that way. Perhaps it mainly due to them having to lose this asset.

 

Along the way we saw many officers, riot police and even trucks with water cannon all who were preparing for the planned protest later that day, not an encouraging prospect for things to come. We walked along the Paseo De La Reforma passed the National Amphitheatre to the Museum of Anthropology (the top rated activity of the city). Overall the museum was excellent with a good exhibition of Meso-American culture and education of many types of tribes that lived within today’s Mexico’s borders. The most impressive tribes for me were the Olmeca and Tenochtitlán tribes but each were unique and very different which was something I was not expecting.

After the museum we went out to meet up with Izaskun’s friend from Czech Republic who lives in Mexico City. We walked to her flat which was not too far away, the only issue was that we had to walk through the protest which was in full force now on the streets. The police had closed all the roads and were rushing around trying to ensure that all was in order. Walking past the protest it appeared to be calm and more like a street market with many people looking to sell us all sorts of different food and other merchandise that we might decide is very useful for us. After a slightly confusing street layouts and congested traffic jams we arrived at Julia’s house. We buzzed and after some negotiation we managed to get into her building. Her apartment was on the top story with a 3 level apartment, the top level being a dedicated balcony with great views of the city. All us, which included Julia, Izaskun, Adolfo (Julia’s boyfriend) and me  went out for a late lunch to an area called Condesa. It was clear very quickly that Condesa was the trendy place to go out with small cafe and bars. After lunch and a coffee (see Coffee Note at the end) Izaskun decided to cut her hair so Adolfo and I decided to walk to a bar where he proceeded to show me the actual way to drink Tequila.

Apparently the salt goes on the lemon (the lemon that here is lime!). You drink the shot (but sip it not down it) and then followed by a bite on the salty lemon, repeat until the Tequila shot is finished (which are pretty large in Mexico). Another typical method is called the “Bandera” (Flag), which consists of three shots each representing the three colours of the Mexican flag. The first being a spicy tomato drink, secondly Tequila and finally a yellowy lemon shot. The idea is to sip either the Tomato or Lemon shot, keep the liquid in your mouth and sip the Tequila, mix and swallow. Repeat this until the Tequila is complete. It is not important to finish the tomato or lemon shots. Lastly the other method that was sampled was much simpler, it informed a Tequila shot and a pint of beer. Simply sip both until complete.

After an hour or so the girls had finished their haircut, Izaskun grumbled a little about the haircut not being what she asked for and how she thinks she looks like an orthodox Jew (the ones with the curly sideburns). Julia gave Adolfo a bit of lip about moving to a different bar than originally planned (something I was not aware of). However, after a shot Tequila all was fine again.

The next beverage to try was Mezcal. This one is drunk in a smaller shot glass, with orange instead of lemon and with some special chilli powder. The chilli powder is actually mixture of chilli and worms, yes, worms…and it does actually taste good. The procedure is the same as with the tequila but instead of drinking it in phases, you drink it at once which burns… a lot. After a couple of drinks it was time to depart as Adolfo had work tomorrow and Julia was due to visit her family in Oaxaca (Wahaca). We returned to their flat to have a final drink and for them to show us some typical Columbian / Mexican music. It sounded a bit the same to me, but it is possible I didn’t understand it. It appeared to that the more people you place on stage the better, but not everyone needs to do anything. The most important element, of course, is to ensure a lady is on stage to do some traditional dancing in a short skirt or tight dress (the lady doesn’t have to be good looking but generally they are).  After our night cap it was time to call it a day, we hailed a cab and passed out in the hotel in a matter of minutes. An impressive long day for us considering our jetlagged stage.

 

Day 3:

Again, we woke up early (6:30am) due to our jetlagged condition. We decided to try a lie-in which was somewhat successful. At breakfast we received a list of recommendations for us to see in Tulum after chatting with the host in the breakfast area. We thought it was definitely useful to get some local information on what to see on the next leg of our trip. Today we decided it was the day to see the Historical District and we decided we were going to walk, it is a bout a 8 km walk (no problem for us).  Today it was estimated that there were only going to be very minimal protests on the streets. We walked along Paseo De La Reforma again through the Zona Rosa (Pink Zone) the main commercial centre and into the Historical District.

 

 

Before the Historical District is the Alameda Central area with it’s modernised park and small antique churches surrounding it with the impressive Art Deco Post office along the side. After which Izaskun saw a shop that allowed you to create your own perfume, after some confusion as to how the process works (it involves walking back and forth paying and getting different papers) she managed to get her perfume, the “Essence of Salt” it will forever be known as now.

After what turned out to be a long walk but overall interesting. We had a quick view at the main landmarks in the Historical District which include the Palacio Nacional (National Palace – where the president lives and works) and the Catedral Metropolitana (which took 240 years to build and involved reusing many ancient temples). However it was not possible to get a view of the main square as it was occupied by protesters, mostly which seemed to be selling anything they can from toys, language DVDs, food, clothing, etc… Getting lost through the through the narrow and chaotic smaller streets was interesting.

However it was time to go as we were pretty exhausted and tomorrow we had to go. So we decided to take the Metro which turned out to be a pretty good experience as Metros go. Soon we were back in Polanco at the hotel. That evening we decided to go out for a bite to eat, pack and rest up for our next leg of our adventure.

Tomorrow was our trip to Cancun and Tulum.

 

Coffee note:

For all those Coffee addicts, we have discovered the hard way that Coffee in Mexico overall very large and is very much watered down. What we have learnt is that if you order:

• Small Latte – you will receive a Large Milky drink
• Coffee – you will receive a large Black Watery drink
• Expresso – sometimes you receive an actually expresso but other times you will receive a small Black Americano
• A coffee with a tiny amount of milk – a huge coffee with mostly water and milk and about half a shot of coffee

In addition to short list above it is also a good idea to repeat the order several times as they will often misunderstand what you want (as it appears that people in Mexico like their coffee very differently), it might also be a good idea to get them to repeat the order back.