CDMX DO IT.

Okay. I know, it’s been some time.  I knew August was going to be a very fun very eventful month for me.  Maybe next time I prepare by writing posts ahead of time as preparation? ha probably not!

I was in CDMX last week, CDMX is short for La Ciudad de Mexíco or, as the gringo’s say, Mexico City. I know that Airbnb right now is aggressively promoting travel to CDMX and I am on BOARD.  It was amazing.  Seriously amazing.  I know everyone from San Francisco knows this, because practically every American we met was from SF. In this post I’m going to lay down three of the most memorable spots to hit, how to get to them, and why you should go.  If you are planning on going to Mexico City, please, PLEASE reach out to me, I have an amazing list of restaurants, I’ll either buy a plane flight or if that makes you uncomfortable we can grab a cup of coffee at Equator… if that makes you uncomfortable, I can email you a list.

1. Mercado de la Ciudadela

Heading to the market was the one thing I was most excited to do.  I feel people learn cities the best via foot(obv traincation too), so Aliya and I chose to walk to La Ciudadela, it was quite a journey but well worth the trek.  The colors, the culture, and the beauty were all depicted so well in the tight quarters of the shops.  Men offered other men to purchase us jewelry (LOL we declined), children were playing tag in the plaza (yes I was wondering the repercussions it would be if I stole a child) and it was our first opportunity to have guacamole(very important, so important, we ordered 2 rounds).

2. Anthropology Museum

Alright, I am not a museum gal. I am a mercado gal. I will say however, you have to visit el Museo Nacional de Antropología was a must.  Personally the main fountain, the outdoor exhibit of ancient ruins, and burial sites were the coolest (see in photo or Aliya in crow pose for burial sites–Aliya also did a head stand on this trip, but that story is best told at a different time).  Be sure to ask about the outdoor exhibit as it is a bit harder to find, I wouldn’t want you to miss it.  We got to the museum via uber…..…the ride was less than $1.00 el oh el?!?!

3. Teotihuacan Pyramids

Saving the best spot for last, the pyramids. Traveling to the pyramids is a bit more tricky than our other journeys as I had to speak to a few drivers, decide which ones I trusted the most, offer them to turn off their meter, drive us to the pyramids, wait a few hours, and then drive us back for a lump sum of money (of course our lump sum was a mixture of pesos and American dollars but we made it work). Our drive was gorgeous, we got to see all the different small bright colored towns along the perimeter of Mexico City, I saw a lot of ultra-runners running along the HIGHWAY and we got to see a lot of cyclists as well. I was a bit envious as this was my first time since college taking more than 2 days off consecutively of running (turns out I survived).

When visiting the pyramids, the biggest advice we were given was to arrive early.  If you are there early enough there will be far fewer people in line to summit the pyramids.  There are two main pyramids, El Sol (the sun) and La Luna (the moon).  El Sol is the third largest pyramid in the world and is absolutely stunning.  It was extremely hard for me to grasp the concept that they were built so long ago by human hands.  My favorite view was actually on the ground because I was able to admire the vast lands of all the Aztec’s work that took over 350 years to build.

All in all, Mexico City is a very special place, if you have a friend that speaks a bit of Spanish I would recommend having them tag along.  I felt knowing Spanish was really beneficial to our experience and ability to communicate with locals to get a vibe for the city.  I felt safe every moment I was in La Condesa, the food was absolutely delicious everywhere we went and it was easier to be a vegan in CDMX than it is in San Francisco (you heard it hear first!).  I couldn’t recommend a better place to visit, I am already planning my return.