A Last-Minute Trip to Mexico City — The Towering Travelers

We called Mexico City our bonus trip for the year. Jason was between jobs for a few weeks, so we booked a last-minute trip to take advantage of his time off. We both had vaguely wanted to go, but we didn’t actually know much about the city, so we were excited to experience it.

A metal wall with barbed wire along the top, with each segment painted with a mural and trees and a scooter in front. — Art and murals everywhere you look (photo/Jason Rafal)

Two people riding a motorcycle past a row of tents selling food. — A typical scene of vendors with a mural in the background (photo/Jason Rafal)

People standing around a food stall, making and buying food. — Street fruit (photo/Jason Rafal)

A building with a large mural of a woman's head and shoulders, with stained glass on most of the windows. — They went all-out on building decoration (photo/Jason Rafal)

Mexico City is in a bizarre location. The lore says that when the Aztecs were looking for the right place to build their capital city, a prophecy said that wherever they saw an eagle with a snake in its mouth land on a cactus, they should build there. They ended up seeing the sign on an island in the middle of a swampy high-mountain lake, which was kind of terrible luck, but true to the prophecy, they started building the city of Tenochtitlan, which is now Mexico City.

Now home to a staggering 21 million people, the city feels special in both climate and history. It’s at almost 7400 feet elevation, so it takes a lot more effort to move, but unlike the high mountain desert where I grew up, the city is lush and green from the swamp it’s built on and the remarkably consistent climate (there’s a rainy season and a dry season, but the highs top out between 65 and 85 degrees year round). The city is full of beautiful parks with massive trees, and beautiful architecture from many different eras. There are benches everywhere for people to just hang out and enjoy the parks, which is lovely, and they were certainly being used.

A man pushing a loaded hand cart and a woman walking in front of a fountain with a statue of David in the center. — The David statue in Plaza Río de Janeiro (photo/Jason Rafal)

A large sign that says "CDMX" in front of a lake with large apartment buildings in the background. — CDMX against a cloudy sky (photo/Jason Rafal)

A view of a park with a lake on one side, giant panda statue on the other, large buildings in the distance, and a scruffy bird flying through the foreground. — The bird makes this look so otherworldly (photo/Jason Rafal)

Two adults and a child climbing up the bottom of a large tree. — An ambitious endeavor (photo/Jason Rafal)

A brightly-lit two-level carousel in a forested park. — A beautiful carousel in Chapultepec Park (photo/Jason Rafal)

When we were wandering around Chapultepec Park, a thunderstorm quickly rolled in, and we took shelter under the covered storage units that the street vendors used for their wares. It rained hard for about 20 minutes, but there was beautiful light peaking through the storm.

Three metal garage doors with murals painted on them - one with butterflies, one with a sea turtle, and one with a cactus. — There was a mural on every storage unit door (photo/Jason Rafal)

Looking across toward a sheltered row of garage doors with murals on them, with a climbing structure in the foreground. — Waiting out the rain (I’m in front of the axolotl) (photo/Jason Rafal)

People hiding under a picnic table, with cups of juice still on top of the table. — Another method for hiding from the rain (photo/Jason Rafal)

Three pillars with eagles on them and a statue with two people in the middle. — The dramatic Altar a la Patria (photo/Jason Rafal)

We had heard this was the case, but the food in Mexico City is amazing. There’s everything from street food, to traditional Mexican restaurants, to fine dining creative fusion. One of our favorite restaurants we tried was Mexican-Middle Eastern-African fusion.

A man ordering at the counter of a beautiful bakery. — The amazing Panaderia Rosetta (photo/Jason Rafal)

The cross section of a layered fruit tart. — We have no idea how they cut this…or maybe you’re forced to eat the whole thing? (photo/Jason Rafal)

An elaborate tower of food starting with a corn cake, then stewed meat, a green sauce, and mint piled on top. — One of the beautiful and delicious dishes at Masala y Maiz (photo/Jason Rafal)

The city also has amazing museums. We first went to the anthropology museum, which is in a beautiful complex and has a variety of artifacts and information spanning from the beginning of humanity through the development of the area. There were a lot of outdoor exhibits, which I loved, but the highlight was probably the rather graphic and detailed dioramas.

View through the courtyard of the anthropology museum, with a pond, buildings on each side, and a covered giant fountain in the center. — The courtyard at the Museo Nacional de Antropología (photo/Jason Rafal)

A path toward a stone building with palm trees on both sides and a stone wall on the right. — The outdoor parts of this museum were some of my favorites (photo/Jason Rafal)

A diorama of a sabertooth tiger pinning down a human and preparing to bite down on its head. — The dioramas were quite dramatic (photo/Jason Rafal)

A diorama of humans taking the organs out of a dead human. — …they were also a bit gory (photo/Jason Rafal)

A carved statue of a person with fangs staring upward. — I think this is Tlāloc, Aztec god of rain (photo/Jason Rafal)

We also visited the Templo Mayor, which was the main temple of the city and had been demolished when the Spanish started tearing everything down and rebuilding. It’s now an excavation site that you can walk through, and there are also indoor exhibits of items that have been found (there were lots of skulls and art pieces).

Rows of carved stone skulls on a wall. — So. Many. Skulls. (photo/Jason Rafal)

An assortment of skulls, stone carvings, and other artifacts. — One of the time capsule-like exhibits (photo/Jason Rafal)

A tree with bark like an asparagus stalk and branches with small, spiky leaves at the top. — A very cool tree in the ruins (photo/Jason Rafal)

Chapultepec Castle is on a hill in the massive Chapultepec Park, and the views are wonderful. Built around 1800, the site and the castle had various uses over the years. It’s now a museum where many of the rooms are set up for viewing, and visitors can also ascend the grand staircases to walk in the beautiful gardens and decks on top of the castle.

Looking down a long room with a black and white checkered floor, elaborately designed ceiling, and floor-to-ceiling stained glass depicting columns and women on one side. — This stained glass was crazy (photo/Jason Rafal)

A tower in the middle of a garden. — The beautiful rooftop gardens at the castle (photo/Jason Rafal)

A statue of a lion with one paw resting on top of the other and its head resting on top. — A mopey guardian lion (photo/Jason Rafal)

A painting of a person falling toward the earth with abstract horses and a castle behind them. — A rather intense ceiling painting in the castle (photo/Jason Rafal)

Jason and Nicole taking a self-portrait in a mirror in the museum with a model ship behind them. — Self portrait with a model ship (photo/Jason Rafal)

A red and gold carriage with a statue of a cherub on the front. — There were at least 6 cherubs on this carriage (photo/Jason Rafal)

Nicole leaning off a balcony and looking over the treetops of the park toward downtown Mexico City in the distance. — The view from the castle balcony over Chapultepec Park (photo/Jason Rafal)

A very different museum that we visited was the Frida Kahlo house, where the artist lived for much of her life. A fascinating woman with absolutely terrible luck, Frida did amazing work, and the blue house and garden she inherited from her parents is amazing. Definitely look her up and learn more about her life, it’s a wild ride.

A large ceramic vase and plants in front of a dark blue wall with a red-rimmed window with green shutters. — A wall in Frida Kahlo’s beautiful garden (photo/Jason Rafal)

We also walked a little around the Coyoacan neighborhood where Frida’s house is. It’s a lovely neighborhood that felt older or more established than where we were staying. There were lots of restaurants, shops, and street vendors.

A water-stained old clock tower with a cloudy sky in the background. — The 16th century Parroquia San Juan Bautista (photo/Jason Rafal)

A fountain with a statue of two coyotes in the middle. — The coyote fountain in the park in central Coyoacan (guess what the neighborhood is named for) (photo/Jason Rafal)

A sign that says "Ignacio Allende" with a tiny painted coyote on top. — I love the little indicators of which neighborhood you’re in (photo/Jason Rafal)

One of the nights we went to see the Ballet Folklorico de Mexico, which is performed at the beautiful Palacio de Bellas Artes. We don’t have photos of the performance, but it ended up quiet different from what we expected. There was dancing. There was singing. There were dueling harps. There were people wearing giant heads. There was a comedic devil dragon. There was a ballet featuring the death throes of a deer. There was dancing with audience members. There were four false endings. It was an experience.

An elaborate building facade that says "Palacio de Bellas Artes" with an ombre tiled dome in the background. — The beautiful performing arts center (photo/Jason Rafal)

A stage with a background screen showing mountains and sky with a mural in an arch over the top. — The equally impressive stage curtain (photo/Jason Rafal)

A man in traditional clothing and a headdress surveys a crowd of people in front of the palace. — The scene in Zocalo, the central plaza (photo/Jason Rafal)

We also visited the artisan market, where we were some of the few tourists visiting on a weekday afternoon. Many of the pieces are made in studios at the market, which was very cool to see.

Looking up at a second-floor studio where guitars are hanging in a row. — A peek up into the guitar studio (photo/Jason Rafal)

We always love seeing the animals in cities, and Mexico City was particularly fun because there were tons of dogs, and tons of dog walkers, all over the place. The dog walkers would meet up in the parks, and the dogs they worked with were all very chill and well trained. We often saw them sitting in a semi circle or walking calmly in a row.

A man walking on a path through a park with 8 dogs on leashes. — A frequent park scene (photo/Jason Rafal)

Several dogs lying down in a semicircle in a park. — I was amazed at how well-trained the dogs were (photo/Jason Rafal)

A small, wrinkly white and brown spotted bulldog lying in the sidewalk with its legs stretched out behind it. — A particularly ridiculous and cute pup on the sidewalk (photo/Jason Rafal)

A dog sitting on a stool behind a street vendor and looking at the camera. — A very polite street cart dog (photo/Jason Rafal)

A blonde spaniel sticking its head out of a second-story window. — A cranky dog barking out the window at us (photo/Jason Rafal)

We didn’t see any cats at first, but we started seeing more as the trip went on, especially when we visited a community garden and educational center in Roma.

A cat sitting on the counter of a dry cleaning shop. — A dutiful shop cat (photo/Jason Rafal)

Two cats on a bench with their eyes closed, one sitting and one curled up. — Sleepy kitties (photo/Jason Rafal)

A cat lying on a tin roof with large leaves in the background. — Another sleepy kitty (photo/Jason Rafal)

A kitten with blue eyes through chicken wire. — A little kitten with gorgeous eyes in a pen with its siblings (photo/Jason Rafal)

It was a wonderful trip, and we have a lot of great things to say about the city. We’re happy to have a direct flight there and definitely plan to be back.