MEXICO: ARRIVAL IN MEXICO CITY

March 8 2018

I have long wanted to take a trip to Mexico City, which I had visited with my mother just after my high school graduation in 1978 and where I had spent nine weeks during 1979 on a summer study abroad program.  I could never convince Bob to move it to the top of our travel list. Then our close friends were called to preside over the Mexico Villahermosa Mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and I got Bob to agree to a trip to visit them there.  And since we were already in Mexico, why not add a trip to Mexico City and surrounding attractions?

A bonus was that Arnold Pedroza, the father of our nephew-in-law John, is a well-known and highly respected tour guide in Mexico. John arranged for him to take us around. He and his son Victor, who took over on days Arnold had other commitments, were fantastic tour guides, some of the best we have had. How could we pass up an opportunity like that?

We had a fantastic trip, and Bob was so taken by Mexico's indisputable charms that he has since returned to another part of Mexico with John and has a goal to visit all the Mexican states.

So why haven't I already blogged about this trip that happened two years ago?  On our way home, I experienced every traveler's worst nightmare: I lost my camera in the Mexico City airport.  I don't know if it was stolen or if I just left it looped on my chair during lunch, but I didn't realize I didn't have it until I got home and unpacked.  I know I had it in the airport because I took a few pictures there, but that was the last time I saw it. I immediately contacted the airport, and Victor even went to the airport to check the lost and found, but no camera.  I was devastated.

Arnold had taken quite a few pictures while he was with us, and he kindly put them on a flash drive and sent it to me via John. Bob also shared his pictures with me, and I had about 100 photos of my own on my cell phone.  This was too good of a trip to not record, and so I've decided to use piece the trip together by using everyone's photos.  I also have about 30 pages of notes in a notebook that will help.

Our trip started out very well. We were upgraded to business class for the three hour flight from LAX to Mexico City on Delta Airlines. Our on-flight breakfast was probably the best airline meal we've ever had. We both had delicious smoked salmon and a bowl of strawberries and blueberries. I had buckwheat pancakes with macerated strawberries, and Bob had some sausage thing. All of it was excellent.

With a population of almost 9 million people, Mexico City is the most populous city in North America. (New York City has a population of about 8.4 million.) The greater Mexico City population is 21.3 million. Mexico City is the largest Spanish-speaking city in the world and is also the oldest capital city in the Americas.  When I visited there in 1978 and 1979, it was known as Mexico DF, or Districto Federal, but now it is officially the Ciudad de Mexico, or CDMX.

 

When we arrived, my bag was the second one out and Bob's wasn't far behind. It doesn't get much better than that!

We had time to get some cash from the ATM (the exchange was 18.64 pesos to the dollar) before we met Arnold and Victor. En route to our hotel, they pointed out several buildings that had sustained substantial damage during the September 2017 Puebla earthquake. Over 225 buildings in Mexico City collapsed in the 7.1 earthquake. Our son-in-law was there on business at the time and was on an upper floor of a Marriott Hotel. He has been in many earthquakes in Japan, and he said this one was the scariest. Arnold and Victor also said is was the strongest and longest one they have experienced.

After about 45 minutes we arrived at the Hotel Maria Cristina, which is just off the main road that bisects the city, the Paseo Reforma, and not far from Mexico City's equivalent of Central Park, Chapultepec Park. It is a great location.

The hotel has an Old World charm, and we enjoyed it a lot. 

This photo of Hotel Maria Cristina is courtesy of Tripadvisor

This photo of Hotel Maria Cristina is courtesy of Tripadvisor

After we unpacked, we went out to get some to eat. We found a tacqueria just a block or two away where we had some very good lamb and chorizo tacos that cost about $1 each.

Our only real negative experience(s) in Mexico happened next. A nicely dressed woman sat down by us in the tacqueria and asked if we had any money for her. It was a bit of a shock, and we said no. Then as we walked towards the Paseo Reforma, we came across an interesting display/tent city covered with photos of men's faces, the number 4, and the words ¿Donde está? A man came over to us to talk about it, and before long he too was asking for money. We told him we weren't interested and to go away, but he kept following us, getting more and more aggressive, asking for our camera, our wallet, etc. He was loud, we were loud, and no one paid any attention. We finally went inside a Krispy Kreme shop, and he didn't follow us there. Creepy.

We waited a few minutes and then walked to a nearby upscale shopping mall and bought a gelato for about $2.25/scoop, which was very expensive compared to our tacos, but delicious. As we were walking around the mall, someone called out, "Hey, Americans! Give me some money!"  

We figured it was time to return to our hotel.

After a good night's sleep, we discovered that we were hungry again (imagine!) and walked about a block to a chain restaurant called La Casa de Tono (which we later discovered is one of our son-in-law's favorite places to eat when he is on business in Mexico city).

I had pozole and tamarind juice, and Bob had sope cochinita, which was like a pork tostada. Each main dish cost around $2.50.

Our breakfast came with guacamole, chips, and chicharrones . . .

. . . and a colorful and flavorful assortment of salsas:

Delicious.  

We were ready for our first full day of sightseeing in CDMX.