April came and went like a breeze and I’m just now recovering from the busy weeks! Not only is it one of the busiest months at work for me, it’s also my husband’s birthday month. (I think I care more about this than he does!) I love celebrating him and I never pass on the opportunity to do so. This year I planned a surprise birthday party at our house with a few friends. My heart was bursting with joy when we came in and saw so many of our friends yelling “surprise!” I think it’s safe to say the party was a success. On top of getting ready for his birthday weekend, I had the opportunity to visit Mexico City with him. It’s not where he grew up (he was born in Veracruz), but it’s where his mom is from and where he spent a lot of time with family. It’s always nice to meet anyone connected to my husband, but imagine meeting 20+ family members in one weekend? I instantly felt like my family doubled in size. Everyone was so welcoming and nice that it made our experience 10x better. On top of that, they were all excited to show us around! Even though we were mainly there to see family, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to visit parts of Mexico City we had been eyeing online! Anyway, I wanted to share our experience with you. If you are ever interested in visiting a less touristy part of Mexico, Mexico City is a nice place to start. It’s so hip and modern but that doesn’t take away from it’s rich culture.
Day one
We arrived on a Friday night and went straight to meet family. We walked a few houses down from Irving’s grandma’s house to a small patio that sold sopes. Sopes are basically a thick tortilla topped with beans, cheese and other toppings like chicken or vegetables. After eating our sopes, we made way to another house filled with tall tables, music and a menu of mixed drinks. They specialized in micheladas, which is beer with a (sometimes) spicy mix. We got a regular michelada and it was just what I needed after a long day of work and travel. Btw, I’ve always loved eating at small stands either on the streets or outside of people’s homes. I think it’s the best way to enjoy traditional Mexican food.
Day two
The second day was mostly spent with family, but we had the morning free, so we woke up a little early, got an Uber and headed to La Roma. My favorite part of traveling is walking around quiet, beautiful neighborhoods and this was exactly it. We instantly fell in love and when it came to picking where to eat breakfast, it was hard to pick one place. We settled in at Abarrotes Delirio, where we enjoyed their green juice, coffee, pastries, and an avocado toast topped with egg. Probably not the most traditional Mexican Breakfast, but it was delicious. We also made way to a nearby bookstore, El Pendulo, where they also serve breakfast.
Day three
On the third day we made way to El bosque de Chapultepec. After some conflict between Irving’s uncles about where to take us and who would take us, it was finally decided this is where we would spend our Sunday. The goal was to visit El Castillo de Chapultepec and El Museo de Antropologia. I loved exploring the castle, but there were so many people. Not sure if it had anything to do with it being a Sunday, free admission, or that it was Semana Santa and a lot of people were on holiday. Maybe it was all three. Either way, I would love to go back on a different day to enjoy the castle and it’s many beautiful corners. El Museo de Antropologia is another place I think we will visit again on our next trip to Mexico City. It was huge and we got there with only 1 hour to spare. We were only able to visit one gallery and spend some time in their outdoor space, which by the way, is where Irving decided to run into the middle of a water fall type of structure and almost got kicked out. Hah! Watch the video at the end of this post to see more. 🙂
El Museo de Antropologia
Day four
As I write this, I realize we were lucky to have family that likes to get out and explore! On the fourth day, we were taken to Xochimilco, where we had a trajinera for us and our family. There was a lady on board ready to serve us mole and the more we traveled around the lake, the more food, drinks and other goodies we were offered. We even got a mariachi to ride our trajinera for a few songs! I believe you can bring anything on the trajinera with you, so if you want to buy or make your own food and bring in a bottle of tequila or beer, you can! The ride around the lake was three hours and in between that time, we got out and went into a reptile exhibition, where we got to hold a snake and learn about some endangered species.
Later that night, we made our way to Churreria El Moro for churros and hot chocolate. It’s basically like going to Cafe Du Monde in New Orleans for cafe au lait and beignets. So, if you’re ever in Mexico City, you must stop by El Moro. I can still taste them in my mouth. I don’t have a sweet tooth and I can probably tell you how many churros I’ve had in my entire life with one hand, but after this, I think that’ll change. At least when I go to Mexico City.
They also have tacos and tortas.. so good
Day five
On our final day in Mexico City, we made plans to see La Condesa and more of La Roma. We met up with Irving’s cousin, Andrea, who loves the city,
loves learning about it’s history, and made the perfect guide! She met us at Parque Mexico, where we walked around and got to enjoy the beautiful scenery. We walked to cafebreria El Pendulo (like the one we visited on the first day but different location) and this time we enjoyed brunch there. I love that they named it cafebreria, a combination of the words cafe and libreria, which is what it is, a coffee shop/restaurant and library/bookstore! The menu was so good, I had a really hard time picking my meal. What I knew for sure was that I would enjoy a few squeezed juice and coffee with a pastry!
Green juice! 
Brunch at Cafebreria El Pendulo
After eating brunch we made our way to another book store, Fondo de Cultura Economica, where we spent most of our money. Hah! The store was beautiful and we couldn’t resist buying a few books to bring home. Even though I’m fluent, my forever goal is to improve my Spanish and reading a few books is a great way to do that.
We took an Uber to help us get to La Roma a little quicker, where we spotted the mural of the famous rescue dog, Frida, who took part in the effort to rescue people during the devastating 2017 earthquake. We took a few touristy pictures and then made our way to La Roma Records, where Irving spent the rest of our pesos! Haha! I mean, it’s hard to resist buying records that are not easily found in Texas. We brought home two Natalia Lafourcade albums.
Roma Records 
Our final stop took place at La Cerveceria del Barrio (right below the Frida Mural), where we enjoyed a michelada. It was the perfect way to end our short, but eventful trip to Mexico City.
Oh but wait.. we thought that was our last stop. We were wrong. Our flight was delayed 20 hours and I’m almost sure it was God’s way of saying.. you can’t go back without eating some tacos! Can you believe we ate almost everything else, except tacos? I really couldn’t believe it either, but we had a second chance. We hopped into an Uber and made our way to Tacos Alvaro Obregon. I won’t tell you how many tacos we ate, but I will say they were exactly what we needed to end our Mexico City journey. After dinner we decided the night was still young and since the bar Gin Gin was next door, a cocktail sounded like the cherry on top. We decided the airport headache was long gone and honestly, it’s hard to be mad when you have Mexico City tacos in your hand.
So just like that, our Mexico City weekend was over. We can’t wait to go back and visit he pyramids, walk around La Condesa and La Roma, and just see more of the city. There’s so much to explore!
Have you been to Mexico City? What would you want to explore out there if you haven’t? I’d love to know!
Check out the vlog we made! 🙂
VLOG 1 – CIUDAD DE MEXICO
Gracias por visitar nuestra pagina y ver el vlog de la hermosa Ciudad de Mexico. Musica: Dreams – Joakim Karud
Thank you for stopping by!
Cynthia
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