Category: Mexico

Last stop!

I was honestly a bit nervous about Oaxaca because a few reviews on our hostel site mentioned the street it was on was sketchy. We had a twenty minute walk from the bus station to our hostel. Not too shabby, but I hate walking long distances with my giant backpack on! My back was so sweaty by the time we arrived. There was a ton of street art along the way, though.

We’d decided not to be out past dark, so once we arrived at our hostel, that was it for the night! I had a shock when I opened the door to our room and thought this thing was supposed to be our bed.

Ha! Turns out it was just for lounging in our tiny private entrance area.

We relaxed in our room until eight, and then we headed up to the terrace bar for happy hour. Three dollar cocktails!! Sean got a margarita, and I got one of their specials. We also each got a burger (the veggie burger was really good!), and then we got a second round of drinks right before happy hour ended. We were too tired to socialize, but it sure was a screaming deal for dinner!

We finished El Dorado (the Disney movie) before bed, and then in the morning, we enjoyed the free hostel breakfast: yogurt with granola and papaya, bananas, orange juice, and scrambled eggs. Very filling!

While Sean went out in search of an ATM, I tried on this adorable dress in the secondhand store across the street. Major regrets not purchasing it! There was a 6% upcharge for using card, and by the time we got the cash (it was surprisingly hard to find an ATM), we never went back to the clothing store. Gah!

We made our way through the northern part of the city, enjoying the parks and artwork along the way, and we even witnessed a little dance rehearsal going on!

Our real mission, though, was to find a laundromat. We found one with the sweetest lady who offered fluff and fold for about six dollars. It was our first interaction where we had to resort to Google translate to help ask and answer questions.

Once we had that taken care of, we made our way back to our hostel to call a taxi to another pyramid site.

The taxi fiasco was a mess. We had been using Uber thus far with great luck, but there are no Ubers on Oaxaca. The app still said we could call a normal taxi, but we wasted thirty minutes watching it think and then cancel, think and then cancel.

Finally, Sean downloaded a local taxi app, successfully booked a ride, and then we watched our driver make small circles around the block on the other side of town. Just waiting for us to cancel the ride so he could get a fee from us! It was ridiculous!

We finally asked the hostel front desk guy what to do, and he told us to just stand on the street and hail a cab. Doh!

We successfully hailed a cab within two minutes. Of course, they charged us more than the standard since we were obviously tourists, but it was still only like twelve dollars for a forty minute ride, so it’s not really worth complaining about!

Our destination was Monte Albon, a sprawling archaeological zone on top of a nearby mountain. We were starving by the time we arrived, so we started in the cafe and accidentally ordered way too much food.

Have you ever seen tamales this big?!

The filling was black mole – sweet, savory, and very delicious! Sean got chicken tacos, which apparently seems to default to taquitos around here.

Then we explored the small museum that housed artifacts from the archaeological zone.

I was so glad we had watched Road to El Dorado, because it was clearly inspired by places like this! There is even one scene where the explorers happen upon a giant rock almost identical to this one.

Once we were outside, it was time to explore while doing our best to avoid sunburn and heat exhaustion! That sun was beating down!

This was my favorite of the three pyramid areas we visited on this trip. I loved that it was a sprawling complex of many pyramids and many buildings, and we were allowed to climb about half of them. There was also a sprawling view of the surrounding area! Definitely a strategic placement.

This was the coolest spot! A sunken plaza!

It was so fun to imagine how this would have looked back in its hey day, and again, Road to El Dorado really helped with the visualizations, hahaha.

We perched in the plaza’s shade for a little while to read and recoup our energy before ascending back to ground level.

Some of the buildings had tunnels and rooms, and some of the pyramids were left overgrown. Very interesting to see how different they look when they are cleared off!

There were many stairs to the top of the largest pyramid at one end of the complex.

And there were a bunch of doggies up here! So sweet.

Another overgrown pyramid sat up here.

Eventually, we headed back down the stairs, which was quite the feat! The steps were much larger than standard modern stairs. I had to go down with one foot, match my feet, and then go down with the same foot again, at a very weird angle. Pretty scary! And then, as I’m going down, obviously concentrating very hard not to fall and going in a straight line, three middle aged ladies approached the (very vast) foot of the stairs directly below me. I was like, um… I cannot change my trajectory! You can easily walk a couple steps over on solid ground before ascending the stairs! But nope, they just went right to where I was approaching, and then awkwardly shuffled and stared at me like I was in their way! One finally said, “Uhm.. I’ll just..” and then she backed up and went around me. So weird!

After that scuffaw, we went back down to explore the other side of the complex, where they had replicas of some of the art that is housed in the museum. Vertical portraits are called “dancers,” and horizontal portraits are called “swimmers.”

While we were exploring a small tunnel nearby, a worker suddenly appeared and told us the park was “cerrado,” – closed! He then chased us and several other people out of the park. “Andale! Andale! Vamos!”

We stumbled upon a ball court on our way out! Yet another similarity to El Dorado! It would be cool to watch a game here.

Once we exited the park, we bought tickets for the bus back to Oaxaca and then sat on the other side of the parking lot in the shade while everyone else just stood in line for the bus. It was a good twenty minute wait, yet when we went back to get in line, the ticket seller ushered us into the front for some reason. Because of that, we got a seat on the bus, and many others behind us had to stand! Unsure why she decided to favor us!

The bus dropped us off at the southern end of Oaxaca, so we got to explore that area for a while.

I love, love, loved these statues.

Some more giant artworks and beautiful churches were nearby.

We had to go pick up our laundry, and on the way, we stopped at this little bakery and ordered a ton of stuff. I think the baristas probably thought we were such piggies!

When we got back to the hostel to rest, I tried a small bite of this chocolate tart. (It was called tarte del bosque – I was pronouncing it torte del Basque and the poor lady was so confused!) Anyway, one small bite led me to eat the entire thing. It was so stinking good! Oh, and you get to see the progress of my nastiest bug bite!

We were resting up because we had big dinner plans. My friend Shelby had just been to Oaxaca a couple weeks before us, and she told me about this restaurant. The owner only serves four people per night, you have to pay in cash, and to make a reservation, you Whatsapp the owner. Sounds like a scam, right!? I never would have done it if she hadn’t suggested it personally.

We got all gussied up and walked down there, and we ended up sharing the table with a young lawyer couple from Chicago – it’s killing me that I can’t remember their names – I think the guy’s name was Al, maybe?

The chef’s name was Daniel, and he was so sweet. He literally cooked the meal right behind us. The whole space was just one small room with the table and the small kitchen. He told us that the flowers on the table were for us, and then he offered us wine or mezcal.

The other three got the mezcal, but I stuck with water. In fact, the Chicago guy was specifically on this vacation because he’s been obsessed with mezcal lately and wanted to come taste and buy as much as he could. Quite the hobby!

Our first snack was some little cracker things and some homemade salsa.

The first real course was a salad – tomato, avocado, sauteed mushrooms, edible flowers, and perhaps the star ingredient….. “Do you all eat grasshopper?” Daniel asked us. We all looked at each other before shrugging and responding, “Sure, we’ll try!”

When he brought out the dish, I told Sean to just pretend they were like fried onions! The Chicago gal was braver and ate them individually.

It was so tasty, though! I think this was my favorite dish of the whole meal! A flavor explosion!

The second dish was fish with cold mole. Daniel explained this was a big invention of his because mole is normally served hot. Yet again, flavor explosion! I think I liked it better without the mole because the fish and toppings went so well together on their own.

Next was a pumpkin soup – Daniel poured fresh soup directly over our bowls of mushrooms, nuts, flowers, and blueberries. So delicious and interesting!

During the last couple dishes, Daniel kept running outside to tend to a small fire he was brewing right on the steps of the restaurant. Turns out he was grilling our chicken! Very, very tasty.

Next was another fish dish – this time in yellow mole. I really, really liked this one. It was light, flavorful, and complex.

For a palette cleanser, we had a raspberry and hibiscus ice dessert.

But the real dessert was a grilled sweet potato in a thick hibiscus syrup. Soooo good. The first and last courses were my favorite!

I cannot begin to describe how delectable this whole meal was. If you visit Oaxaca any time soon, please visit Cataran! It will be so worth it, and Daniel deserves it!

We asked him some questions afterwards, and he apparently has only been cooking for two years! He said his mom and Oaxaca cuisine are his inspirations.

I also asked if he remembered my friend Shelby, and when I showed him a picture of her and Michael, his face lit up. “Yes! They came on… November 15. I cook for them at 10pm!”

When we exclaimed at that and tried to clarify, he said, “Yes, their plane land at 9pm, and I cook for them at 10pm. They are my only customers that week, and I need the money.” Lol! Seriously, go visit this guy! He even remembered that they were “only fish,” (pescatarian).

We were so happy and satisfied after that meal, and our table mates were so sweet! Al was also previously into pizza making, and he even ordered a fifty pound bag of flour imported from Italy. This guy goes hard!

After a good night’s sleep, we had an early morning tour planned to Heirve El Agua, a natural petrified waterfall area. We met our guide, Paul, and another couple from London, and off we went!

The gal was an NGO auditor for ports all around the world – it was fascinating to talk about some of the crazy dangerous practices she’s seen in some cities. Ben, her partner, was London born-and-raised, but I can’t remember what he did for work. We spent the ride chatting, getting to know each other, and advertising for Cataran, hahaha. They were even considering going there for dinner that very night!

They were about to rent a car to drive down to Puerto Escondido, a surf town a few hours south of Oaxaca. Sean and I were a little bummed that wasn’t part of our trip. I blame our trip planner, Scott!

Once at the waterfall site, we met up with a local guide, Miguel, who brought us around the area and showed us all the wild plants – various types of mezcal, some natural cilantro, some mint. Very cool!

The area on its own was beautiful for the mountains and rolling hills, but the mineral pools and petrified mineral deposits were otherworldly!

This sign says, “For your safety, do not approach the abiss.”

We hiked all the way to the base of one falls for some super stellar views.

The colors of the minerals in the water were just crazy!

Three of the springs have been enlarged for swimming, so once we were finished with our hike, it was time to swim!

The water was not warm, so I watched the others go in while I sat in the shallow area.

Once I was sitting on the edge of that infinity pool, though, I suddenly got the urge! Sean gave me a countdown, and I jumped in! Scraped my foot up a little bit, but no matter! The water really did feel nice after about four seconds.

I thought these photos would look super dreamy and dramatic, but the colors kind of just make it look like I’m swimming in toxic waste. Bahahahaha.

There was one super embarrassing moment where the British couple came out to the ledge near me, and Sean started taking photos. I smiled and posed and eventually Sean waved me over to the other side of the pool. I figured he just didn’t want them in my photo, but once I resituated and reposed, I was confused as to why he was still pointing the phone at them. Turns out, they’d given him their phone and asked for photos! I was unknowingly photobombing! Awkward. They sent them to me afterwards, haha.

The whole time we were swimming, crews were cleaning the pools behind us, pumpkin water from our pool to that one. The pump…. Did not add to the ambience.

Very cool area, though!

Once changed and dry, we had lunch together – mamalitas, tostadas, and tacos with big cups of hibiscus al fresca. We barely had enough cash, and we had to pay in mostly coins. Coming down to the wire!

This little guy came to hang out in the shade for most of our meal. Too cute.

Back in Oaxaca, we stopped into a cute little cafe, mostly to use the restroom, and I was disappointed I didn’t realize they had a ton of yummy cocktails until right before we left! Next time!

Have I already mentioned that when I didn’t know the Spanish word for something, I would either make up a word or just say a completely different Spanish word I knew? Only in conversation with Sean! But anyway, I pointed out the bread at this cafe and said it was, “Mucho flufflito,” and Sean was thoroughly unimpressed. Bahahaha.

We basically spent the rest of the day exploring the artsy parts of town – so much street art, and so many cute little shops.

I loved these colorful banners that were hung in so many of the streets.

We both bought a couple little pieces of art – especially linograph styles, which seemed to be super popular here.

We stopped for ice cream at one point, and that ended up being such a mistake! Their whole shtick was that they had a flavor called “dark” that was dyed black. It tasted fine, but it dyed my lips black for the whole rest of the trip! It made me so self conscious! I tried wiping, scrubbing, rinsing, and brushing – nothing would remove it!

While I relive that embarrassment, please enjoy some more beautiful street art.

At one point, we peeked inside what we thought was a single little shop, and it ended up being the cutest alley filled with plants and shops of all sorts. It was so magical! We bought some chocolate and marveled at how many other hidden gems must be tucked away all around the city.

Soon, it was time for dinner! Sean had asked Daniel for recommendations, and he sent us to this Japanese restaurant that he proclaimed was the best restaurant in all of Oaxaca. Again, I never would have gone to this restaurant if we hadn’t been explicitly sent there! Who would think to have Japanese food in inland Mexico?!

It was a very similar setup to Daniel’s restaurant – just two tables and a kitchen. The chef had a little sous chef, and there was one other table of three just getting settled as we walked in.

We agreed to try the tasting menu, and Sean got some green tea while I ordered their homemade cola.

The chef (Shiro) was so cute – he was always in this power stance, and he had such a serious look on his face while he was cooking.

Our first course consisted of the most freaking delicious shrimp and melon in a melon broth – so stinking flavorful! Immediately, a small bowl of tofu and broth, some greens with some crunchy bits, and some potato salad were brought out.

While we were eating and marveling at the flavors, people kept coming to the door, seeing the tables were filled, and asking about when the restaurant would be open in the future. Finally, Sean just invited the next couple to share the table with us, and they ended up being so fun!

They were named Rob and Noelle. Rob was a film editor from Minnesota, and Noelle was a web designer from outside of Amsterdam. Sean insisted he knew they were designers because they had some an artsy and chill vibe about them. They were in Mexico for six weeks because of Noelle’s visa complications and wanting to spend the holidays back in the States. Stressful!

Rob was a surfer, and Sean was wearing a T-shirt he’d purchased when we took our surfing lesson in San Sebastian, so Rob really wanted to chat about surfing. We are posers! Bahaha.

While they ordered some snacks and soup, our next dish was brought out – a small sushi bite. Not sure if you’ve seen the documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi (highly recommend!), but Jiro explains that he likes to give men slightly larger sushi portions than women so that everyone gets full at the same time. I was just tickled that Shiro did the same! It was especially funny because I was more hungry than Sean was.

Our next plate was some egg rolls with vinegar dipping sauce. Very yummy!

Rob had pretty good Spanish, but he wanted to chat with Shiro, so he asked if he preferred Spanish or English, and Shiro thought for a second before saying, “Ah, Japanese, please.” That got a big laugh.

Right around then, Rob and Noelle had to run to another dinner reservation down the street at another seven course restaurant. Wish we’d known about that one on our first night! We made sure to advertise Cataran again on their way out, and as they left, Rob said, “Okay, Sean and Lizzy. I’m gonna remember that Sean and Lizzy are the ones making the AR glasses.” Haha. So cute.

Next thing we know, Shiro brings out this big plate of unugiri, and says, “Are you still hungry?”

I laughed and said, “A little!” And he bowed and backed away, saying, “Oh, I sorry!” Hahaha. He was so stinking adorable.

I ran to the restroom, and when I returned, another couple was sharing our table. They were probably mid-forties, from San Antonio, and they were also great company! We really lucked out with our companions these last couple days!

Oh, did I mention we got little cups of the most delicious miso soup ever? So good.

As we slowly worked our way through the rice balls, Shiro walked up to us, plastic baggy in one hand and tongs in the other. Without saying anything, he just raised his eyebrows and clicked the tongs together a few times. We laughed and let him package three of our rice balls. I got to practice a tiny bit of Japanese with him, and he didn’t miss a beat! I was proud of myself.

He then talked us into “just a little bit of matcha ice cream.”

So delicious!

The San Antonio couple had also gone to that seven course restaurant down the street, so we made sure to tell them all about Cataran.

We also flagged down Shiro so I could tell him that Daniel thought this was the best restaurant in all of Oaxaca. He bowed and thanked us profusely before asking more details about who it was that had said that. I tried to explain the restaurant, but he didn’t know it. His face scrunched up as he tried to recall, and then his sous chef exclaimed, “Ah! Daniel!” So at least she knew him!

We decided to take a taxi back to the hostel as recommended by other travelers, and boy did we catch a weird one! Our seats literally had the seatbelts just completely removed somehow, and the driver had his (very mangled) seatbelt just dangling next to him. When we first got in, he was on the phone with a woman, and he tried to tell her where we wanted to go so she could give him directions? For some reason, he didn’t want to just put Sean’s google maps into his phone mount.

In the end, Sean ended up giving him turn-by-turn instructions in Spanish for the whole drive ¡Izquierda! ¡Derecha! ¡Derecha! It was very entertaining but very much a mess.

We were super stuffed and sleepy at this point, but our hostel was running a salsa lesson, so I dragged Sean back home and up to the rooftop. We got some cocktails into us, and I even got to demo the bachata basic step!

It was a fun (and fairly complex) lesson. We had to rotate around, so I only got to dance with Sean a tiny bit. Whenever I was partnered with the instructor, he would throw extra moves and turns at me. So fun!

After the lesson, Sean and I did a couple dances together so we could practice what we’d learned. He’s a natural!

After the lesson, Sean went back to the room and I tried to socialize for a little bit, but I felt out of my depths with those young folk, haha. We talked about travel and Seattle for a while, but once the topic switched to vaping, I went to bed.

In the morning, I did see a few familiar faces from the night before, so we finally had a social breakfast. We got to chat with quite a few people, and then we met a new guy we hadn’t seen before – he was a military vet-turned-product manager from San Fran, recently broken up, on a trip to find himself and restart. I been there! Apparently his girlfriend was half Asian, so I think I triggered his story-telling button hahaha. He was just starting an experiment to work remote while traveling before possibly settling down in New York – hope it goes well for him! We talked tech, military, and travel. Another great conversation!

After breakfast, we gave away our extra breakfast tickets, and then we had a long day of flying to get home with a layover in Mexico city. I was good about blogging on the first leg, but on the second, I just read and napped! Oops! Here are some window views.

All in all, a fantastic, busy, yummy trip! Thanks for joining along for the stories!

Hasta luego/ until next time,
-Lizzy-wa

Time for stop number two on our Mexico trip: Puebla!

When our friend, Scott planned this trip for us (thanks bud!), he picked Puebla as a nice midway point between stops one and three to help break up the long bus ride. We hadn’t heard of Puebla before, and we really didn’t know what to expect here!

The bus ride was about two hours long, and it had a couple TV monitors that all played the Blue Beetle movie in Spanish. It was good practice!

My Spanish actually got pretty decent on this trip! I’ve never been forced to use it and hear it so much before. English is much more common in Spain, and Sean and I were both trying so hard to keep up conversations in Spanish. Luckily, we were pretty good at patching each other’s gaps in understanding!

When we first arrived in Puebla, we took an Uber to our Airbnb and got settled in. We’d booked a single room in a home that had several rooms listed, but I think we only glimpsed one other guest during our stay. The home was open, airy, and cozy.

We set off for a walk about an hour before sunset to explore the main areas. I immediately started shopping, both for snacks and trinkets.

We found the most adorable store that sold so many tiny dollhouse items! I especially wanted the mini water cooler (aaah!), but I settled for a tiny china set and several tiny tea cups and mugs.

We explored several churches, and I got my first ice cream cone! The lady was selling the ice cream out of what can only be described as those giant orange Gatorade cooler things. Pretty impressive they could keep ice cream cold like that! I would have just gotten the passion fruit, but she made my sample some maraschino cherry, and it was soooo good.

The sunset was beautiful, and we took our time wandering around.

Inside the most pretty church, a lady approached us to give us a gentle warning in Spanish. I nodded and said thank you, and then quickly high-tailed it out of there, assuming she was telling us we needed to leave for Mass or something. At the last second, I turned around to take a picture, and Sean almost swiped my arm off.

“She just said no photos!” Lol! I thought she was telling us to leave!

I asked, “Why didn’t you say anything when I immediately started running out of there?!” Apparently he thought I was just ready to go. Lol! We clearly know each other so well.

We wandered a bit more in search of proper dinner.

We checked out a few places recommended by our Airbnb host, but in the end, we were too curious about this loud, colorful Mexican chain to pass it up.

We’d been told by a waitress in Mexico City that we had to try “cemitas” in Puebla, some kind of sandwich. It was funny that we worked so hard to remember that, even writing it down, considering it was the number one item on every menu here! Sean had also read that Puebla is famous for “arabe tacos,” or Arabic tacos. Again, very hard to miss! The spinning cone of meat was definitely the default for all taco shops here! A combo I never would have guessed!

The agua frescas were also super yummy! Guava and Jamaica, which I now know is what they call hibiscus!

Even after all that meat, Sean was somehow still hungry and still curious enough to order another cheesy taco thing and another agua fresca. (Cucumber!)

The restaurant was decorated to look like a subway station, and there was even a train car on one side of the restaurant with several booths in it. They were playing Latin music videos the whole time, and I just kept cracking up at this one music duo who were trying to seem like such tough guys, but they looked like they were fifteen. They seemed pretty famous, though! Haha.

After dinner, we had a nice walk home in the dark.

Puebla is also famous for its artist’s quarter, so we explored what was open of it this late at night, and I picked up another few trinkets.

It was only about eight when we got home, so we decided to hang out in the lounge. Sean dusted off the guitar sitting inside, and we sang and played together. The kitty even came to say hi. It was so nice!

The bed was such a one-eighty compared to the Mexico City bed. That one was super soft and fluffy, and this one was quite stiff! Sean was excited.

We weren’t able to sleep in much because the windows and french doors on our room looked out on the open-air hallway, and the curtains were a gauzy white. Definitely not blackout curtains!

We still took it easy and eventually made our way to a cafe for a latte, hot chocolate, chocolate croissant, and croque monsieur.

The croque monsieur had strawberry jam in it, and it was covered in powdered sugar! Very strange and too sweet! Oops!

Then we set off to properly explore the artists’ quarter in the daylight. There is one main square lined with tiny studios that open into the street, and each is owned by a different artist. It was so neat! Some of the doors were open, gates closed, with the artist nowhere to be seen, but others had the artists lurking inside or working on their next masterpiece.

Sean bought a few little things from a young linocut artist, and then we explored the markets, where I bought some dolls for friends’ kiddos and resisted the urge to buy an entire tiny kitchen.

We were on our way back to the Airbnb to drop off our spoils when we passed a courtyard filled with a college band and a waiting audience. We debated staying or leaving, but I’m so glad we stayed! We watched the entire performance! The band was great, but the vocals and soloists were positively stunning. It was such a fun experience!

En route to our Airbnb, I bought some fruit to snack on, and then we took a go at the climbing wall.

It was challenging for such a small space! Not least of all because several of the holds were a bit loose and would spin when you grabbed them. That’s what you get with homemade spaces, I guess!

We made up little games for each other, my favorite of which was to go around the room using only the bottom half of the wall. It took me many tries! Here’s the pretty courtyard in the center of the home:

After our little break, we hopped in an Uber to head to the largest pyramid by volume in the entire world. Larger than the Great Pyramid of Giza!

We landed in the city of Cholula, and I immediately bought some art. I just love it when the painter is in the act of painting more pieces! He let me know the smoke out of the volcano was an “original” invention. I think he may have even used volcanic rock from the area!

We began our trek up the pyramid. It was pretty interesting, because most of the pyramid is overgrown with plants and grasses, so it doesn’t even seem like it was made by humans – feels more like a natural hill. But nope, it’s made of millions of clay bricks!

From the top, we could see the volcano, and Sean and I argued for a while about whether this was smoke or just a coincidental cloud.

Turns out I was wrong. It is, in fact, smoke! One of the nicknames is the “smoky mountain,” and hiking is forbidden because it is an active volcano!

About five hundred years ago, a church was built on top of the pyramid.

Shortly after we entered, a random man sitting in the pews started leading a call-and-response prayer that several people around him participated in. It was very pretty!

While we were taking photos, a giant local football team appeared out of nowhere to enjoy the sights together. It was quite the scene. I was super bummed to miss a big cheer they did when I went to find a bathroom.

One of the only parts of the pyramid that isn’t overgrown with vegetation is the large front steps that jut out from the main structure. Sean really wanted to climb the steps, but when we got there, we learned that the entrance was way on the opposite end of the pyramid for some reason. Very silly! Very annoying!

I climbed this tiny replica to get my fix, but it was made of cinder blocks, and they weren’t secured in any way, so it was pretty sketchy.

We then ran all the way around to the other side of the pyramid, only to learn that we had missed the opportunity to buy tickets by about two minutes. Sean was super sad, and I felt super horrible for not knowing that we should enter the archeological grounds before climbing the pyramid. We were going off of the site being listed as closing at six, but apparently they stop allowing entrance at five. Booooo.

We also had to keep passing by the little dude I bought that painting from, and he kept waving. It was awkward because I’d made a big deal about buying the art the first time I saw him in case he wasn’t there later, and then we passed him like three times after that.

In an attempt to lift our spirits, we headed toward the town center and bought an ice cream cone – chocolate!

And then we passed this cute little shoe store and I bought a pair of leather sandals (top row)! The man used an awl to add three extra holes to each strap because the existing ones weren’t small enough for my ankles. Apparently I’m a size 4 in Mexico.

We reached the center of town and the giant convent in the middle of it all. Such an old building! We reached its front doors right as a Mariachi band was finishing a tune. Sean was brave enough to ask if they were going to play any more music, but sadly, they were all finished.

The courtyard was very cool, but it made me wish so badly that we were back on top of the pyramid to watch the sunset! Just look at the crazy colors of the smoke from the volcano!

There was a giant market in the nearby park that we wandered for a while.

I also tried to climb this (slightly larger) mini pyramid, but apparently this one was off-limits. I was scolded! Oops!

We bought some cookies and sweets from a sweet lady, and Sean asked her where the best tacos were. She pointed to the street behind her and said, “Roberto’s,” so off we went!

Tbh, Roberto’s was a tiny bit sketchy, but Sean decided it was the best meal we’d had so far. I will admit that it was very yummy.

I’d been so curious about these gordito snacks if seen on the street, and it seemed like the perfect dessert. It was kind of like an English muffin, and I asked for Nutella inside.

But, um, what the heck?! The lady had a full griddle full of fresh ones, and instead she pulled a room-temp one out of some pile underneath her. She also charged me way more than she’d charged the old lady before me. Not cool!

When we got back to the main square, we were on the hunt for live music, but the only place we could find was basically just one lady doing karaoke as a performance. Bahahaha. It was pretty strange, and it was just us, two ladies, and another couple. Funny vibes!

I ordered this super yummy-sounding lemon cocktail, but I think they must have been out of something, and when the waitress tried to explain and ask my preferences, we didn’t understand, so we just said everything was fine. In the end, I got this crazy pink drink that was sickeningly sweet and topped with whipped cream. Very much not what I ordered!

At one point, the singer chose a song that was obviously about how much men suck. Something something hombre, yada yada imbecile, yada yada insufferable. And she kept pointing at Sean. It was probably even more funny since we didn’t know exactly what was being said. Afterwards, she tried to ask us if he was as horrible as the song let on, but we just shook our heads and laughed.

She tried to get us to sing at one point, but I don’t know any Spanish songs, and I wasn’t about to blast Chappelle Roan on those speakers that fed out to the main street.

Quite a funny evening! We bid the group farewell and caught an Uber home.

By this point, Sean was complaining about needing a haircut multiple times per day and every time I wanted to take a photo. Ever resourceful, I decided to text our Airbnb host to see if she had scissors and a broom we could borrow.

She was so sweet! A few minutes later, we got a knock on our door, and there she was, broom and scissors in hand. I gave Sean a quick snip on the sides, and he was good as new!

We also started watching Road to El Dorado, a Disney movie Sean insisted I watch because of its setting – a grand pyramid site. It was very cute, but we were too tired to finish it!

As I was getting ready for bed, Sean exclaimed at the sight of a giant red bug bite on my leg.

“Oh, that?” I asked. “That’s nothing. Look at this one!” I then showed him an even larger bite on my calf.

I’ll spare you the gruesome photos, though I did already share them with my cousins, haha. I just have a bad reaction to bites! It’s fine, it’s fine.

After that little debacle, we hit the hay and woke up in time for a nice breakfast, and then we bought some pastries for the road.

Before we left, I wanted to see the upstairs of the home because the photos online were so pretty. We tentatively walked upstairs, and I almost ditched, but Sean called, “Hello?”

A man we’d never seen before came to let us in, and it turned out he was the brother of our host, and the man who had built the climbing wall! His name was Isaac, and he was just as sweet as his sister. He gave us a tour of the home and brought us to the roof, where we could see the volcano in the distance.

He actually gave us such a nice little talk about the town, the area, and the mountains. He is a mountain guide, and that just made Sean want to come back to go mountaineering with him. He is also an actor, though, and he and his troupe perform dramatic tours of the city on the weekends! How fun!

I was so glad we met him, and I was super sad we didn’t have more time to spend together, but it was seriously time for us to check out and catch our bus!

Our bus to Oaxaca was quite long – over four hours. And yet, it really wasn’t too shabby! I had to use the bathroom on it immediately because I procrastinated in the waiting area. They played “Book Club: The Next Chapter,” in Spanish, which I thought was a pretty funny choice. Essentially, a group of golden girls takes a trip to Rome and chaos ensues.

Sean and I monitored the screen intermittently while reading and blogging, and Sean watched some of his own shows on his phone.

Once we got closer to Oaxaca, though, the views were incredible! Endless, endless saguaro cactus fields! Forests? I don’t know what to call them! The photos really don’t do the scene justice, though.

Very beautiful! And before we knew it, we were in Oaxaca! Our last stop! More on that next time.

Hasta luego/ til next time!

-Lizzy-wa

¡Hola! We continue our Mexico City adventure! We had a big day ahead of us, and we were not mentally prepared. We had a 4:50am pickup scheduled, and we were struggling to settle down for bed around 11. I offered to “talk about my day” to Sean in attempt to bore him to sleep, and he almost agreed until he realized we’d spent the entire day together. “You can tell me about your shower,” he offered, since that was the only time we’d spent apart. Bahaha.

We finally did manage to sleep, but it was super fitful for some reason. Sean woke up for a while around 2am and couldn’t get back to sleep. I don’t know what it is about waking up super early that makes it that much harder to sleep at night, but we finally managed to get a few hours of shut-eye before it was rise time.

Unfortunately, we stood out on the street in the cold for 40 minutes before our van finally arrived!! Not cool, dude.

But in the end, it was all worth it. We were rising so early for a hot air balloon ride! Apparently sunrise is one of the best times for hot air ballooning because of the calm, predictable morning air.

The van drove us about an hour, and I was mesmerized by the sparkly blue lights out the window. I figured all of the cities must use fluorescent lights, but then I finally realized the moon was also blue, and it was actually just a blue tint in the windows. Doh!

As the van slowed and began navigating small alleys, Sean started pointing out some strange large mounds out the window. I was about to ask what they were, but then I realized they were half-inflated balloons! We arrived at our area and were given coffee and some Mexican cake/ breakfast pastries while the balloons finished filling.

Soon, we were being ushered to the balloons, but I hadn’t gone to the restroom yet! I ran back to the toilets, and when I got out, the coordinator lady was rushing me along. “Ee-liss-a-bet?!”

“¡Si, si!”

And then she was pointing to a vague balloon in the distance. I ran toward it until I realize Sean was nowhere to be seen! I turned back to her, trying to figure out if we were going to be separated, and she asked, “Your friend??” I made it clear I didn’t know where he was, when he finally came out of the bathroom also. Yeesh! Close call!

We were loaded into a balloon basket (okay, we had to climb in) with one Mexican lady who was sweet and quiet and three Indian-American girls who were dressed to the nines and shivering their booties off in little dresses. I guess they came prepared for the cute photos rather than being prepared for the cold.

We were given brief instructions about “landing positions,” and we were told not to ever jump, and then we were off!

It was all very controlled! I’d spent hours agonizing over which company to book through because the prices, extra activities, and reviews all varied slightly. Some recent reviews for this company mentioned that their pilot was “new” and that their balloon had just shot straight up and come straight down thirty minutes later, but our pilot was great! He clearly new what he was doing, and he took us on a great ride.

Dozens of balloons were rising to the air around us just as dawn was breaking. It was quite a sight to see.

So magical! The big view was the Teotihuacán pyramids, and we flew right over the top!

Space was tight, so we were all cuddled up admiring the view for most of the time. Super romantic! Cannot recommend enough!

Our pilot even knew how to slowly spin the balloon around every once in a while so we could get different views from our various spots in the basket. Very impressive!

After about an hour, we started wondering when we would land. I noticed that all of the balloons around us were rising quickly, which obviously just meant that we were descending! Ha.

We came in fast toward a field, and I was sure we were going to collide with the tops of some nearby trees. (We didn’t.)

As we came down, we were told to find our “landing positions,” and then a group of three guys hopped out of a truck that had followed us to the field. They grabbed the balloon basket, riding it and slowing it, bouncing around a bit, and then they landed us directly into the truck trailer! Very impressive!

We stayed in the basket while the team immediately began deflating and folding up the balloon like a giant air mattress. It was quite the operation!

We finally climbed out as they finished up, and our pilot, Ivan, whipped out a picnic basket with Martinelli’s sparkling cider for us to have a post-flight toast.

He was so cute! I asked his name in Spanish, and when we told him we could speak “poquito Espanol,” he took that as permission to chat away! Bahaha. We caught that he’d learned English in university, but he was more comfortable with us stumbling through Spanish than with him stumbling through English. He’d been a balloon pilot for two years, and he also told us the balloons cost around $100,000!!!

Once the balloon was all wrapped up in a giant bag, the guys loaded it onto the trailer bed, and we loaded up. There were only four free seats in the truck cabin, so Sean and I rode with the crew in the balloon basket in the trailer. It was pretty fun.

As we started pulling away though, one of the boys realized we’d left the picnic basket! He had to run back for it and jump back inside, haha.

The rest of the morning was pretty silly. We sat for like 45 minutes at their office so they could sell us photos (we bought just one), and we had to wait for the rest of our group that was on a different balloon.

Then they brought us to a breakfast buffet. The food was pretty good, but I think something in it messed with Sean’s tummy for the next few days. Meh.

Then we had a silly stop at a gift shop, but we were given some cool history lessons of local plants and materials. The agave plants were very cool. They were used for medicine, fiber for clothes, and the spikes could even be used for needles! We were also shown some obsidian crafts, which could be used to view the sun like eclipse glasses.

And then we had a liquor tasting! Multiple types of liquor including local pulque and mezcal. (We were told to smell, drink, and then exhale like a dragon.) The guide was very cute and kept saying, “Okay, family, friends,” before every sentence.

We spent way too long waiting at the gift shop for the girls in our group. I have no idea what they were doing for thirty minutes since the shop was not big, but I was pretty exhausted by the time they decided to show their faces! Gah. I’m pretty sure they’re the reason our van was late to pick us up in the morning.

Our final stop of the day was the Teotihuacán pyramids! I was super excited for this, and we had a very sweet guide, Juan, take us around and explain the history of the place.

The larger pyramid is called the Sun Pyramid, aptly lit by the sun above, and the smaller pyramid is the Moon Pyramid.

Interestingly, the name for the Teotihuacán area and people was given by the Aztecs, who discovered this complex deserted hundreds of years after it was built. It means “the place of the gods.” The names for the pyramids were also given by the Aztecs. Originally, the pyramids were actually built for the god of rain and his wife, and we don’t know what the people called themselves, as there is no written history by them.

The pyramids have been tunneled through multiple times in archaeological digs, but they are all just solid clay bricks. Nothing inside! Much later, tunnels were discovered underneath the pyramids, though.

These little stones mark areas that have been restored in the past hundred years or so. I thought the pattern was so pretty.

The area was kind of chaotic because there were so many vendors selling various whistles and Jaguar-sound noise makers. It was so loud, and Juan kept making jokes that the jaguar noise sounded like his mother-in-law.

There were just a couple of paintings, but all of the pyramids and the whole complex of merchant buildings and homes used to be painted in red. Must have been so beautiful!

Most of the artwork, sculptures, and temples were all destroyed by internal warring thousands of years ago, but one temple has been rebuilt/ replicated in recent years as an example of what might have been here before.

Juan also told us about some ancient practices and diets. The people here worshipped the local jaguars, and would use volcanic basalt rocks to shape their teeth and bejewel them with stones.

He also told us the ancient people had 10 different dog breeds. One breed was for hunting, one was bred for eating. But when he told us about the famous Chihuahua breed, he said, “They did not eat Chihuahuas, because it’s not enough for two tacos!”

They ate more than 1000 species of insects and over 260 species of corn. Pretty crazy considering how few species of various crops we eat these days.

At the end of our tour, which I thoroughly enjoyed, Juan said, “If you enjoyed yourself, recommend us to your friends. If you did not enjoy yourself, recommend us to your enemies!” Sean gave him a fat tip.

Our van ride home was torturous. It was only about an hour to the edge of the city, but the trek through the city to drop everyone off (we were last) took another hour and a half. I really wish we’d gotten off at the first stop and Ubered ourselves home to avoid all that traffic and extra time in the car. Sean was not feeling too hot by the end of it. Poor guy!

I, too, was tired on our way home, as evidenced by a very unflattering photo Sean procured of me asleep with my mouth hanging open.

When we got home, we collapsed for a while and caught up with people back home, and then I took myself out on a mission to get a manicure.

It was a massive fail! I probably stopped by five different places, and every spot was full. Very disappointing.

I took myself for a walk as a consolation prize, and then I ate an acai bowl on a park bench as it started to lightly rain.

Sean met me for dinner, where we (okay, I) ordered way too much food. I just didn’t expect the portions to be so big! We got one mushroom taco, some kind of cheesey burrito type thing, and a raw tuna tostada with a mezcal cocktail. It was all pretty yummy (except the mushroom taco), but we couldn’t finish it all!

We slept real good that night, exhausted as we were, though we both were being badly behaved about reading instead of just sleeping right away.

In the morning, we set off in search of a chocolate croissant for Sean, and we ended up just sitting down at the same cafe we’d visited our first morning. It was just so yummy!

Sean got his chocolate croissant and a latte, and I got a flat white and toast mixtos (one sweet and one savory).

The toast was so yummy, but the bread was VERY toasty and super hard to cut through! So we sat for quite a while. Sean was impressed that I had a successful Spanish interaction when the waitress asked if I wanted salsa. I’m learning!

On our way out, we stopped at “Take a Deep Bread” for some extra croissants to-go.

We also found this super cool shop where everything was hand-embroidered by Mexican artisans. I was so shocked Sean didn’t get anything! But it gave me ideas for possible future presents…

We caught a taxi so that we could finally explore the historical center of the city. We’d just been too cozy in the Condesa area up until this point!

We were dropped off at Palacio de Bellas Artes, a giant museum and theater building. I’d really wanted to see a ballet here, and they were even performing my favorite, Swan Lake! But tickets were sold out. Meeeehhhh…

We settled for a wander of the art museum inside, and I was thrilled and surprised to find how much I liked almost everything inside. The vast majority of the artwork was made by just three artists, and the variety of their work was astounding.

The building itself was also very pretty!

Most of a floor was art by Adam Glass:

And the murals were so colorful!

We were tired enough after our brief tour of the museum to search “why do I get so tired at museums.” Turns out museum fatigue is a real thing! Some mix between standing for long periods and over-stimulation from all the art and reading.

Unfortunately, this was our one day of rain for the trip, so once we exited the Palacio, we hid under cover of an outdoor book market, where we bought these ridiculous and adorable tiny books.

We got some street snacks to curb our hunger – elote (corn topped with mayo and some kind of crumbled cheese – yummy and hardy!), and some kind of little sweet bread cake thing.

We explored the streets, finding little tucked-away sculpture parks, churches to explore, and some claw machine stores.

I bought one of these silly capybara stuffed animals with a turtle backpack after failing to claw it twice. It was definitely a rip-off, but oh well.

We made it to the palace square, where they were cleaning up from a visit by the president for Revolution Day. That would have been a sight!

There were some ruins right behind the square.

And then we entered a free historical museum, mostly to get out of the rain and find a bathroom. Some very cool things here, but nothing on Mexico! Strange!

After a while, Sean asked if they were closing, and it turned out they’d closed a few minutes before. When were they going to tell us??

We made our way back to our Airbnb, where we rested again, and I ordered some more tacos from Señor Taco for dinner.

We honestly probably could have gone straight to bed at that point, but Sean had bought us tickets to Kiasmos, an Icelandic electronica band that was playing at a venue a short walk from our stay.

We barely rallied to get ourselves to the venue. We got a cerveza and a rum-and-coke for courage, and for once, I remembered to bring my concert earplugs that keep the sound the same but just lower the volume by about 10 decibels.

Once we were in the crowd, Sean immediately said, “I feel so tall,” but I could tell it was in a guilty way!

“Like, taller than normal?” I asked.

We actually looked it up, and turns out the average height in Mexico is 2 inches shorter for girls and 3 inches shorter for guys compared to the US! I wonder if Sean would feel short if we saw a concert in Denmark.

The concert was very fun, and I had a half-view of the guy on the left for most of it. Right when the show started, these two bigger dudes came and stood right in front of us. I was cracking up, though, because the one in front of Sean had to be the most energetic person in the entire venue. Everybody else was coolly nodding along to the beat and staying relatively contained, but this guy kept going, “YyooooOOOOHHHH!!!” and he was stomping side to side and pumping his fist. He was having such a good time.

There was an employee, a bigger dude, who snaked his way through the crowd the entire show with a pallet overhead filled with open cups of beer, shouting, “Cerveza! Cerveza, cerveza!” And then a smaller dude was following behind taking cash. Such a stressful gig! I tried and failed to snap a picture when the pallet was balancing directly over Sean’s head for a minute there.

There was also a point when suddenly, a giant oval-shaped void opened up directly to my left. It was like fifty people had just vanished into thin air. The rest of us paused and then began tentatively inching our way closer to the stage to fill the space, but also perhaps fearing we’d be sucked into the void as well.

Finally, someone turned their phone flashlight on to figure out what exactly had caused all those people to flee, and it became apparent someone had puked. Pretty amazing, the swiftness with which everyone got the heck away from them! Bahahaha. There was a very loose, much smaller void that remained in the immediate vicinity of the, uhm, incident zone.

Luckily the concert ended before 11, and we had a fun walk back with some stops for photos.

And in the morning, I woke up early and blogged for a while on the rooftop. The cleaning lady was clearly happy when I finally left, because I went to take a photo off the roofline, and when I turned around, she had shoved my couch into a corner so she could mop.

We had a relaxing breakfast with an amazing cup of hot chocolate and the strangest crepe I’ve ever seen.

Then we got yet more chocolate croissants for the road, and it was time to hit our bus! That’s it for Mexico City!

¡Gracias, e hasta luego!

-Lizzy-wa

We made it to Mexico!

This was a silly trip, in terms of planning. Sean’s friend, Scott, told us about this trip in August. He was planning it as a solo vacation, and I immediately asked, “Can we come?!”

Scott basically agreed immediately, but after planning everything out, he sprained his ankle a few weeks ago and decided not to come! So we really did just hijack his vacation. Whoops!

The flight to Mexico City was nonstop, but unfortunately, it was an all day ordeal. I hate wasting entire days on travel! We spent the night at Sean’s brother’s house and got a ride to the airport at 8am, where we ran into one of my coworkers on the train to the S-gates. She and her partner were headed to Korea. We just had a big week of demos and presentations at work, so it was pretty funny that we were both getting the heck outta there right after!

We had lots of fun views on the plane ride, including the Grand Canyon and lots of mountains.

This was the first plane I’ve been on that offered the option to connect Bluetooth headphones to the seat back TVs. Very nifty! Especially since I had forgotten my cabled headphones!

I had a fairly productive flight. I watched a movie (The Book of Life – takes place in Mexico!), I finished a blog, and I finished my book. Very productive, indeed!

We also were able to see Mexico City as we came into the airport! They have quite the stadiums!

When we landed, we were kind of a mess trying to get out of the airport. We struggled to get an ATM to work for us. (Sean didn’t have a debit card, and I didn’t realize until I’d been declined multiple times that my bank had flagged me for fraud because I hadn’t set a travel notice.) Then we struggled to get the heck out of there. We couldn’t find the buses or the subways. We walked and wandered and bought a metro card, and once we finally found a bus over an hour later, the bus was so crowded that we decided to just Uber. It was only $8, so we definitely should have done that from the get-go. Now we know!

I had a pretty bad headache at this point. We hadn’t slept well the night before, and I was hungry and cranky. We dropped our stuff at the Airbnb and flopped down for a while. (It was so much smaller than it seemed in the photos, and it smelled so strongly of some kind of perfume or cleaning agents.)

When we finally mustered the energy to find food, we decided to just try the place across the street that had a dancing potato logo. The waitress said their special was the papas, so we ordered the “traditional,” as well as a few tacos. Somehow, we never got the tacos, but the papas was…. Interesting. Basically a bit bowl of mashed potatoes topped with cheese and meat. We also got some freshly fried tortilla chips and queso dip. Yummy, but definitely not healthy! My tummy was on the fence about it, hahaha.

We slept like crazy. We got in bed before ten and did not rise until after ten. After a quick aspirin, I felt like a new person. I offered Sean a high-five as we left the apartment just shy of noon.

Our only agenda for the day was to explore our neighborhood, Condesa. The weather was balmy and fresh. The streets were bright and walkable. We stopped for breakfast at a little cafe, and Sean got a super yummy latte that I kept stealing from. He also got “broken eggs” over potatoes, and I got chilaquiles (tortilla chips cooked in a pan with sauce/ salsa). Yum! Just a little bit spicy!

After breakfast, we continued our walk. There is a big ring street, shaped like a horse track, called Amsterdam. There is a one way street on each side of a big tree lined walking avenue, and we decided to just follow this street around.

We stopped in a couple cute stores, and I bought a linen jumpsuit!

We also entered a little vintage store that had the freaking cutest dog inside. I’m not sure he could see very well, but he came up to me and just leaned up against the back of my legs so I could pet him while Sean perused the tshirts. It was the best.

When I finally stopped petting him, he actually escaped the shop, and the owner had to run after him! Bahaha.

We eventually left the walkway to turn into the center of the ring where there was a big park. Lots of little snack stands, and we stumbled upon an area that was flooded with latin dance lessons! I love outdoor dancing!

The center of this area also had people doing hula hoop lessons and roller blading lessons. It was very cute.

Also, outdoor ceramics painting??

And this pig? Lol.

There was also an adoption event happening, but my attempt to campaign Sean for a puppy was unsuccessful.

After the park, we returned to the walking path. At several intersections, there were people set up selling furniture. Mirrors, night stands, shelves. Seems a strange place to me to sell furniture!

We had dinner reservations at four, but I was a little peckish, so we stopped for a quick smoothie. Very yummy! So fresh!

We continued our walk and changed for dinner.

And then it was time to eat! Our second Michelin star restaurant!

There were three courses plus dessert to choose from, with two options in each course. We were considering being gluttons and ordering one of everything, but then the waitress came by and said that’s what they recommend anyway! We also got two tiki cocktails, and they came in silly tiki cups.

I really loved the squash tostada, and the croquette was yummy, too.

The next dish was a plantain, and we awkwardly heard different things during the explanation. I heard that we should eat the peel, but Sean heard that we should not eat the peel… We finally waved down another waitress to ask, and she said, “No, no, no! I mean, you can, but I do not recommend.” Bahaha. Good thing we asked!

I had originally wanted to skip the next dish, a chickpea salad, just because it didn’t sound that appetizing. And I was right! We should have skipped it!

Not that it was bad. It was tasty, but we were getting full by this point, the dish was huge, and we still had the two “climax” dishes to go! The bread was super tasty, though.

I think the first “climax” dish was my favorite. It was wagyu beef in a mole sauce, and it came with some tortillas to make little tacos. So moist, flavorful, and delicious. Dang! Getting hungry again just thinking about it!

At this point, we were just too full. I flagged down a waitress (which for some reason is really hard to do), and asked if we could cancel the dessert because we just would not be able to enjoy it. She said she understood, and asked if we wanted to cancel the fish dish, also.

But Sean said no! Hahaha. And good thing, because I think that was his favorite dish.

I don’t even remember all that was going on here. It was very delicious, but very hard to get down because of how full we were. We probably sat there with it for 40 minutes, and when the waitress came to clear the table, she said, “You did it! You persevered!”

All in all, a delightful meal that I wish we’d had more room for in our stomachs!

When we got home, we lounged and watched an episode of a sitcom made for Spanish language learners. Sean used to watch it in high school Spanish. Basically, a rich American boy who used to be pen pals with a Spanish girl decides to visit Barcelona and asks if he can stay with her. Chaos ensues! It was pretty cheeky.

We slept well again that night, and when we got up in the morning, we checked out the roof of our building. Not too shabby! The apartment itself doesn’t really have any kind of view, and there aren’t really windows in the main living area, so it was nice to see something other than the buildings next door!

We had a nice walk in our search for breakfast, though the line for the place Sean originally wanted to go was cray cray.

We opted for a super nice restaurant that was way more expensive than necessary, lol. I was in the mood for a more casual cafe, but I was too hungry to keep searching. There was even a 80 peso fee per person because it was a holiday (Revolution Day). Meh.

One of our waiters was probably nine years old, so that was adorable and hilarious. I wish I’d taken a picture. He was so cute in his full waiter garb.

We both got lattes, and I got a guava juice. My favorite part of the meal was the random welcome dishes they brought out before our main food: tiny dishes of yogurt with granola and some super yummy mini baguettes with some kind of whipped butter and mango chutney.

Once we had finished our starters and were sipping on our coffees, the little waiter came back and started putting a second set of starters down for us. It was definitely too much food, but it was so yummy that I decided not to protest. But about halfway through putting down the food, the little guy seemed to get confused, and he paused. He picked up one of the yogurts, then thought again and put it back. The mango chutney was what was really hanging him up, perhaps because we still had half of our first one on the table.

We didn’t know what to say or do, so we just watched with encouraging (and confused) smiles, until two of the full-grown waiters came by, chuckling, and took everything back off our table. They then replaced it on the little waiter’s tray, pointing him to the table he was actually meant to be serving. Too cute!

Sean got some eggs and tortillas, and I got something listed under the traditional Mexican breakfast section of the menu.

It was like two super thick potato tortillas, topped with beans, egg, avocado, queso, etc. Very interesting!

Once stuffed, our agenda for the day was to explore the giant park nearby, Chapultepec. It was so big that from above, I thought it was a national park when we were flying into the city.

The entrance was all big avenues and monuments, and we could see all the way down a big street towards the center of the city.

Once we had entered the main part of the park, the streets were flooded with stalls selling snacks, sweets, toys, and these ridiculous monkey things that everybody was wearing on their heads. Sean and I debated long and hard about whether we should get one.

There was a little lake that you could rent boats on, and I’m normally super into that, but the boats seemed a bit rickety! The rowboat near us was squeaking like crazy, and the peddle boat near us was lilting way over to one side. Eh, maybe we should have done it anyway!

We continued our walk and started getting sleepy.

We were in search of bikes, but we were having trouble finding any! There was no way we would ever be able to walk around this massive park.

Finally, after much searching and app downloading, we were able to locate the nearest bank of city bikes, and then it was much nicer from there.

We were able to bike all around the water features, wandering aimlessly to and fro. We crossed to the second half of the park where there was an amusement park, but it was closed for a private event.

One thing that is undeniable about Mexico City is that there are SO MANY DOGGOS. It was pretty common for us to see a dude walking six dogs at once.

At one point, we rode past what can only be described as a dog dance party. Some kind of doggy daycare where two people had like a dozen dogs hanging out off-leash with music pumping out of a portable speaker. It was strange and adorable, but as I rode by, the big red husky came galloping towards me with a big smile on her face.

I slowed to a stop, worried I could hit her or she could ram into me, and then she slowed as she approached. I wasn’t sure if I should pet her or not! But then the daycare people called her back, and she went running away. It was pretty cute.

I got back on my bike and started peddling again, only for her to come rushing back to me! I again slowed to a stop and said hi.

We did this five times in total. I wish I had it on video!

I did try to get Sean to take some cute pics of me, but I just ended up looking like a derp.

After all our walking and biking, I was getting pretty hungry and cranky again. There were some hills we had to go up and down, and Sean and I kept getting separated, which only made me more cranky.

Finally I stopped at a bench and told him I was hungry and tired. Thank goodness, we were right across from a taco stand, so he went and ordered an Arizona iced tea and four chicken tacos that ended up being more like taquitos. I was so hungry I forgot to take a picture, but they sure did hit the spot! I apologized for being angry earlier, and the ridiculous man replied, “Oh. I didn’t know you were angry until you told me.” Not sure if that’s good or bad, haha.

Newly refreshed, we continued our ride and came upon this very cool statue.

And then we found a children’s book fair! It was kind of hard to navigate the bikes through the crowd, but it was very cool. There were a few performers, including a live jazz band that I stopped to listen to for a couple songs.

As we were biking away, we heard some beautiful choral music in the distance, so we made our way to some kind of mainstage where a quintet was practicing. Such pretty harmonies!

A few pretty buildings and a couple of closed gardens later (booo), we finally bought the dang monkeys.

I hadn’t realized this initially, but the monkeys actually have a little tube routed through the tail that can squirt water. The seller got it all set up on my head, told me to look ahead, and then he squirted the water…. Directly onto my bike seat! Ayaaaaaa….

And don’t worry – we aren’t keeping these for ourselves, nor did we keep them on our heads for very long. I’m bringing them home for some kiddos!

Once we were satisfied with our park sights, we ventured toward the city to the Estela de Luz monument. Very cool!

We then biked all the way back to our Airbnb to return our bikes. We had to ride on several roads, and at one point, I had to pull over, screaming to Sean, “My monkeys!!!”

The dang water squirter things had simultaneously flung themselves out of my bike basket and were hanging and swinging wildly near my legs. No bueno!

Once that fiasco was all sorted, we freshened up and went out for dinner.

We ended up at Senor Taco, where I blindly ordered a “Jamaica” cocktail that turned out to be hibiscus! Yum!

Sean got a margarita and three tacos, and I got pozole and some fancy tacos that I forgot to take a picture of. The pozole was very mild but yummy, and the tacos were very tasty.

Our last stop of the night was a small Walmart so that we could buy some snacks for our adventures the next day. More to come on that next time! Here’s some more street art.

Hasta luego/ see you later!

Lizzy-wa