DDR: Mexico City lives up to the hype of sensational food, beautiful art and architecture. 5 days of focus and it did wonders for my Spanish confidence.
Throughout our trip, I have been continuously embarrassed at my inability to speak another language. Almost everywhere we go, people, both locals and fellow tourists, tend to be able to speak at least 2, if not many more. However, an amazing feature of not working is that when you decide you want to try and learn something, you have the time to do something about it. So for our final month, I was determined to try and remedy my meagre linguistic capabilities. I studied Spanish at school and therefore decided to commit to improving my Spanish, and enrolled at a language school in Mexico City for a week. I would be spending 10 days in this beautiful city, with Nik joining me for about 5 days in the middle. We would then put my new skills to the test, and explore some other areas of Mexico.
Last time I visited Mexico I was 18, it was a particularly turbulent time for the country politically and I unsurprisingly had very little money. By the time we reached Mexico City, I was also spectacularly ill, and despite a very patient Preston looking after me, can’t say I came away with overly fond memories of the city. Perhaps because of these memories, when my flight landed at 3am, I opted to just catch up on sleep in a pod hotel in the airport instead of venturing into the city solo in the middle of the night. Nik was also enjoying pod life in a hostel on the coast, and we were both impressed with this efficient, easy, private and clean hotel alternative for a short stay. Feeling like you are in Star Wars for a few hours is an added bonus.
Time (and possibly my own perspective) has been very good to CDMX. We were staying in the beautiful, leafy and buzzy Roma Norte district in a great air bnb. I instantly fell completely in love with the city. Given the altitude (CDMX sits at over 2,000m), the climate is surprisingly mild. The architecture is beautiful, with a mix of old and new buildings in glorious colours everywhere. There are lots of trees, cacti and pedestrianised walkways, the food is incredible and there is art everywhere. I spent my first few days getting acclimatised, visiting the Museo Tamayo Arte Contemporáneo and enrolling in my school in the very beautiful Condesa neighbourhood.
When Nik arrived it was time to do a vegan taco tour of Roma. To our delight we discovered the amount of love put into meaty food by Mexicans was extended to vegan food too, with refreshingly little fake meat and instead delicious options including nopales (cactus), huilacoche (corn fungus), mushroom and various combinations of sunflower seeds, chickpeas, beans and of course avocados. Spice was firmly back in the picture, with even Nik being tested by the delicious habaneros in both our food and drinks. For me, anything drenched in salsa verde (a green sauce made with tomatillos, lime and coriander) was heaven, and chilaquiles became a daily breakfast favourite. Almost everywhere we ate/ drank at was incredible, but favourites included Gracias Madre, Pexel, Tacobar, Carnitas and El Parnita. We attempted to earn our tacos with a run one weekend. Despite the gorgeous environment and inspiration from all our fellow runners who were all very active, I was totally floored by the altitude. I hope it was the air and not that my cardio fitness has declined quite that badly. I have also got deep into a mission to improve my asthma and lung capacity, which means a concerted effort to only breathe through my nose. The combined shock of this meant a long lie down was required, but the reward of CMDX’s food scene was worth it. A huge thank you to Lulu & Geri, George & Alejandro, Girender and Chloe for the many food recommendations. You all have spectacular taste.
As well as eating and admiring art, we also wanted to take in some sporting culture so went to a Mexican Wrestling evening. It was superb. The music, costumes and choreography were all on point. I’m not sure if it was the energy in the room or the incredibly delicious tamarind goo with toasted seasame seeds on our michelada cups, but we couldn’t stop smiling. The crowd was so passionate, particularly one little boy behind us who almost passed out from excitement with the female wrestlers. One of the wrestlers was an older man from Osaka, and having recently visited Japan, we loved imaging the life story of someone born in the country’s reserved culture, and ended up finding their place in the larger than life world of Mexican wrestling. A good reminder that anyone in this world can find their people, no matter how unlikely the tribe.
School ran 10am - 2:30pm. My hi class featured our very stylish and funny teacher Alice, an impressively dedicated American called Garret, and the suitably trendy George, a Hackney resident who felt very familiar. Apparently the school almost never has students from the UK, but it felt fitting we had 2 people living just a 15 minute walk away from each other in our class. During breaks we mixed with other, equally lovely students including teachers, retirees and a fellow woman on sabbatical from the navy who was now trying to set up a health business. There was a real mix of life stages and experiences, and it was yet another reminder of the amount of interesting and inspiring people you can meet travelling.
For our final evening Nik came with me to the Frida Kahlo house. This probably isn’t the spot to visit if you want to see lots of her work, however is a fascinating overview of her life and a reminder of the incredible reach and influence she held, despite being house bound for so much of her relatively short life. You get the impression she must have been electrifiying company. I wondered if this house was the inspiration for the YSL house in Marrakesh, or vice versa.
5 days in one spot is about Niks limit when travelling, so he went ahead to enjoy Oaxaca for a few days before me. I’d visited previously and had only good things to say about the city so he thought he’d get some extra time there. For my final few nights I had a great evening with a friend of Chloe’s who lives in the city, and took myself out for perhaps the best food I’ve eaten this trip at Contramar. The tuna tostadas were truley out of this world. I don’t often go to nice restaurants solo any more given my wonderful travel companion, but it was a real joy to just sit phone free and soak up the wonderful vibes in this stunning restaurant.
In a blink 10 days had passed and I was getting my certificate from language school. As I got on the bus to meet Nik in Oaxaca, I was feeling inspired. Language school had hugely grown my confidence in speaking Spanish, and the beauty of the city had me feeling incredibly creative. I love CMDX and can’t wait to return. For our next stop, I would be joining Nik in a hostel, my first of our trip. While a little nervous, I was excited to meet Hostel Nik, aka Party Nik. I had 8 hours on a bus to imagine what this intriguing side to him would be like.
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