MEXICO CITY RACONTEUR

mexico city glow

The past two weeks was difficult because I kept daydreaming about Mexico City.  Time flies indeed.  This city is so humongous, you're going to need over a week (or two) to explore all of it.  I'm going to do something different for this post. I'll be storytelling. Let me know if you like this post, i'll be doing it for my future posts if you guys like it.  Now, when I was in high school my art teacher was obsessed with Frida Kahlo and she mentioned to all her students that we must make sure to go visit her museum at least once in this lifetime--and I did. Now, I have to find her contact information and tell her! I don't know why it took so long for me to visit CDMX but nonetheless, I experienced it now. A lot of high-pitched laughters and food is a dangerous combination haha. 
Click Read More below for major pictionary show!

european view

One of the famous landmarks in Mexico City. In front of it are a bunch of benches to sit so you can admire from afar, the beauty of this beast.  The size is colossal! 

i see you, i see you lol

This was taken on the side of the Palace of the Fine Arts.  We were waiting for our Uber ride to go to the Guadalupe Shrine.  I've never been to Mexico City before and there were many misconceptions about it from people and media etc.  It's actually a safe and enjoyable city.  

hotel room view

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My friends and I stayed at the Hotel NH Collection in Reforma.  It was close to everything and fortunately, it was walking distance to the Angel monument. 

zócalo negotiations

This is in the old part of town called Zócalo.  The streets are lined with multitude of street vendors. Ranging from clothes to toys.  It did get very crowded at one point during lunch time. 

calling all angels--lenny kravitz

architectural structuring

I don't know if you have noticed in my previous posts, I always take photos of structures, buildings etc.  I am always observant of the structures of a place.  Call me weird, but I think every place has its own idiosyncrasies manifested by their structures.

olympic gratitude

This is in front of the Palace of the Fine Arts.  Many people were taking photos so we all had to take photos as well! one. by . one  ;)

building blocks

I was looking at the architecture and you can visually experience the remnants of the Spanish colonization era.  The intricate churches are reminiscent of the ones in Madrid--which I visited two years ago. 

bosque de chapultepec

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Ok, so this was at the end of the long entryway of Chapultepec, a park so massive it's twice bigger than NYC's central park!  The marbled figure is off limits to the public.  But my friends and I whipped out the selfie stick and took many photos here.   Major tourists haha!  *Here I am, browsing Yelp for dinner places. *

morning sales

There were several street vendors aligned on the streets of Zócalo. Anyway, I was able to buy jogging pants for less than $5USD converted. Did you know you have to pay to use public restrooms in Mexico City? 

i heard the birds singing

This was inside Frida Kahlo's museum.  You are greeted with greenery and tall trees. Very jungle-like vibe.  I loved this part, it's like you are far away from the city of 20 million people. 

buy one get one

This was at a park beside the fine arts.  A lot of street vendors selling many souvenirs.  It was hot and crowded, we were sweating by the time we got to the exit. 

palacio de bellas artes break time

As we were waiting for our Uber, we took advantage of the background and took many photos.  My view from this part is the Torre Latinoamericana.  

i was enticed by this color!

25 years

chapultepec kid at heart

These cute egg shaped hammocks are behind the Starbucks coffee shop at Chapultepec.  Even their park has a coffee shop and library!  Both combinations I love.  

guadalupe shrine rain

windy chapped lips look

This was taken before it started to rain.  There was a small window of opportunity to have this sunlight while the skies are dark and gives that mysterious vibe. 

gorgeous church this was

This church was beautiful. But at this point, we were all getting hungry and we walked away from the Zócalo area to find a place to eat lunch.  We ended up eating Chinese buffet lol

monumental

I was reading up the history of the El Ángel monument above.  Apparently, since Mexico City is sinking like Venice, they added 23 steps to this monument--you can see the steps where the people are sitting. Scary!!

brrr it's cold in here

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The weather was cold and windy, especially like late in the afternoon-evening.  Some streets were closed off for the Sunday run.  Here, we are walking back to the hotel after we had churros at El Moro.  Who doesn't love churros?

the gateway

trying not to fall over

You can ride water bikes ( I think that's what they are called) at Chapultepec.  There were a multitude of people here relaxing, having a picnic or what not.  We walked so much and ended up in Polanco area! 

frida's house

I can't quite explain the blue color. I was obsessed with it. I'm not quite a colorful person, I'm actually very boring and plain haha but I love this blue-neon purple hue color. Does anyone know the exact color? 

frida's garden <3 <3 <3

Finally, we are inside Frida Kahlo's museum.  We were not prepared for tickets, so we had to wait outside in line for over an hour and 40 minutes--plus it was raining and we were sharing one umbrella. But nonetheless, we laughed to kill time :)

they are getting ready for dia de muertos

They take it very seriously.  A lot of people were walking with painted faces.  I want to go back to attend the festival one day!

sunday family day

¿quieres entrar?

the show must go on

This was at Zòcalo area and these entertainers danced the whole time.  A lot of people stopped and watch them.  

in love with this blue color

oh hi coco

ancient cleansing

I read a lot about the Aztec culture and the spiritual cleansing or "limpia" in Mexico City, such as this one above. It consisted of rubbing herbs and smoke to wash away the evil forces from the body. 

at la unica for dinner.

We ended up eating at La Única in Polanco area.  I love the grilled chicken and they charge for extra side of wild rice (I love rice) LOL. I had minor headache here because we had only eaten once that day. lol. But everyone liked the restaurant--very cute, like something that popped out of pinterest.  www.launica.mx

buenas tardes

eyeing the colorful buildings

no more battery left

By this time we needed to take a break. The rest of the group were sitting down. Thankfully, these shoes were very comfortable like cloud. 

reforma 222

Reforma 222 is and indoor/outdoor mall. This was somewhat near to our hotel. We stumbled upon this because we were looking for food courts.  Afterwards, we checked out the stores. Most of the stores are the ones from Europe.  

beautiful shrine of guadalupe

After spending time in the shrine grounds. Adjacent to it were markets that sold many souvenirs.  I was able to buy souvenirs for people back home.  Above, the gloomy skies were a perfect picture background.  Look how it isolated the church sunlight

torre latino americana

until we meet again cdmx!

Oh hi there well, I hope you enjoyed the photos on this blogpost.  Traveling is the best form of education and I was able to practice my elementary level Spanish haha.  Anyways, I asked myself: why go to Madrid when Mexico City reminds me of it.  CDMX has this European personality to it and it's closer to the US :)

Top five highlights:
1.Frida Kahlo's house
2.La Unica restaurant
3.The markets
4.Zócalo
5.The nice people

Song of the day:  **I love this song...haha**
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