So it’s Black Friday, in the states that is. Here in Mexico City it’s just another day. But it felt like Black Friday this morning, meaning I still was groggy from the food coma last night and didn’t feel like getting out of bed. This morning Rebecca and I went to a pastry shop and a walk. A great decision that made me feel like it was Black Friday (something I’ve never “celebrated”), I got four massive pastries for $2.
Anyways, I figured I’d start from scratch and recap the last few days of exploration. Nothing crazy, but certainly not short of activities or things I’d recommend.
As a quick note, since this is the first post of this adventure, this isn’t going to be a blog. There won’t be travel tips, suggestions, strategies for planning and packing, or even a day to day catalog of events. I honestly do hope that I post a lot for my own memory but I won’t make any promises. I wrote something about this on Medium a while back in anticipation of the trip and before I decided to create this site. If I write anything about travel in general or in a more Medium-like style, maybe I’ll put it there.
Anyways let’s get back to the plot, if you will.
I arrived in the Tijuana airport late at night (it’s amazing and easy to travel out of here, message me if you have questions) and crossed the border ready for a red-eye to Mexico City. Aside from seeing someone getting CPR, things didn’t look good for him honestly, and paying a little extra for additional weight in my bags, everything went according to plan. I arrived early morning and Uber’d to my friend Rebecca’s place where I’m staying. I took a nap and finally woke up feeling like a normal person. It only took over 12 hours to digest all the food we scored at the Brazilian steakhouse last night. All you can eat is a real challenge, can’t let them beat you!
The last few days have been crammed with museums and food with walking in between. I’m not feeling particularly witty, funny, or descriptive today so I’ll just do a mini recap of some highlights vs. specific anecdotes.
Museums
Museo de Arte Moderno (Chapultepec): There was some good stuff here. Nothing I knew as famous really but I was introduced to Remedios Vara, who from what I can tell, is a badass painter.
Templo Mayor/Bella Artes Museum/Plaza de la Constitución/Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral (Zocalo): This is one of the big hubs of Mexico City. There are cobblestone streets lined with businesses out of garage door fronts with vendors and street people of all kinds. You can imagine this if you’ve ever been to a large metropolitan city before. It’s hard to understand the magnitude of everything and the people until you’re there but it’s quite a sight. Then the Templo Mayor museum is the best part. There is a ton of history that is virtually unknown to most Americans (other than “Yeah, I know the Mayans, they said the world was going to end. Or was that the Aztecs? Or Incas? Did they all like gold? I saw Road to El Dorado.”) Do I understand everything, not even close. Do I have a better idea of what was going on? Yes. The problem is that most stuff is in Spanish and mine is mediocre. In the Bella Artes museum there were only two exhibits. The first are permanent murals on the walls by Diego Rivera. I liked a few, others not so much. There’s a lot of political context I could get from half assed reading in Spanish on the interactive displays. The other was a Kadinsky exhibit. I hadn’t heard of him, but I was really impressed. I’d check him out online, who knows if this is permanent or is only temporary. But isn’t everything temporary in the grand scheme of things? ;)
Soumayo Museum: This is Carlos Slim’s personal collection. It’s like a mini-Louvre, it’s amazing. There were a lot of Rodin sculptures, a ton actually. He’s supposed to be one of the best ever but I’m not a huge fan of sculptures so I didn’t care much BUT he did The Thinker and Gates of Hell which are both famous and pretty damn impressive. There was also a good amount of the European Art I learned about as a kid so I got to pretend I was smart and cultured; da Vinci, van Dyke, Monet, and a few more. Honestly, the best parts though were the Ivory sculptures from China, something I had seen much of but am very impressed by, even not art related, the sheer size of tusks was shocking, and the building itself, a beautiful work of architecture. Was that a run on sentence? I’ll just blame David Foster Wallace (I’m reading Broom of the System now).
Food
Vegamo (Centro): Think healthy, trendy, juice/food place. I got a killer sandwich (Yoda) on matcha waffles, a juice, coffee, and a (TINY) pasty that was basically a fig newton for $5. I could get used to this. They have bomb smoothies too so I’ll be back.
El Caifon: As of 11/23/18 this is the best torta I have ever eaten. They had an amazing salsa bar and a huge and delicious el pastor torta. ‘Nuff said.
