Mexico City - Final Thoughts

Now that we are back home, it's time for the trip recap/tips:

1. Food -- I personally didn't love all the tacos as much as I was hoping to. I generally speaking enjoy all Mexican food though (avocado, Mexican rice, beans, simmered meats, salsa, etc) so it's not like I didn't enjoy any of the meals, I think it was more a realization that the tacos I manage to access from California are pretty good too? That or this is like Thailand where sadly I like American Mexican food more than traditional Mexican food. I will say the corn tortillas and tamalas and really anything seemed way more flavorful than their US counterparts. Food things that were better than I expected: mole, churros, pastries, mangoes, bugs. 

2. Weather -- it rained almost every day, but only for a brief portion and always in the late afternoon or evening. It was kind of nice to always be able to rely on a sunny morning. I'm also glad it wasn't any warmer than it already was -- the heat of the sun in Mexico City was definitely harsher than Bay Area. 

3. Air Quality -- this was a surprise, I wasn't expecting the air quality to be as poor as it was. It definitely reminded me of Beijing from a few decades past. Though I also think part of what I blamed as air quality might have just been me adjusting to the higher altitude? But even during the rains, there was never really a "refreshing" air feeling.

4. History - the pyramids and museum lived up to expectations. And expectations were high. So these truly were world class and worth the visit. We didn't get guides at either of these, but found the English placards and such pretty good, along with frequent consultations with Gemini. 😆 

5. Neighborhoods - Polanco was definitely quiet and safe feeling, though the amount of caged and street food in walkable distance was also lower, but I'm sure that was a direct counter-balance to noise levels. Condessa was very cute and leafy -- I could see why people enjoy staying there. Juarez was a little on the grittier side, I can see why many people generally do not pick the city center for lodging.

6. Fancy restaurants - high points for Quintonil (honestly if they didn't have the bugs I would have liked them less, made it more one of a kind). Really enjoyed value for money and home-cooking taste at Esquina Comun. Rosetta was much better than I was expecting...but I wouldn't put it on Bouchon levels. Maybe it didn't have enough butter. 😆 Masala...was probably not one I would go back to. Some of the flavors just didn't work so well for me. 

7. Cultural - Frida's house was interesting, but if you had one cultural slot to fill, I would choose Ballet Folklorico. I wish I had more time to hit some of the other museums -- like the perfume museum, the museum of modern art, and the murals at the National Palace. 

8. Length of time - I could have filled a couple more days easily (lengthen Puebla to an overnight trip at a minimum) but also felt like we had enough time to hit all the highlights with our one week.

9. Scheduling - feedback from travel mates is that the schedule was certainly full, but that they appreciated the rest/flex downtimes built in everyday. 

10. Transportation - Ubers were very easy and so cheap; Didis did appear to be noticeably even cheaper. But this is like $10 ride vs. $11 or $12 ride difference. The cars were often a little on the older side with A/C sometimes broken (again a nod back to China of 20 years ago).

11. Payment - There was a significantly higher number of places where we needed to use cash. Pyramid entry tickets, lots of markets, taco stands, photographers and drivers. We ended up getting probably around $1000-1500 out in cash for the seven day trip. 

Top 3s for everyone!

R: street vendor mangoes, stracciatella dish at Esquina Comun, VRBO rental. 

L: Handmade journal she bought at the Coyoacan markets, food/bike tour, Google office. 

Baba: Tacos at Los Alexis, Quintonil, family photo shoot. 

Mama: climbing the pyramids, axolotls, drummers and dueling harpists at Ballet Folklorico.

Jiuma: runs in Chapultepec park, climbing to the top of the Teotihuacan pyramid, torta and jugo on the bike tour. 

Jiujiu: Teotihuacan, family photos, the birthday tequila donkey at Mayahuel. 

Laolao & Laoye: Teotihuacan, bike tour, food at Esquina Comun.

But setting aside the foods and sights, I think all of us really enjoyed being able to spend time with each other, especially as we don't get to see a ton of Jiujiu and Jiuma given they're all the way over in Boston -- playing cards, walking around, sharing meals -- true highlight was enjoying all the family time we got!

Capping it out with some of our family shots. Until next trip!