Last Updated on October 9, 2024
Last week, I was supposed to take another trip and visit a town I’ve been wanting to visit for a while now – San Miguel de Allende – and an old favorite, Oaxaca.
However, somehow I never made it out of the city. I had too many projects to finish and didn’t want to rush through these places – you know I like to take my time in each place.
And in hindsight, staying in Mexico City was the best thing that could’ve happened to me. Even though I spent weeks here, I only ever felt like I scratched the surface instead of getting a real feel of life in Mexico’s giant capital.
On this past visit, I finally got to know the city like a local, stayed with friends, discovered off-the-beaten-path places, found a local coffee shop for me to work in every day, visited my favorite bakery several times, found a local market I went to for tapas, fresh fruit and vegetables, explored neighborhoods that I didn’t know well before, like Doctores, Roma and La Condesa, let my friends take me to their favorite Cuban bar (the live music was amazing) and checked out a pulqueria popular with Mexicans in their mid-20s that was recommended to us on a night of bar hopping. We also wandered through a couple of flea markets, went to an indoor climbing hall and I continued my quest to try all of Mexico’s craft beers (impossible to try them all, I think – there are so many now!).
Of course I did a little bit of touristing as well: I showed my friend the remarkable murals in the Palacio De Bellas Artes, we listened to the Mariachi bands in Plaza Garibaldi, had coffee and cake with a view on the balcony of the Cafe De La Gran Ciudad, did some museum hopping – I’ve already mentioned that I got a lot of culture in last month and I loved it. And last but not least, we went to Coyoacan, a neighborhood in the south of the city where I visited Frida Kahlo’s house, the Casa Azul, for the second time. I am a huge fan of her art and love everything about her, so I was ecstatic to be able to visit her house for a second time, marvel at her beautiful kitchen, dresses, paintings and her studio.
We also took our time exploring more of Coyoacan, which is one of my favorite neighborhoods in the city, with cobble-stoned tree-lined streets, lovely plazas and parks, a beautiful market and loads of restaurants and bars. After discovering several hipster bars, a great cinema that shows interesting documentaries (and has an outdoor cinema), tasty vegetarian food and beautiful streets with brightly colored houses, I fell in love even more with this neighborhood and entertained the thought of moving here for a longer period.
While I am not sure what the future holds and if I’ll return to Mexico for a few months, there’s no question that I’ll be returning to Mexico D.F. – there is so much more for me to discover in this city that is so vibrant and full of life.
Hasta pronto, Mexico City!
Also check out: 33 Things I Love About Mexico
Pauline
Tuesday 5th of April 2016
This makes me want to return to Mexico City and explore all the neighborhoods!! I had NO IDEA there are so many things to see!
Dani
Saturday 9th of April 2016
I am thinking of moving there for a while next winter - if so, you have to come visit me there, Pauline (but first in NYC, hehe)! I did most of the 'touristy' things during my first two longer visits to Mexico City (the third one was just a long layover and we pretty much only went there to eat at our favorite taco places!) and I still have a ton of stuff on my Mexico City to do list - there's so much more for me to do! Love that city :)