Mexico City - Querida y Hermosa Patria
6 days before the Easter of 2016 I made a conscious decision of not spending that year's Easter on my living room couch. Coincidentally, 6 days before the Easter of 2016 is when I realized that weekend is a long one.
Once an idea for a travel is planted in the head, most people start planning their itinerary - where to stay, what to eat, where to explore, whom to contact etc etc. Well, I am not most people, for I proudly hold an almost brand new passport of Republic of India. First thought I get is "do I need a visa to wherever the f*** I am going?" With very few exceptions, the answer to that question is almost always "Yep!". Now that I have 3 days to travel, getting a visa is impossible. So, next question "where can I travel without a visa?".. Mexico, you're up! (just to be clear, I have a valid B1/B2 visa from US with which I could travel to Mexico)
15 minutes of shopping, flight is booked. I am leaving to Mexico in 48 hours. Yay! Oh wait.. Mexico is hardcore religious and it cannot get more religious than Easter (and good Friday).. Fudge.. I will be standing outside closed shops and dreaming of tacos and micheladas.. Whatever.. Whatever the f*** ever.. I am going! You see, booking flights can have that effect on people. Once the flights are booked, you're committed. Once you're committed, you will start being adventurous.
Moral of the story: Book . the . damn . flight!
Day 1: Maundy Thursday
Landed late on Wednesday at Mexico City. Took the cab to my AirBnB apartment. Nice couple. They waited for me. I am thankful for that. I have a private room for myself, in a nice neighbourhood, so close to the Ángel de la Independencia or Angel of Independence (below)
After waking up on Thursday, packed a small bag and set off. Short term agenda: Grab breakfast & get a map. Long term agenda: Explore the city & meet up with Elizabeth, an old friend.
Breakfast was not memorable. But finding the map sure was. In the GPS I could locate the 'Tourist Assistance Centre' and got there by foot. After a brief conversation with the receptionist, I realized that it was not the kind of 'assistance' I was looking for and more importantly they have no maps. The place provides assistance to tourists who are exploited, attacked or lost! Disappointed with the failed attempt, I left. BUT.. The receptionist guy found a map somewhere in the office and chased me to give it, free of cost! Aw! Now that I have the map, time to start working on the long term agenda. Elizabeth messaged that she will be able to meet me at 1 pm. So, time to check off some 'stars' in the map.
First stop was the Chapultepec (below) - A gigantic park (or forest) in the middle of one of the most populous cities in the Americas. In fact, it is the largest city parks in the Western Hemisphere. NYC may beat CDMX for the skyscrapers, but Chapultepec leaves Central Park in the dust! There were a million street vendors there but everyone happily co-existed. I ticked off Monument of the Niños Héroes, Anthropology Museum, Palacio de Bellas Artes, Calle Madero and a few other stuff in the first 2 hours.
Rendezvous point agreed with Elizabeth was Auditorio Nacional. This is where big concerts happens in CDMX. (Make note if you are a fan of Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift or anyone else who has a 20 million+ twitter followers). It was not hard to find and I still had some time left. So decided to roam around. There, in Campo Marte, I saw guns were put into the best use; more precisely - 'old guns'. They were reused to make sculpture and are on public display. (below). Cool, no?
Elizabeth was waiting for me at the stairs of Auditorio Nacional. I first met her during my first ever actual trip, 3 years ago, in Granada, Spain. She was a long-term guest of the family who hosted me (AirBnB). Quite a gentle soul.. and she can talk too! :) Every 15th sentence of our conversation was "Oh my English is so bad" and 17th is "I hate you".. Yes. I am naturally charming!
She took me to this cool coffee place called Café de Tacuba (below). Established in 1912, it is one of the oldest coffeeshops in CDMX. Killer sandwiches, tacos, sopas and .. coffee (duh!). Pretty lively vibe too. But the best place she took was later to a tour agency in Zocalo (main square). Personally I am not too ardent about organized tours for stereotypical reasons. Hence was skeptical about this one too. But little did I know then that it was the best decision of the trip. I purchased two trips - one each for the next two days - to see Teotihuacan and Casa Azul.
After sending Elizabeth off to take care of her niece, I decided to walk back to my shelter. While walking I realized that CDMX is more beautiful (and busy) in the night. Have to wake up early tomorrow morning for my trip to Teotihuacan.
Day 2: Good Friday
Food discovery of the trip. In Calle Madero, 3 mins walk from Zocalo, there is a McDonalds. Right next to the McDonalds, you can find street tacos in the morning hours. There is also a fresh juice stand close by. I ate sumptuously for 30 pesos (2 C$)!!
After the breakfast I went to the pick up point for our tour. I did not expect the tour guys to show up on time. Come on, it's Latin America we are talking about. If anyone can give a competition to Indians on tardiness, them it is. There were a bunch of people already waiting there. Time to put my profiling/judgement cap on. I feel so satisfied with the initial results and even more satisfied later to find out that how much I suck at this.
As expected (burn x 2), we had a late start. There were a few folks in the mini van and everyone was in their little cocoon of insecurity. My seat mate (and future buddy) was Dalton from Brazil. We started some random conversation after 20 mins into the trip. Cool lad! We became and stayed as good friends since. The trip went on.
The first stop was The Plaza de las Tres Culturas ("Square of the Three Cultures". This is a monument that reminds everyone of 3 main events from 3 cultures - all bloody!
Culture 1: Pre-Columbian - Aztec temple Culture 2: Spanish Colonial - Catholic church of Santiago de Tlatelolco Culture 3: Independent - Tlatelolco Massacre of 1968
History is bloody! But its escalation is unfortunate.
I remember it was after this pitstop when folks inside the minivan started talking to each other. Everyone introduced themselves and those names were forgotten soon after they were pronounced. But by that evening, we knew others' names, their pet names, and their pet's names. That's what tequila can do. They were Dalton (Brazil), Laura (Costa Rica), Nicolas (Argentina), Marisol and Xico (Mexico), Hanif and Sofia (Canada), Christelle (France)! United Nations among us!
After another short pitstop to see the Obsidian rock art and Mezcal making process, we reached our destination - Teotihuacan (below).
According to Wikitravel, Teotihuacán, is the "the place where men became gods",
According to legend, it was here where the gods gathered to plan the creation of man.
According to me, there were cool and ancient pyramids and two thousand tourists.
We waited in queue for an hour to climb the damn pyramid and it was meh! But we were like school kids on a field trip - joking, passing comments, eating random stuff and enjoying.
On the return to the city, we stopped at Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. There are two Basilicas - old and new. New is all fancy but the interesting one is the old. As much of Mexico City was built on a former lake, the land was unstable and the old basilica was sinking. The slant of the structure is very visible and 'trippy'.
After the trip ended, the gang decided to meet up for a drink. Everyone wanted to quickly freshen up and meet back in a location at 9. What is the location? Here’s comes the quote of the trip: “Zocalo statue at 9”..
Zocalo is the main square and there’s a big statue (of someone). We all decided to meet under the statue at 9 pm. From there we headed to Plaza Garibaldi for a drink. A drink (singular) lead to drinks (plural) and at some point we undid evolution. There’s this cool activity of getting a (tiny) shock from a handheld machine. Basically, you will be holding to a metal pipe attached to a machine that generates tiny bit of electricity as controlled by an operator. It won’t knock you out but it will give a kick in butt to the tequila in your belly. So, we decided to do it - together! Everyone held hands and got 'electrocuted' at the same time - again and again and again. 2000+ years of civilization lead to self-inflicted electric shock under the influence of alcohol. WHAT’S NEXT ??
Here are those great human beings!
Day 3: Holy Saturday
HHHHHangoverrrrrr ..... !!!!!!
The gang was split for today’s trip. Only Dalton was with me. Others had other plans.
Our first stop was Coyoacan (below). It’s a cute little neighbourhood outside Mexico City. The garden in Coyoacan is a serene place. So green, birds chirping, water falling, people reading - it’s mesmerizing. Bordered by many cafes, it’s a cool hangout place to relax and read a book.
Frida Kahlo’s Casa Azul (Blue House) was just around the corner. Frida (below) is considered as one of the icons of modern feminism. She was an exceptional artist, famous for her self-portraits. Her marriage with renowned painter Diego Rivera was controversial and later contentious due to the extra-marital affairs of both. Their life had all the elements of a potential Bollywood blockbuster. But she also overcame many hurdles - first in the form of polio, then as a life threatening bus accident and later in the form of a volatile relationship. She was amazing .. and beautiful too!
Next stop - Xochimilco! I could already hear the party bells ringing. Mexico City was built on water. But this is the closest you can get to a water body in Mexico City today. Xochimilco is famous for its canal backwaters that are filled with hundreds of colorfully decorated trajineras (boats). We rode one, hand lunch and drinks on it.. Oh and also, introducing Maiza, catch of the day. She was part of our group and from Brazil. Here’s Maiza, Dalton and I, chilling on a trajinera.
Once we got back to the city, Whatsapp started chiming and the gang wants to hangout again tonight. Fried grasshopper and mezcal were up for grabs. We convinced Maiza to join us and another night of shenanigans ensued. But there was a noticeable mellowness - it could be tiredness or the light sadness that this is our last night together. Regardless, we continued till early morning and said goodbye for good.
Day 4: Easter
Relaxing day. Woke up a little late. My dear friends Cristhian, Mireille and their little daughter Frida (Remember Frida?) were happened to be in Mexico City at the same time. We planned to meet up for lunch. They took me to Coyoacan again (she knows me well) and had brain empenadas for lunch. Following the sumptuous meal, we walked around the town, did a little souvenir shopping and had a churros con chocolate & a coffee. Fulfilment!
Had to catch a late flight back to Montreal. So we part our ways early afternoon. Thus ended an amazing getaway that was planned merely 72 hours before.
Travel is a gift that keeps on giving, in the form of wisdom, experience, memories, stories and most importantly friendships - both old and new. It was no different this time. Elizabeth, Cristhian, Mireille, Dalton (the one without Facebook), Laura (the alcoholic), Nicolás (the guide), Marisol (the accountant), Xico (the cool-as-a-cucumber one), Hanif (the wise ass), Sofi (the deep one), Christelle (the French girl), Maiza (the Brazilian girl) - You all made my travel complete. Cheers, for one last time!
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