Dear Soul,
“Prioritize YOURSELF, Because YOU Matter – So fill your Cup each day with Morning Meditation.” - Happy World Meditation Day! (Dec 21)
Pro
Travel tips:
- In addition to researching places, have AI (like
Gemini), Translate, Uber, ADO (Bus operator to/from Cancun) Apps available on
the phone
- Pack light: we took 2 carry-ons and skipped our
one check-in policy (including our medical kit, toiletry kit, snorkeling and
swim stuff and towels), hence avoided the hassle of checking in and waiting to get
bags!
Monday, December 22: Off to CDMX
We took an early flight to Mexico City, which felt really
long despite all the food and entertainment we carried. On descent, I excitedly
started taking video of the red-roofed closely situated buildings along with
the lady at the window seat who told me in Spanish that it’s her first time on
a flight. When we finally landed at MEX airport which was all decorated for
Christmas, we took pesos at an ATM and airport taxi to our hotel: Hilton
Mexico City Reforma. We picked the hotel as it is right at the heart of the
historic center of Mexico City (Centro) and walkable to Zocalo (main plaza). My
DH was excited to be back in Mexico City after more than a decade and he
started conversation with the taxi driver right away in his broken Spanish
using Translate app. It was a lot of traffic (reminded us of India) and took
1.5hr to get to the hotel. The hotel was super nice with amazing views of
Centro from the room. But we were so famished along with headache (common for
the next three nights with the high altitude) that we ate the dinner I packed
from home, took hot shower and went to bed early.
Tuesday, December 23: Centro and
Chapultepec
The morning breakfast at Hilton
was THE BEST breakfast I ever had and not to be missed. Just across the street
is the Alameda central, city’s oldest park with Benito
Juárez Hemicycle monument, tons of vendors and a
metro station. We walked in the park and visited the adjacent Palacio de
Bellas Artes (Palace of Fine Arts).
We then took uber to Bosque de
Chapultepec (Chapultepec Forest), which houses a lot of attractions:
Chapultepec Zoo, The museum of Anthropology, Chapultepec Castle, Rufino Tamayo
museum and many more. First stop - Chapultepec Zoo, we saw the famous Axolotl
and Giant Panda. We had lunch at the outdoor food court (one of the best we
have seen), and used the Banos (restroom) for MX$6 each. (Interesting, got to
know that the toilets can be missing the seat covers and toilet paper.)
We walked in the park through
alleys of vendors,
CDMX letters to the famous
Chapultepec Castle.
It has MX$100 /person ticket unlike Zoo, but definitely wo
rth it. After a short uphill walk, we get to the castle where each magnificent room
overlooks the fantastic city views. 
We took Uber back to hotel and went to the pool directly to relax. Saving the best for the night, we had
dinner at nearby Toks (Mexican fast casual restaurant chain) and walked
to Zocalo.
Zocalo, or Plaza de la Constitucion, is one of the most
popular spots in Centro that dates back to the Aztec era. It's a large and historic
public plaza that never sleeps and surrounded by beautiful architecture and
landmarks, such as
Templo Mayor. Considering it’s the Christmas Season,
it was fully lit up and decorated and super packed for a concert. After a long wait in line, we had the
freshly made, popular churros from
Churrería El Moro,
a must try!
Wednesday, December 24: Revisiting Chapultepec
and Zocalo
We started the day with yet
another extravagant breakfast at Hilton and took uber back to Chapultepec for
the National museum of Anthropology. The entrance opened to a large
courtyard with "El Paraguas" (The Umbrella), an iconic, massive
inverted fountain and a koi fish pond behind it, with museum halls all around,
very convenient and easy to navigate. We visited the Mexica (Aztec), Mayan (with replica of a famous royal tomb) and Teotihuacan
halls and were thoroughly impressed.
We had lunch at the onsite
restaurant - Sala Gastronomica, got souvenirs and drove to hotel via The
Angel of Independence statue at the beginning of the Paseo de la
Reforma.
Walked to the museum of popular
art next door but it was closed for Christmas Eve. Kids were feeling under the
weather, so we stayed in the hotel taking turns going out for food and fun. We revisited
Zócalo, which was not as packed as last night with stores and many street
vendors closed for the night. Restaurants were closed including the very
popular El Cardenal downstairs, so got some fruits from across the street and
Chinese food from Barrio China (China town) for a quiet night in the hotel
room.
This two-day trip was just enough
to get a taste of Mexico City from Cultural and Historic perspective, and we
plan to return this year to explore the Art side of it including our kids’ favorite
Frida Kahlo! (of course, staying at
Hilton again) Merry Christmas and now off to the Caribbean!!!
