Mexico City

I have this recurring idea - a dream, perhaps - that I can go to a place for a few days, snap a couple of photos, and come back and dig out a compelling narrative for what was essentially a vacation.

It never works that way. Nobody cares about your vacation. But here I am, trying it anyway. With more pictures than usual.

A few weeks ago I was able to spend four full days in central Mexico City. It was my first time traveling solo to a place that mostly doesn’t speak English; additionally, it’s a place where I stand out in every single crowd. I was mildly uncomfortable a lot and had a great time.

It’s difficult to convey just how large the city is. I don’t think it’s significantly larger than, say, the DFW metro. But it feels much larger, and it’s a single city. I flew in on a Tuesday evening, head first into the chaos.

I realized later, looking at these above two photos, that there’s nothing inherently different about Mexico City as a large city. Other than some words in Spanish these could be taken in any large city. I tried pretty hard in the subsequent days to snap photos of stuff that makes it different.

It turned out not to be super hard: Mexico City is very green for an urban center. That, to me, was its defining feature.

The first day is usually the hardest so I decided to do a guided food tour to get my bearings. I’ve never done a guided tour of any kind! It ended up being just me and the guide - private tour! - walking, chatting, and eating our way around El Centro. All of the stops were amazing but of particular note was Los Provolones, a street taco stand that starts all of their tacos with a half inch slice of smoked provolone. It was, by a mile, the best taco I’ve ever had.

Naturally, I didn’t get a photo. I was too busy getting my mind blown open by provolone and beef stacked on a corn tortilla. But I did get some others while we were walking around.

My guide on the food tour and I bonded over our love of good coffee - he used to own a shop - and he told me to check out totte para todos for an excellent pour over. I ended up going there for coffee every morning! A fantastic cup and a lovely owner (Kento) who was super kind and patient with my terrible Spanish.

I spent the rest of day two walking around, seeing museums, and enjoying the weather. On this trip I only brought the Ricohs GR - both the III and IIIx - which was a totally clutch move that I will be using again in the future. I’ve said it before - the GR hits way above its weight and fits easily into my jeans pocket. Perfect travel camera? Maybe.

A highlight was Museo Soumaya, which has a giant Rodin collection including The Gates of Hell. Additionally, the museum is housed in a building that is itself is a peice of art. It was just fun to take pictures of.

I spent the final two days - after two or three cups at totte each morning - walking around La Condesa. Wide, leafy green avenues with colorful houses and lots of sunshine. A perfect mix of literal and figurative organic growth. It’s an easy place to find photos; almost every intersection had nice color or composition.

Mexico City is a lovely place! Every single person I talked to was open and kind, the food was fantastic, and it’s extremely walkable. But if I’m honest…I’m not sure I’d go back as a solo traveler? I had quite a bit of anxiety around the language barrier and, more probably, standing out in a crowd. It was literally never once an issue - maybe going back a second time would be less stressful - but it did cloud the experience slightly.

All part of the process, I think. On to the next one!