We have settled into a comfortable CDMX apartment for at least four weeks for the third time (second time this leg, fourth trip total to CDMX). We’ve actually already been here for two and a half weeks and have less than two weeks to go on our time here. Almost immediately after arriving we left the city on an overnight trip to Taxco de Alarcon to see their Semana Santa festivities. I’ll write about that in my next post. Since then we’ve been quite busy with work, but we’re still finding plenty to enjoy about one of our favorite cities in the world.

Our Neighborhood (and Food)

For this stay, we chose the neighborhood of Juarez, which is just north of Roma Norte and Condesa. Here’s the Google description of the neighborhood, which you can see is right up our alley: “Built as an aristocratic enclave of 19th-century mansions, Juárez today is a dynamic area that draws both punks and young professionals. The area is home to the Zona Rosa, a gay-friendly district of busy streets, sidewalk bars and lively nightclubs, as well as a thriving Korean immigrant community. Dining options include international fast food and trendy eclectic restaurants, as well as low-key Korean eateries.”

Early in our stay we ate at one of the awesome “low-key” Korean restaurants, trying the most authentic (and delicious) Korean food we’ve ever encountered. We plan to enjoy at least one more before we leave, but there are so many great food options in this city. We’ve tried some new Mexican foods too such as huarache, alambre, and new-to-us tacos: jamaica and suadero. And of course, we’re enjoying some old favorites like tacos al pastor. 

This is a much more central location than any of our prior stays, which were in Polanco in the north and Xoco (by Coyoacan) in the south. And conveniently, our apartment is right in front of an entrance to the Metro at Sevilla station on Linea 1. The apartment itself is not quite as nice as our prior long stays, but it is clean, spacious, and generally comfortable, and the wifi has been good.

Parque Chapultepec

One of the best things about this area is that we’re just two metro stops away from Parque Chapultepec, CDMX’s huge wonderful park. We’ve made several trips there already for walks and picnics, with more to come. Honestly, access to the park was one of the reasons we chose this apartment (in addition to price). It is one of our favorite places in CDMX.

A Day Off to Explore Templo Mayor

This week we had time to do some touristy activities and decided our top priority was to visit the Templo Mayor ruins and museum in the Zocalo. We arrived fairly early (9:30), which was good because the sun is unrelenting in this part of the city. Walking through the ruins was even more impressive than we expected after many times of viewing them from the outside (they’re visible from a platform in the centro for free). The museum was excellent and we learned a lot about the culture and cosmology of the Mexica (the people we called Aztecs when I was in school). 

After the ruins and museum, we went to brunch at a terrace restaurant overlooking the ruins called El Mayor. The food (salmon sandwich, mushroom and goat cheese omelet, and sliced fruit with granola) was great and it was nice to get a bird’s-eye view of the ruins after walking through them. 

Cultural Experiences

Last night we visited Foro Valparaiso, a free art museum owned/run by a national bank (Banamex) and went to a classical music concert at the Palacio Bellas Artes. The concert tickets (which we bought when we were downtown for the Templo Mayor earlier in the week) were only 60 pesos (around $3) each. Free and cheap cultural activities are one of our favorite things about Mexico City.

The art museum was in a cool historic building and was quite good. It included some of the bank’s history too (and also some bank propaganda, but I guess that’s their prerogative if they choose to share their art collection in this way). And the concert was great. They played two Vivaldi pieces with a Bach piece in between and then closed with a piece by a composer I’d never heard of. The Vivaldi parts were our favorite but it was all great. Between the museum and the concert we also got drinks and dinner, so it was a pretty perfect date night. 

Summary

Work is easing off so we should be able to do more fun things in CDMX during our final week and a half here. We love spending time in this city.