W Is For Will

“In Mexico City, I lived the efforts of the Mexican capital and I was happy.”
– Raul Jimenez

It has been a few weeks since I have had time to sit down with the pen and, well, type out some thoughts. I’ve got plenty of stuff in the pipeline, but nothing has materialized yet. Mostly because I was preparing for a trip out of the country. My close Dallasites have a mission to become world travelers, so a few months back, we planned a trip to Mexico City and Oaxaca City.

Uh, but William, dontcha know, like, the pandemic wandering around throwing wrenches in everyone’s travel plans?

Yes, I do know that we all understood that, and we decided to go anyway. We took proper precautions beforehand and planned for it. And let me tell you, it all worked out perfectly. This post will be split between my time in Mexico City, and Oaxaca so expect a part two next week!

I am usually a nervous nelly when it comes to traveling abroad. I read the travel warnings, dress down, and keep an eye out for situations to avoid, et al. This can lead to not enjoying trips properly. When my buddies and I took a trip to Colombia back in 2019, I was super nervous, and I think it tarnished my time there a little bit. Well, 2 years later, a little wiser, and a daily CBD capsule later, my anxiety is definitely reduced. I didn’t dress down as much. I was able to have more sensible choices regarding situations that we got into.

Ugh, William, just tell us about it already. These tangents about your internal development aren’t in picture form!

Condesa/Roma Norte/Polanco – Okay! Okay! While we were in Mexico City, we stayed in a single Airbnb in a perfect location in the neighborhood of Condesa. It was a super walkable neighborhood with restaurants and shops in specific areas. Still, for the most part, it was a quaint city neighborhood.

From Condesa, we spent time in Roma Norte as well. A little bit more polished, more shops and restaurants of different varieties. This area was walkable, super clean, and had easy access to the main street leading to and from the city’s gorgeous park.

You must also visit the city’s Center and see the Plaza and the neighboring ancient ruins and cathedral. This area was slammed with shops on every street, and plenty of restaurant options were open and available. We were able to wander throughout the gorgeous cathedral and admire the 100ft ceilings or however tall they were.

The final space we spent time in was in Polanco. We basically thought of this as the Highland Park of Mexico City. Super swanky, clean, very professionalized with their bank towers, museums, open-air spin classes.

Teotihuacan deserves mention here because you have to visit the area. The ancient city and the pyramids themselves are magical and a little haunting for me. I always get a little spooked out when I think that other pre-civilized humans were walking around the same areas as me. We traversed the gorgeous Federal Park for several hours. Our driver convinced us to meet up with his friends, who would give us a separate tour of some Teotihuacan cave systems in the area. While we waited for these guides to show up, we spent some time learning about the different materials the ancient peoples used regularly. The agave plant, obsidian, silver, and other materials.

OMG, did you like, not eat at all?? I don’t care about thoughts and places I wanna see food!

Alright, jeez, you bet-cher-ass we ate plenty and well. Here’s a list of places we hit up with our time here.

Patagonia – Our dinner the first night in the southern area of Condesa. We had empanadas, split a bottle of wine, and honed our Spanish-speaking abilities down when ordering. Excellent atmosphere and vibe; it was a perfect first stop to feast.

Lardo – Now, this place was a staple during our time here. Expect a slight wait time for a table during Saturday morning brunch, but it is well worth it. There was a lemon creme-filled donut that stole our hearts away. Light, fluffy, creamed up. Delish.

Mercado Roma – This needs to become a thing in America desperately. Super cool open space crammed to the gills with different food vendors and bars. All pushing menus and showcasing tastings to earn your business. I sampled some pastor meat before sitting at the tiny stool and ordering some tacos. After eating, I wandered over to a small cocktail bar where I did not even know what I had ordered. I had a sample offered by the bartender and didn’t look back. Each space was decorated individually, and each area was unique.

Temporal – Another excellent restaurant located in the Condensate neighborhood. Our travel buddy took the time to make a reservation which was a good call since the rain we got hit with delayed our arrival. However, his anxiety soon hit the fan because there wasn’t a soul in the restaurant except us! Confusion was set aside as soon as our appetizers/cocktails came out. More folks showed up at the restaurant. Get the short rib. I ate it down to the bone and always save room, or make it, for postre.

Taqueria Las Rejas – It’s not going to show up on Mexico City’s top 100 taquerias, but it was less than 50 feet from the entrance to our Airbnb. We needed food quickly before the Uber showed up to take us to our Lucha Libre match. Delicious, quick, and dirty. You can’t go wrong when you’re eating a taco in the street.

Taqueria Los Cocuyos – However, there are some taquerias worth traversing city blocks for and Los Cocuyos was worth it. There was a simple hole in the wall, a single counter, and a thousand-year-old man chopping cilantro bushels in the street. It was magic. Music was playing all over this avenue, mainly because this place is nestled amidst numerous music and stereo stores. These were fantastic tacos. Toss in a Mexican Coke with your two Lengua tacos, and you are in for a treat.

Pasillo de Humo – Our last night in Mexico City. We enjoyed the rolling mezcal tasting wagon that was rolled up promptly to our table as we sat down. We loved watching the chefs handle the grills in the open dining room kitchen. It was a delightful experience and one worth recommending to y’all. Check out my Mezcal reviews to learn about my favorite liquor.

That is basically everything that we were able to capture in a handful of days within Mexico City. However, the adventure is only halfway over. Another debrief regarding the second half of our trip within Oaxaca will hit next week.

Cheers
William