Today was our last full day in Mexico City. We’ve barely scratched the surface and are plotting a return trip already 🙂
On our way to the Templo Mayor, we stopped at Pasteleria Ideal, a Mexico City institution, for breakfast. The bakery’s vast and filled with baked good as far as your eyes can see. So much choice! I found it hard not to get carried away. Most people there were pilling their trays high.
All museums and sights are free for Mexicans on Sunday, which is a great but it does mean places get busy. We got to Templo Mayor by 8:45am, and we had the sight more or less to ourselves for a little while. It was one of the main temples of the Aztecs in their capital city of Tenochtitlan. We were underwhelmed and found it hard to visualise its grandeur as the cathedral dwarfs it. A lift in the Porrua Bookshop nearby took us to a roof terrace café where we drank a cooling freshly squeezed orange juice whilst taking in the view of the archaeological site.
The site is just north of the Zócalo, one of the biggest public squares in the world. This is the heart of Mexico City and by then, it was heaving with people. We made our way to a metro station nearby. We’ve used the metro a fair bit over the last few days. At five pesos a journey (£0.19), we’d be mad not to. The metro is clean, runs a frequent service and has a separate section for women and children. It carries over five million people a day… If you think your commute is bad, try this one! On our first journey on Friday morning, we caught the end of the rush hour, and I was literally pushed out of the carriage by an old lady!
Our next stop was the Museum of Objects – a celebration of all things food related. Vintage toasters, tortilla makers and baking moulds (a whole wall of them). Quirky.
Quick coffee stop at Café la Habana, where Fidel and Che are said to have plotted the Cuban revolution. The café itself wouldn’t be out of place in Cuba.
Our last stop of the day was the Museo de Arte Popular. We got in for free. “But are you sure? We’re not Mexicans”, said Andy. It was a bonus but we would happily have paid. All museums should be like this. We spent close to two hours there, and it was just pure fun. “Come and see this”. From one gallery to the next, we kept coming across gems. Colourful and vibrant. Just like Mexico City.