I was trying to wait to post again until I found out more about my CSC assignment. It’s difficult to tell people that I will be working in China for a month without being able to say what that work will be, and I know my team members are just as anxious as I am! In the meantime, I’m continuing my pre-work and getting to know my team, as well as researching some must-do attractions in Chengdu. Hopefully in my next post I will be able to talk about my actual project, but until then, let’s talk about Mexico!

Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral

Andrew and I came across some cheap flights to Mexico City last year. We were offered a free place to stay by a gracious family member, and we couldn’t say no! Due to a limited number of vacation days this year, we opted for a long weekend. I could have explored Mexico City for many more days, but here are some must-sees and tips if you decide to head to Mexico City (which you totally should).

1. Food Tour – One of the best things about traveling to Mexico City (and anywhere, really) is being able to try new food! This was my first time doing an ‘official’ food tour on a vacation, and I was not disappointed. We did the street food tour through Eat Mexico. It was perfect since our guide took us around to vendors I would have been too nervous to try on my own.

The sweetest burrito chef making one of my favorite meals on the tour – a burrito stuffed with beef, garlic, and cilantro. Burritos actually are not very common to Mexico City, they are found more in the North, but there are a few burrerias in the city. This guy has been cooking burritos in the city for over 30 years!

In Mexico, they like everything spicy – even the fruit! We ate mango covered with lime juice, salt, and chili powder.

My tip: Do the food tour early in the trip so you can go back to the places you loved! We unfortunately did the tour right before we had to fly home.

2. Teotihuacan – About an hour outside of downtown is an ancient city called Teotihuacan. It’s an amazing experience to be able to climb on the pyramids while learning about Mexico’s history.

The Pyramid of the Sun – I suggest doing some practice runs on the Stairmaster at the gym to prepare for the hike to the top

View from the top

My tip: Splurge on a private guide, especially if you have a limited amount of time in Mexico. I rarely ever buy tours on Viator (I prefer to research the local companies myself and choose one instead of relying on whoever Viator chooses), but I did for this one. I booked the early morning tour to get to the pyramids before the crowds. Our guide was wonderful and super knowledgeable at the pyramids, but afterwards we got stuck going to a buffet lunch and listening to a sales pitch about obsidian when I would have preferred to head back downtown.

3. Churros – After our pyramid tour, Andrew was desperate for some coffee. On a random scan of Trip Advisor, we found a café called El Moro that was supposed to also have great churros. We made our way there and discovered a line to get in, which we hoped meant we had made a good choice. And what a good choice it was.

Life-changing churros. I honestly feel like every other churro I’ve ever had was lying to me about being a churro.

My tip: Get a Mexican hot chocolate to go with your churros and go every. single. day.

4. Puebla – Puebla is a smaller city about 2 hours outside of Mexico City. Mexico City can get very busy on the weekends, so it was nice to experience something a little different and less crowded. We booked a private tour through Insolitours, which I highly recommend. The highlights of this day trip included multiple churches with stunning architecture and design.

A beautiful church on top of a pyramid in Cholula

The city of Puebla is filled with lots of art and colors

My tip: Plan to spend some time in the large markets in Puebla. The area is known for its Talavera pottery, so bring your cash!

Pottery Barn even has Puebla dishes, so you know they must be good.

A couple more random tips:

• Traffic in Mexico City is terrible, so factor that into all of your plans. We unfortunately missed our walking tour the first day because traffic was way worse than we planned for.
• Unless you want to stand out even more than you probably already do as a tourist, don’t wear shorts. Mexicans reserve shorts and flip flops for the beach.

I hope I’ve inspired you to consider Mexico City as a future vacation spot. Adios!