Mexico City

Hello Mexico City!!!  We touched down into Mexico City after one of the best flights ever!  We flew for 3hrs on Interjet from San Jose, Costa Rica in comfort and with full bellies.  The plane wasn't too full so we had the choice of seats, brand new leather seats I might add, and there was tons of leg room between each row. TVs dropped down to play us a movie, in Spanish, but it was still great to watch.  When it was refreshment time the cart came and they handed out bags of chips and whatever drinks you wanted, for free.  Cans of beer, bottles of wine, juice or pop were available, seemed crazy to us because usually you only get a small glass of water, pop or juice to drink and then a small bag of pretzels or cookie!  Service was great and who doesn't love free stuff!! Haha

We were so excited to get to Mexico City and to explore the big city.  The city is the fifth largest in the world and has a population of over 21.2 million people and is one of the most important financial centers in the world.  To be honest, we were very nervous to be in a city of that size and we weren't sure we made the right choice to stay a few days before heading to Huatulco.  Now that we have been there and have left we are SO thankful we went and spent time there.  Only regret is that we didn't have more time!  We may stay again on out way out of Mexico seeing most flights are directed there anyway.  What a city, we absolutely loved it!!  The hustle and bustle of the city can be seen and felt everywhere but it wasn't overwhelming to us at all.  The layout of the city is designed so well that it is quite easy to get around, you just need time with a city that size.  We booked a hotel close to the airport and one with a free shuttle to and from the airport.  We maneuvered our way to the gate where we were to be picked up after spending over an hour in the Immigration line up.  We held our breath as we went through seeing we had no flight booked out of Mexico and we were not sure if they would allow us in our not.  We didn't want to be planning our lives around a flight when we were unsure of our plans, we still have no house booked for after January 10th.  They let us through and stamped us for 180 days in Mexico but this picture below almost got us kicked out.  Apparently you can't take pictures in the Immigration area, I took it and I had about 4 security guards on me in seconds!  EEEE little scary and terrible timing when we were trying to get in with no problems!!

Woke up Friday morning ready to hit the city and take in the Museo Nacional De Antropologia, we had heard it was an incredible place and it was rated the #1 thing to do in Mexico City. We decided to take the subway system there, we had received a map from the hotel staff and it seemed easy enough. The cost was .33 cents per person to ride and it would take it us really close to the museum, only about a 2 block walk once we got off.  As we rode the subway around the half way mark Rhett started to turn white, get dizzy and feel like he was going to throw up.  We got off as soon as we could, we had no idea where we were but we knew we couldn't continue on the subway.  We walked up to street level and flagged a taxi down, we made it to the museum from there in about 10 min. 

The following 5 hours of our lives were spent exploring the absolutely incredible and beautiful Museum of Anthropology. The kids were free and Doug and I were $4 to tour through, such a great price! There are 22 halls/rooms, gymnasium size rooms, dedicated to different cultures that lived in ancient Mexico. A lot of the information is in Spanish but there is enough written in English that you can figure out what is trying to be said. The objects also speak for themselves. The halls are filled with art, clothing, artifacts and statues all from years ago and the collections from each cultures is so impressive. Each hall on the lower level also has an outdoor court yard attached to the displays full of massive statues, reconstructed houses or ruins.   It is a place that you need to spend some time at, so much to see!!!  One of the most incredible places I have ever been to, a must see place in my books!!

After the museum we wondered around the park outside for a bit checking out the street vendors and the watched the High Flyers performance.  Seeing Rhett didn't do so well on the subway we decided to taxi it home, over an hour later and paying $15 we arrived back at our hotel. We had a wonderful first day in Mexico City and we loved every minute of it!  Such a drastic difference to our normal life but the kids all embraced it all and went with the flow of it all.

Saturday morning our plan was to head to a place called Chapultepec Park, also known as Bosque de Chapultepec.  It is one of the largest city parks in the Western Hemisphere, just over 1,695 acres, it is known as the "lungs" of the city with all of the trees that replenish the oxygen to the city.  We were actually in one of the sections the day before when we went to the Anthropology museum but didn't realize it.  We decided to try the subway again, I'm not sure if Rhett actually got motion sickness the day before or if it was a combinations of a few things against him.  He had burnt his hand pretty bad on a waffle maker during breakfast the morning before and he was shaken up from that. I think that may have been part of him feeling rough on the subway. We also made sure he was hydrated, had some gum and was able to sit down.  He made it to the park no problem that morning so we were happy about that, we saved a lot of time and money by taking the subway. Our goal for the day was to see the National Museum of Art and the Chapultepec Castle.  The park was free to enter and we were able to walk our way around with no problems.  We put on a lot of miles that day, the park was HUGE!!

The Museo De Arte Moderno was our first stop and we walked around for about an hour looking at the different paintings, sculptures and wood carvings by various artists. The museum is part of the Intituto Nacional de Baellas Artes and prepares exhibits for national and international contemporary artists.  The kids were free to get in and Doug and I paid about $4 to get in, so affordable!  The building itself was quite the piece of art and I loved looking through it. Can't say all the kids enjoyed it but I think the arts are important and they need to be exposed to many different things in life.  Looking at someone else's creations can sometimes spark an interest or awaken your own creativity.  "It won't hurt you," pretty sure I said that a few times that day(lol), and it is good for you to see the hard work of others!  Some of the pieces of artwork were so incredible and so unique.  There were actually a lot of pieces outside as well, neat to walk outside to look around.

 I was very happy we were able to go. LOVED IT!!

Next destination was the Chapultepec Castle which is on top of the hill that is located in the middle of the Chapultepec Park and it is 7,628ft above sea level.  The site of the hill was a sacred place for the Aztecs and the castle that sits atop has served as the Military Academy, Imperial residence, Presidential home, observatory and is presently the National Museum of History. To get to the castle we had to hike up the hill on a paved path winding around the beautiful castle, was a couple of km up.  To see such a place in person was something else, Doug and I both felt overwhelmed.  It was just so incredible!! So much history and so much to learn in one place.  The castle was so beautiful and the details in all the rooms were unbelievable. The view of the city is also pretty incredible from up there!! I keep saying it was beautiful, incredible or amazing but I really don't know how else to describe it to someone! Sorry, can you tell we loved it? What a place!!

The kids soaked up the Social Studies lesson for the day and we were done with museums for awhile.  From there we decided to surprise them with a trip to the Zoo, another section in this huge park.  To get there we had to make our way through Vendor Lane, WOW!!  The vendors were lined up for blocks and they yell constantly.  They are not yelling at you but just yelling!! We could hear them up the hill when we were at the castle! Lol   Shouting out what they are selling basically and trying to out do their neighbour who is selling the same thing.  Not much variety in what they were selling but the prices were crazy cheap!!  We were probably the only Caucasians in the park but it didn't matter, we were not targeted for sales nor did we feel like people really cared we were there. We were surrounded by beautiful people, amazing food and drink and Spanish music could be heard in between the Spanish yelling! Haha We loved it!!

After our fill from the vendor shopping and we had some lunch in their kinda outdoor food court we made our way to the zoo.  The free zoo!!  Where do you ever find a free zoo??  Mexico City that's where!! Crazy that it was free!!  We only saw one area where of the zoo because it was getting late and we didn't want to ride the subway back in the dark.  We really only travel around during day light, safer and easier that way. Kids enjoyed the zoo, what we saw anyway, just your typical zoo, nothing too outrageous.  The food court in the zoo was spectacular though, never seen so many choices!!

Our day in Chapultepec Park was amazing, we saw so much and loved it all!!  We ended our day there with a stop at the cotton candy stand which the kids had been eying up.  For $2 we purchased the biggest bag possible to share amongst us all and even then that was too much.  We ended up giving a big chunk of it away to some local kids to share. 

We made our way home on the subway that day, we squeezed our way on and we almost had to get off for me this time.  Didn't realized I was so claustrophobic!! It was so packed on the subway that day we couldn't move or sit down for almost 30 min and it was really hot, it was a bit much! Felt good to step off and catch my breath. I think it was a bad time of day to be travelling, rush hour had started and we stepped into a mob of people on the move.  Riding the subway in Mexico City is something we didn't think we would be doing on this trip but now that we have done it I think we could do anything!!

Sunday was the day we were on the move again, this time to Huatulco, Mexico. Flight time was 11:20 so we were up early and off to the airport.  We needed to make sure we had enough time to work our way through the enormous airport, it turned out to be very easy!! There are so many wonderful people in this world, they so willing to help and we are so grateful for them!! We were very nervous about our time here in Mexico City but as we left that day our hearts had been changed forever! We can't wait to return!! The city has so much to offer through their culture and through the history within.  Doug was over the moon with the prices of everything and it felt good to be honest to be in a cooler climate. I actually wore capri leggings and straightened my hair for two days!! Haha
We truly enjoyed our time here walking around and taking it all in, Mexico City is one of my new favorite places!!
Farwell Mexico City!!  We are all safe, happy and our hearts are full!!

XXXXX from the Steel family