A brief (and food centric) trip from Mex City.

Landed at about 8pm on a BA flight from London - queues for immigration were about 20mins due to what I assume was a glut of flights  landing at a similar time... No worse if not better than arrivals at LHR!  No questions about onward tickets etc (we don't have them) and got 180 day visa without questions. 

Luggage was waiting on the belt when we got there. Queue for the Aduana was quite long though - every piece was being  scanned by 2 machines and there were what I guess were a few hundred people queuing for it. Waited about 15min to get through. 

We had booked a couple of nights at Condesa Haus B&B (USD 110) and they sent someone to collect us. It was $350 (way too much in hindsight) but we didn't want the hassle of sorting it ourselves.

Condesa Haus put on a good welcome - the room was clean and quiet with a great bathroom (original from the 1930s) . the breakfasts were good; continental + a daily Mexican 'special' - tamales, huevos Mexicanos ... Good! 

On day one (sunday) we walked from Condesa to Zocalo via Paseo de la Reforma which was closed to traffic. Great atmosphere with families on bikes, people on skates...aerobics classes in the street. It was good fun - a nice intro to Mexico City.

After strolling around the Centro Historico for a while  we stopped for lunch at Cafe El Popular - good tacos dorado and a chorizo dish. Busy little place with a nice atmosphere. Palacio Nacional and Centro Cultural de Espana both worth a visit (we are not museum buffs at all)  Took the metro back to Patriotimso which was easy enough and not as crowded as I had imagined it would be. 

In the evening we had good Tostadas and a beer at Cafe Vincent in Condesa (on Tamulipas I think)

On day two we had to leave Condesa Haus because it was just a bit beyond our budget for more than a couple of days. They didn't have cheaper rooms to offer us but they have a sister B&B on Cholua ('Distrito Condesa') which has rooms (some with shared bath) for  USD 50-60 inc the same good breakfast... We moved there for 4 nights - they moved our bags for us and were really helpful. Again, great place.. 

The same day (still whacked out with jetlag) we hopped on the Turismo bus circuit from Condesa (Tamulipas) to Centro  Historico and out to Polanco. It's probably not the kind of thing we normally bother with, but it was easy and we were feeling lazy. The circuit is about 3.5 hours in total. You get off/on as many times as you like. We stopped for great Tacos al Pastor at El Huequito in el Centro then hopped back on the bus. 

On Day 3 we headed out to Xochimilco canals on the Metro then the Tram. The journey was about 1hr. Walked to the embarcados and got hassled a little by the dudes trying to get us to take the boat trip, which we did for 350 for 1 hour - it was only the 2 of us in the boat. I think we overpaid possibly (though they said it was the 'official' price) but it was good fun nonetheless - a few beers and a few tunes from passing mariachis made it a memorable afternoon. 

In the evening we wanted to see Lucha Libre at Arena de Mexico which started at 7.30. We left Condesa at 6.50 thinking we would have plenty of time... Now, we encountered the famous crushing metro cars I heard about.. We managed to get on OK, but when it came to changing lines at Centro Medico we literally couldn't get on another train. People rammed into carriages, shoving, squeezing, loosely queuing on platforms... It was bad, and we are londoners used to busy public transport... After trying to get on one for nearly 1hr (we missed the 7.30 start) we gave up and took a taxi back to the BnB.. Disappointing to miss it because of bad planning, but a good lesson :)

On day 4 we headed to Coyoacan which was refreshingly calm and quiet. Museo Frida Kahlo and Leon Trotsky's house were both worthy stops for anyone interested in modern history and definitely worth the trip. We got a free tour of Trotsky's. Really interesting to see that.

On the way back to the metro we stopped for Comida Corrida at a place between the 2 museums which was great value at 55pesos and had a huge choice. It was soup, then rice, then a main, then postre. Excellent value. 

That evening we had beers then Tacos at El Tizconcito which were great. Maybe it was the beer but they were seriously tasty. Place was buzzing - awesome.

On the final day we headed out to Los Pyramides. Trip there was uneventful (we didn't get hijacked!!) and it was an interesting if tiring / hot day. Lots of hawkers (I mean LOTS) but a firm 'no gracias' was all they needed. 

That evening we ate at Bacan - mrs E had Salmon and I couldn't resist the bife de lomo. Washed down with a bottle of Malbec (had no idea there were so many Argentinian places in Mex city) - it was good food but pricey, and I was up all night with meat induced sweats...(with steak i will never learn! )

Now we're in P.E thinking about where to go next :)

Happy travels!