Day 4: Palacio de Bellas Artes, Biblioteca Vasconselos, and Zinco Jazz Club

I had spent enough time with my symptoms at this point to be near certain that I had some sort of parasitic worm infection -- either from something I ate, or most likely from naively drinking the tap water regularly at the beginning of my trip. I picked up some Mebendazole from the nearby pharmacy, a low-risk medication that is commonly used to treat such diseases. After dosing up, I walked to the Palacio de Bellas Artes, known for its opulent architecture and for housing works by some of Mexico's greatest muralists.

One of the most stunning works there is Man Controller of the Universe, a massive mural by Diego Rivera. Originally titled Man at the Crossroads and commissioned by the Rockefeller Center, there was a furor in the press after it was unveiled that the mural contained a portrait of Lenin. Rivera was sacked by The Rockefeller Center and the mural destroyed. Rivera eventually returned to Mexico to complete the mural under a new title.

My appetite had come back with a vengeance at this point and I picked up a juice and a sim card as I meandered south of Alemada Central. Lacking ideas of where to go next, I took the metro back to the hostel. After a refreshing shower, I took an Uber to an interesting looking library, Biblioteca Vasconselos.

I have to admit part of the reason I was intrigued to see this library was their Sala de Música, a room full of instruments that library users can use.

The floating shelves of Biblioteca Vasconcelos

I spoke with the man at the front desk of the music room and he told me it was necessary to get a library card before playing on the pianos. My reaction: Why not? So after speaking with the lady at the front desk I was directed to the Credenciados room where I spoke with a few people, filled out a form, had my photo taken, and voilà! I had a Mexico City library card.

My crowning achievement thus far as a foreign language learner

I returned to La Sala de Música to put my card in the queue with all the other library uses. The library was only open another hour, and my name didn't come up before 10 minutes to closing and they started to shut the room down. The man at the desk had some pity on me and said I could play just a tantito, so I did get to exercise my fingers for about five minutes.

Leaving the library, I entered the adjacent Forum Buenavista Centro Comercial, a joint train station / shopping mall. Exhausted from so much cultural immersion, I made dinner of a McDonald's big mac combo meal before taking the metro back to Centro Historical.

My day wasn't over yet, though. I had found a jazz club near my hostel, Zinco Jazz Club, that was having a performance by Las Swing Sisters that night.

Doors opened at 9 PM and the performance ran from 10:30 to midnight.

After a full day of activities, I walked the half kilometer back to the hostel without incident and swiftly succumbed to sleep.

Day 3: Polanco

I was low on energy and didn't have much of an appetite so I spent the morning at the hostel. In the afternoon I decided to go out for a walk.

Not wanting to return to the hostel for the rest of the day, but not feeling well enough for anything too adventurous, I took the metro to one of Mexico City's most upscale barrios, Polanco.

Piano stairs at Polanco metro station! They sounded a bit out of tune to me ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

After buying an umbrella from one of the metro station hawkers, I set out by foot along a rainy Avenida Horacio.

I stopped at a cathedral, Parroquia de San Agustín, and the shopping mall El Palacio de Hierro Polanco. After resting in the food court, utilizing the free wifi to look for nearby attractions, I decided to just turn in for the night, taking the metro back to the hostel.

Day 2: Xochimilco

I woke up feeling pretty terrible, but chalked it up to too much sun and not enough sleep and decided to join my two American friends to Xochimilco, the "Mexican Venice".

After taking the metro to the end of the line, then boarding a train to the end of its line, we arrived in Xochimilco an hour and a half after having set out. My friends were at the end of a four month trip exploring South and Central America, and were conversationally fluent enough in Spanish at this point to haggle a bit with the men by the embarcadero. We eventually settled on a price of 800 pesos for the three of us to take a two hour trip through the canals on one of the many colorful trajineras. 

Rebekka and Carlos haggling with a boat worker who wanted at least 1200 pesos.

Floating down the canals is quite the experience. Tiendas and Restaurantes line the sides of the canal, providing an easy place to stop and shop or eat. Mariachi bands float in attached boats, or wait on shore to be picked up for a quick song or two. Large fiestas on the boats are not uncommon. 

After arriving back at the docks, we walked through the market. Many stalls had colorful flower arrangements on display. In fact, most of the flowers grown in CDMX originate from Xochimilco.

I hadn't had an appetite all day, and was feeling even worse than I had that morning, so we got back on the train and made the trek back to the center of Mexico City. I spent the rest of the day taking hot showers and lying in bed. At night, Carlos hooked me up with some Nyquil and by the morning I was feeling significantly better. I suspect the illness came from drinking the tap water from the hostel, a very naive thing to do in Mexico, I of all people should have known better.

Day 1: In Search of Paseo de la Reforma

Being Sunday, I had heard that on this weekday one of Mexico City's largest streets, Paseo de la Reforma is shut down to car traffic and is a popular place for pedestrians and cyclists. I wanted to rent a bike to ride down the avenue, so after consulting with the front desk, I set out upon the city.

Near the Catedral Metropolitana de la Ciudad de México, I rode a large tandem bike with about 8 other people.

It was free, and part of some government sponsored program to encourage bike use and education.

The sidewalks were very crowded with vendors and pedestrians and it was slow going until I stopped at the nearby Tacos y Amor for a torta and drink.

I kept moving with the flow of the crowd until I realized that I had gone in the complete opposite direction of Paseo de la Reforma. Tired and sun kissed at this point, I picked up some crema de sol at the pharmacy before refilling my water bottle at the hostel and heading out in the correct direction.

I arrived in the area around Palacio de Bellas Artes and Alemada Central.

Within Alemada Central there were teens riding skateboards and preteens battling Beyblades. There were many things to see and do in the environs of the park.

From Alemada Central it was only a short walk to Paseo de la Reforma, but when I arrived it was full of cars! I would find out later that they only shut down the street until 2 PM, so I would try again next Sunday before my flight.

Hot, tired, and having seen too much sun, I went into the nearby Cinemex and bought a ticket for a Mexican rom-com, Más Sabe el Diablo por Viejo.

After the movie and arriving back at my hostel, I took an Uber to El Ocho, a board game cafe in Hipódromo, to meet up with some American friends I had made the day before.

We had a fun time playing pictionary and my own variant of Uno, Kim Jong Uno, over drinks. We headed back to Casa Pepe around 11 via the metro.

Day 0: To Mexico City

After more than a year since returning from my 6-month voyage around the world, I once again packed up my things and left the USA, this time for our southern neighbor Mexico. 

I had visited Mexico with my family back in 2016, but that was to the island of Cozumel, a resort island an hour drive south of Cancun. It's not an experience I would consider very "Mexican", so I was excited to finally see the largest city in the Americas, situated in the heart of Mexico. 

After waking up at 4 AM to take the light rail down to SEA for my 7 AM flight to LAX, our plane being delayed at the gate in LAX, and barely making my connecting flight to MEX, I arrived in Mexico City at 4 PM local time. MEX is massive, and I got lost a bit before finding my way to the metro station. Metro tickets are only 0.20 USD here, for unlimited transfers. Once I had actually situated myself to the metro layout, it only took one transfer and 30 minutes to get to Pino Suarez station, from which I walked to my hostel for the week, Casa Pepe.

I quickly made a friend from France and we went out to look for dinner, eventually ending up at one of Mexico's chain restaurants, Vips. After returning to the hostel to shower and change into fresh clothes, I joined a group of other travelers in the common area where we were sharing a bottle of agave spirits and soda. Around 10 PM I went out to Zona Rosa with my French friend and another German traveler with a very domineering personality. Zona Rosa is known for its trendy bars. We bar hopped to a few places before I eventually lost my friends among the crowds and I took a taxi back to the hostel by myself around 1 AM.