Due to switching jobs, I am on a more restrictive travel budget this year. Despite that, I still wanted to make one trip outside of the US to hold me over until I can explore other areas of the world. Luckily, only a few hours’ flight away is North America’s largest city! Since I only had a few days, I figured this is a perfect place to scratch that foreign travel itch.
First Impressions
Driving into the city from the airport was about what I expected. A bustling metropolis filled with people commuting to work or running errands for the day. The streets were clean although the walls were filled with graffiti. It was clear that this city had a huge variance between wealth in each neighborhood.
For this weekend, we decided to stay in a more tourist-heavy neighborhood called “Roma Norte”. I quickly realized this neighborhood looks different from the rest of the city. Although it has some of the best restaurants and bars in the world, it felt slightly like a tailored experience to tourists. It’s pretty easy to find english speakers and some of the menus were even in english. Since this was my first time, it honestly made me feel more comfortable which I don’t think is necessarily a bad thing.
Hostel
The hostel we stayed at ended up being about $20 USD per night. I felt like you definitely got what you paid for here too. We didn’t need to check in with anyone and we walked straight to our room. This was a 4-bed dorm with 3 of us and 1 traveller. The hostel also only had 2 bathrooms for around 20-30 people.
Throughout our trip we ran into a series of Australian and European travellers that seemed to have the same pre-existing negative beliefs about Americans. The Australians told us they had been travelling for a while and “just got done with Asia”, which I thought to be pretty funny. We chatted with them for a brief time but they seemed uninterested in spending any time together.
Our bunkmate was a mysterious character who we never had the pleasure of running into. We were only able to gather information based on the stuff he left around the room. Climbing shoes, a book written in German, and about 5 towels scattered around the room. He seemed to have a long-term stay mindset too. He’d wake up around 1pm and get home at 4am every day. With only 4 days in town, we were up early and in bed late every night, trying to make the most of the trip.
Overall, we had no issues with the stay besides the other travellers who wrote us off right away. The hostel was in a good area and we were able to walk everywhere we wanted to. If you’re looking for a solid place to stay it was called Casa Columpio Roma.
Food
This is why you go to Mexico City! People say this place has the best food in the world… they couldn’t be more correct. Not only is the Mexican food unbelievable, they’re mastered other cuisines too.
A Thai fusion restaurant called Choza.
A Mediterranean place called Taverna, with a very unique atmosphere.
Countless Bakeries.
Ultimately, we ate at restaurants that are popular with tourists for 2 reasons. The first night my friend got food poisoning and after that, I wanted to play it safe with popular restaurants. Second, they are so popular because they’re great! I couldn’t recommend this neighborhood enough for somebody looking to feast.
Other Activities
- Lucha Libre – my favorite thing we did all trip. The energy was electric.
- Anthropological Museum
- Chapultepec Park
We ultimately stayed within 2 neighborhoods the entire time because they had the most to do as well as infrastructure built for tourists. Overall, it was an amazing trip and I was extremely surprised by how different things can be just a 4 hour flight from my own home. It’s allowed me to realize that I don’t have to fly across the world to experience something unique.
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