Las Alcabas

With a population of up to 25 million, Mexico City is huge. It is also the eight wealthiest city in the world. We stayed along Avenida Presidente Masaryk in the Polanco neighborhood. It is the highest-priced street and the one with the most upscale boutiques in all of Latin America. Our small hotel was exceptional and a pleasure to return to for the three nights we were there. It has justifiably won numerous awards for best urban hotel.

Aztec artefact

On our first day we went out to the pre-Aztec ruins of Teotihuacán. They are very impressive and certainly underrated compared to Chichen Itza. We went with a private guide, Eduardo, to learn more of the history and explored it all including walking along the avenue of the dead and climbing the Pyramid of the Moon and the Sun for the views. It was a great day. In the afternoon we visited the Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe. It is considered one of the most important pilgrimage sites of Catholicism. People were already making their way there for December 12, Our Lady of Guadalupe’s Feast day.

Temple of the Moon

The following day we toured the city itself. Spending time around the Aztec ruins near the city square, visiting the National Palace and more. In the afternoon we went through the impressive Archaeological Museum and walked back through the parks and charming streets of Polanco to our hotel.

A big part of travel for me now is the food, and a city the size of Mexico city does not disappoint. On our first day we had lunch with Eduardo in the Zona Rosa neighborhood. He had recommended one of his favorite Mexican restaurants. It was rich in flavour, spicy, and very popular. Mexico City also has two of the top 50 restaurants in the world. We were fortunate to get into both of them. We had taster menus at Biko and Pujol. Both were exceptional and the Latin America wine pairings at BIKO were outstanding but of the two, Pujol was by far my favourite. Leanne ordered the seven-course sea taster menu and I ordered the nine-course land taster menu. So were were able to sample 16 different dishes and not one of them was similar to anything I had eaten before. Very impressive and a huge highlight. They also served the best margarita I’ve ever had.

Mexico City is one of the great cities of the world and we will hopefully visit again some day.