In Which My Un-Athletic Ass Gets a Workout
- jill
- Jan 16, 2022
- 4 min read
Updated: Jan 17, 2022
20 December 2021
I got up early and headed to El Moro, one of the oldest and considered best places to get churros in CDMX. My lack of Spanish means my order came out to go instead of being able to sit inside, so I sat on a step on the sidewalk next to the Metro station and ate some pretty amazing churros...but the best part was my Mexican hot chocolate (it has chili powder in it) which was DELICIOUS.
I still wasn't ready to attempt the Metro, so I walked to the meeting spot for my bike tour. The storefront where they were located was closed...and I realized I hadn't set my watch back an hour (CDMX is one hour behind Atlanta), so I was an hour early. I decided to walk back to my Airbnb to get my phone charger, and then back again. My Airbnb was in Chinatown--about a 3 block area, most of which is shut down to cars.
I signed up for this tour with some trepidation--I don't ride bikes very often--once every 10 years or so? I'm not athletic at all, either. But after reading the reviews, it seemed as though CDMX was pretty flat and wouldn't be too difficult to bike. I was more concerned with the traffic, which is CRAZY here.
The tour wound up being just me and another woman from Australia who lives in Germany. She was super friendly, and only in town for one day--and this was her activity. Our guide got us on bikes and we started off. The tour was supposedly to look at street art, but we only saw a few pieces--it was mostly monuments and tourist sites, which was okay too. It was one of the best things I could have done--about four hours of art, tourist spots, and some food.
Mexico City is in the process of throwing up 17 huge murals on the sides of buildings, but only 3 have been completed so far. We started at the Monument to the Revolution (another Porfirio Diaz project) which was originally supposed to be a palace, but this is as far as they got.
While biking around, we went all the way around the Plaza de Tres Culturas, the remains of an Aztec city that features remains of three cultures--pre-Columbian, Spanish colonial, and the independent nation. It is currently closed for exploration thanks to COVID, but biking around it was pretty cool.
The tour lasted an hour longer than planned...so I had to very quickly get an Uber to get to Xochimilco for my tour there--about 45 min or so away.
Thankfully arrived right on time (even though my Uber couldn't get close enough to my meeting point and I had to walk a bit to get the church where we met--Catedral de Xochimilco de San Bernardino de Siena, built in the 16th Century. Once again, I was on a tour with just one other girl...but she wasn't as cool as the last person.
Xochimilco means "land of flowers" and they are everywhere. First we headed to the Mercado de Xochimilco and checked out some fruits I had never seen/tried before: mamey (an orange avocado, that tastes like sweet potato, guava which was sour, tejocote which tastes like candy, and black zapote which is green on the outside, but black inside the consistency of a banana.
We continued through the market, and visited a flower stand and a pet stand with some exotic pets--salamanders, pastel colored fish, albino frogs and baby bunnies!
We learned about pinatas--the original ones were round with seven cones around the outside, representing the seven deadly sins. By destroying it, you "overcome" the sins. They used to fill them with fruit instead of candy.
Then we stopped at a food stand in the market that had esquite: corn with chilies, cheese, mayo and chili pepper. It was quite tasty, but also quite spicy, so we headed to a local 100 year old pulqueria named El Templo de Diana, which is a spot that is for locals, mainly blue-collar workers. There we tried pulque which is the consistency of semen and is made by fermenting agave. I was nervous to try it because people say you either love it or hate it...but I liked it! I had the celery flavor and the horchata flavors--but I liked the celery the best.
We continued toward the embarcadero--where you board a trajinera (boat) to go through the canals.
I picked this tour because it avoided the touristy sections--where people are constantly trying to sell you things--souvenirs, snacks, alcohol, mariachi songs, etc. This tour was very laid back and relaxing. We floated down the canals, seeing farms, lots of dogs, and a replica of the famous island of the dolls by Don Julian, and also played a game called loteria, sort of like bingo. We learned that all the islands are man made...just like CDMX is built on water.
Our guide also showed us an app on her phone and when you point it at the newer peso notes, it turns them into 3D cool moving pictures.
The other girl on the tour was getting more and more annoying--the kind of person who corrects others and didn't want to do anything interesting (like taste certain things or play games). Annoying.
When we got back to the embarcadero, the other girl and I decided to catch an Uber together...so I called it and she gave me cash. She made sure to put her address in first so she got dropped off before me. Evil. I did not want to talk to her but she kept trying.
Finally made it home, tired and sore, but what a jam-packed, awesome day. I went up to the roof of my Airbnb which was supposed to have "city views" but I could really only see the Torre Latinoamericana.
Comments