Hey, me too! Four things impressed me:
Half the population are Uber drivers;
The other half are law enforcement;
The families of the above run tiny 8’ x 8’ stalls that line all the sidewalks and sell exactly the same kind of crappy trinkets;
The traffic is utterly insane.
But the weather was great, lush plant life everywhere, & we had a good time!
Did you walk into a mercado (market)? Crazy. Jam packed stalls selling every cheap thing imaginable.
I went on a river ride party boat in Xochimilco and smaller boats would pull alongside selling all kinds of stuff. One boat had bonsai trees. Really? Who buys bonsai in Mexico on a river booze cruise? But, they were there. (booze cruise thing was weirdly fun if you like to drink but DO NOT eat the food…not kidding…just drink).
Nothing is free…even using the bathroom costs money (lots of places…if you are eating in a restaurant the bathroom is free). Everyone seems to be selling something.
Traffic was nuts. Fortunately I was traveling with someone whose cousin lived there and he drove us around. I would never drive there. Not ever. Other drivers were fine but it is monstrously confusing.
Oh yeah!
We went on a walking tour of Frieda Kahlo’s old neighborhood, and the guide obviously had an “arrangement” with one of the mercados. OMG, I am claustrophobic even in normal situations, but this was a nightmare. Especially when a pair of “musicians” standing about 4 ft away started serenading the crowd with a clarinet and drum composition.
My son-in-law (who is a fluent Spanish speaker who orchestrated the whole thing, thank goodness) recommended restaurants to us, so we actually dined pretty well. I HIGHLY recommend this fish place (and I don’t usually eat fish –) but it’s $$$$ and you need to make reservations way ahead. It was the best dining out experience I’ve had in the past 50 years. Even the 8 year olds in the party loved it.
Ha! I was there and that was the mercado I was thinking about (there are loads of them around the city but that was my first experience with one so it stuck in my mind).
Hey, @solost , are you back safely from your vacation?
Hey @snowthx, yes I am back safely and we had a fantastic time! I had another Mexico thread I responded to with a capsule review. Sorry I didn’t think to update this thread…
Woops! Yeah I guess I conflated the two threads and remembered the one title. Glad it all went well! The headlines today about Mexico prompted the question.
Yeah, I saw those headlines-- violence in the western parts of Mexico, tourists in Puerto Vallarta told to shelter in place, that sort of thing. I think the Yucatan peninsula, where we were, is generally less exposed to cartel activity than some other parts of Mexico, but it’s still a shame that it happens at all. And here I was enjoying Mexico so much the week before last, that I was thinking 'hmm…I could see us retiring to an expat community around here". Not that we necessarily couldn’t or wouldn’t now, and not that the latest headlines change much. Crime is everywhere of course, and there’s no guarantee of perfect safety anywhere one goes.