Going to visit the Historic Center, not really far from our Hotel. And we are going to try to take the bus there!
first off gonna have a freshly squeeze mandarina. I think it cost $25 pesos ($1.20USD)....so good and no ice too
head to the nearest bus station about 10 minutes walk from out hotel.
In our experience....To take the bus you'll need a metro card...it's different from the one time ticket we buy for our subway ride(however this card can be top up and use for all the metro bus and subway). The card can only be purchased at any Metro station and NOT at the bus station, as the bus station you can only top up money to the card. We were clueless and speak limited Spanish....a gentlemen (speaks some English)saw that we were struggling with the guard stepped in and helped us. He lend us his card so we could top up money in it and get in the station (and not have to walked all the way to the nearest metro station just to purchased the card). we top up $12pesos in total for 2 person(the metrobus cost $6pesos/ one way for one person ($0.30USD) ) we are so luckily to had met this kind gentlemen.
the bus was not crowded early in the morning. just 4 stops away, we reached our destination, Hidalgo Station.
chef approved of this picture :)
there were taco stands near the bus station.....time for some breakfast!!
This taco stand served again different from the other taco stands we had tried....this one has abit of rice in them. OH RICE it's been few days since i had rice...yum. we both had 2 tacos each....very yummy and generous potion!! Price $8pesos/ taco ($0.40USD)
we walked around and stumble upon this Church of San Hipolito
walking through Park Alameda Central, the city's oldest public park,
a little NYC's central park feel
Palacio de Bellas Artes, cultural center
it's not even 10am there is a queue to buy ticket
entrance fee is $65pesos/pax ($3.20USD) and $30pesos ($1.50USD) extra for professional camera and video( hell no I'm not paying extra for my camera......phone camera is allowed and it's FREE)
got ma tickets
the ceiling
there are 4 levels in total include the ground floor. There isn't much to see just a special feature of Kandinsky's work and also some Mexican mural artist(as u can see here in the corridor) that's it...there was another exhibition on the top floor not sure what is it but there are extra fee for it, there are no English translation so since we wouldn't have a clue what's its about might as well skipped it.
The interior architecture is quite nice. We spend less than 2 hours here include the wait to buy the tickets
it was almost noon, slowly we make our way to Zocalo, the main square in central Mexico City
The House of Tiles, a 18th century palace with a blue and white tile facade
we peeked inside it's a restaurant
admiring the colonial style buildings, feels like in Europe
this place is crowded
Catholic church San Felipe
a museum
we have reached the main square, Zocalo
lots of shops, cafes and restaurant
This is the Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral, its design is a mixture of 3 architectural styles that predominated during colonial period, Renaissance, Baroque and Neo-classic
This grand Roman Catholic cathedral is Latin American's oldest and largest,
it is situated atop the former Aztec sacred precinct near the Temple Mayor. The cathedral was built in sections from 1573 - 1813 around the original church that was constructed soon after the Spanish conquest of Tenochtitlan, eventually replacing it entirely.
After the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, the conquistadors decided to build their church on the site of the Temple Mayor of the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan to consolidate Spanish power over the newly conquered domain. Stones from the destroyed temple of the Aztec god of war were used to build the church
yikes talk about putting salt to the wound
one of its many ornate chapels
the Spanish organ is freaking huge, unfortunately it was not played when we were there
the alter of forgiveness
on the other side is the Mexican organ. These 18th century organs are the largest in Americas.
one of the bell towers, there are 25 bells in total.
in 2007, a time capsule was found inside the stone ball base of a cross, in the southern bell tower of the cathedral. It was placed in 1742, supposedly to protect the building from harm. The lead box was filled with religious artifacts, coins and parchments and hidden in a hollow stone ball. The ball was marked with the date 14th May 1791. A new time capsule will be placed in the stone ball when it is closed again.
that is a really cool idea. i wish i had a time capsule. Maybe start one from 2018?? :)
the southern facade of Tabernacle, it was built separately but still connected to the main cathedral
inside the Metropolitan Tabernacle
National Palace, government building with an office for Mexico's president
just beside the church is a square where many people gather and watch some ritual being performed by "Aztec priest"
it's interesting to see they use some kind of a herb, probably holy basil to perform some sort of ancient ritual....perhaps for good fortune, good career or find love???
i think it's more for tourist purpose rather that it being an actual ritual but it's quite entertaining to watch
Aztec street performers, dancing
the costumes are quite good
Behind the church is the Temple Mayor, was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1987
model of the once great Temple Mayor (Spanish for the Greater Temple) , was the temple of the Mexican peoples in their capital city of Tenochtitlan. It is estimated about 150-200 thousand people lived in the city
this is what's left of the great city of Tenochtitlan
it's an open air museum, entrance fee $70 pesos ($3.40USD) but one can also view from the walkway for FREE, which what we did
i think it's good enough, right?
i was so hungry at this point it was almost 1pm, we went to a nice restaurant, El Mayor(at a roof top of a book store) with a nice view of the Temple Mayor
let's start with a nice cold Margarita , it was yummy
food was just alright but the environment and service was great with a nice view do help of course
i had one too many cocktail
Price was at the higher side of the Mexico price range, also it is a tourist spot. Our lunch was about $800 pesos($40USD) tip included.
after a nice lunch we just walked around the area, found this beautiful architecture
museum of light, a science museum,
we did not enter, just admire the courtyard
special alter for the day of the dead (which is celebrated the 1st Nov - 2nd Nov)
some local cafe
some how we roam to this area
it was really packed hardly see anything because we were pushed and rushed through. What we get out of here is a key chain that i bought for $20 pesos ($1USD) and a got one of our smartphone picked.
YES WE WERE PICKPOCKET!!! worst thing that could happen to a tourist is to lost their phone.....the convenience, the security. It happens so fast... Boon felt some one pushed him and tried to grab his bag pack but luckily it was strapped on but he was distracted and had his phone pickpocket out from his jean's front pocket and it was a really tight jeans. This happen in broad daylight!!! i can't imagine what will happen if it was dark.
we are always cautious and careful whenever we travel. We lived by several rules: Never pull out wallet in public, never wear flashy clothes or jewelry, Never bring out too much cash, Always put some small change in pocket in case wanting to buy something. I guess we can now add never put your phone in your front pocket to our list!!!
No matter how careful you are....shit happens
In Mexico City streets, we can see alot of police in most places, thinking it was safe but still crime can happen anytime. I never though a popular tourist area like Zocalo in broad daylight can be so dodgy
it happen probably around this marked area, along Calle del Carmen. Please do NOT venture to this area!!!!
After noticing the phone is gone we immediately extract ourselves out from that area, to a less crowded area, and search for the phone, we even went back to the restaurant which was just 5 minutes walk away(thinking maybe just maybe we forgot our phone there but NO) and found a police officer. However the police don't speak any English but a bystander helped us to translate to the police. We told the police where and when(just like 20 minutes ago) it happen. The police asked if we saw the person's face who took our phone. No! we were pickpocket we didn't know how it happen, we even asked if they could help call our phone for us(they don't have any phone). The police just say he can't do anything and that was it, we asked if we need to make a official police report... He just shake his head and no effort or any help. This makes us very frustrated and disappointed with the police in Mexico city.
Feeling unsafe and no mood at all to do anything, we decided to return back to our hotel. On our way we saw a Apple premium reseller store near Zocalo. We went in, hoping to track our phone. A nice man help us out to track it but the phone was immediately turn off after it was stolen. We then had the phone locked and also to delete the phone once it's turn on.
went back to our hotel and that was our miserable Day 3 in Mexico City. I didn't even had dinner but Boon had ramen at a nearby Japanese restaurant.
We started our trip with good impression of Mexico City but this incident really dent our experience. To be fair these things happen everywhere in the world not only in Mexico, we were just unlucky to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. I'm just really thankful we were not hurt and nothing important was lost, it could be worse!!!
Slept early and determine to enjoy the rest of our vacation and not let this incident to hold us back or generalize all Mexican as we did met kind, helpful and friendly locals.
p.s: oh ya one can always make official police report (insurance purpose) at the ministry of tourism.
We make a report 2 days later after we stumble across this office in Juarez. The officer there don't speak English but they use google translate to communicate. This report is more for insurance purpose rather than finding your lost item.
and while we were there, there were 2 guys (one of them is really tall and big) from california making report too and they were robbed on the same day as us somewhere near Zocalo too at St Pedro square at about 7pm in the evening. They were attacked by 5 people and one of them even passed out because one of the attacker chocked him.
like i said it could be worse... listening to their encounter really shook me up.
travel safe!!!
~ hasta mañana ~
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