Our Second Day in Mexico City
A First Class Adventure (Part 3 of 3)
To Teotihuacan (Place of the Gods)…
A Trip to Mexico City certainly wouldn’t have been complete without our fix of magical Indigenous history.
Our dear cousin Gabi, aunt Rosi, uncle Mace and goddaughter Monse picked us up and drove us to Teotihuacan, land of the Majestic Pyramids of the Sun and Moon. Teotihuacan is located about 30 miles Northeast of Mexico City.
For this journey, we booked a tour guide who walked us through some of the ancient history and shared incredible stories that helped us begin to understand how a civilization without technology as we know it today— could have built such a sophisticated system with urban and economic structures.
We learned the Valley of Teotihuacan was built by hand
by a civilization of people that ultimately abandoned it. Nobody really knows why the Teotihuacanos left such an incredible place they had created from scratch. All we know is that 1,000 years later, the Aztecs discovered this ancient city and basically moved in!
They turned it into the powerful Aztec Empire we’ve heard about and admired…A place where people thrived and also where many spiritual ceremonies of worship and sacrifice took place.
We tried climbing the Pyramid of the Sun but
it was a Sunday afternoon which meant it was an extremely busy day. Locals get in free on Sundays, the weather was warm and inviting and dozens of tourist buses could be seen lining up near the entrance. Our wait time to climb to the top of the pyramid was two hours.
We decided to only climb halfway. That would give us time to explore more areas and enjoy a nice local meal.
After our Pyramid quest,
we headed to a nearby restaurant where we savored the likes of enchiladas, tostadas and Ranchera BBQ cuts with sides of rice, beans and salsa. My uncle also ordered a speciality dish called Escamoles. These are ant larvae (eggs). To be honest, I wasn’t feeling the dish but I also didn’t want to feel like I skipped on an opportunity to taste a local delicacy. So I went for it.
I’ll just say I probably won’t order Escamoles on my next trip to Mexico City but at least they’re off the bucket list!
The morning after visiting the Pyramids,
we woke up with MAJOR sunburns. Nobody warned us that the bright sun shining down over Teotihuacan would be so powerful… wow! Note to self: Don’t forget the suncreen next time. Fortunately, we were in Mexico so getting a hold of some fresh aloe vera was not a problem.
The time had arrived to head to the airport and return home. But we managed to take one last stroll around the Roma neighborhood and captured numerous colorful murals and artwork. Many of the works were created as part of a campaign to motivate the community after Mexico’s powerful 2018 earthquake. The following are some of my faves #VaPorLaRoma
Overall, our Mexico City trip was fantastic.
Ok, I may have gained a few pounds (again) but every culinary, cultural, musical and life experience in Mexico City was well worth it!
This trip only happened because I attended the 2018 We All Grow Latina Summit where Delta Airlines was a sponsor offering first-class rountrip airfare as raffle prizes.
Por sus atenciones y productos, oportunidades, muchísimas gracias We All Grow Latina Network y Gracias Delta Airlines.
Por tu magia y encantadora historia y cultura, ¡gracias México!
And to my sissy who’s become one heck of a badass travel buddy—
Thanks for following along our first class adventure and travel journey, friends!
Xo,
-Anabel M.
P.S. For Part One of our First Class Adventure Click Here
For Part Two of our First Class Adventure Click Here