Mexico City

Hey everyone! I’m Marwa, the Campaign Marketing Manager at Canadian sustainable clothing brand, Encircled. Last December, I headed to Mexico for 10 days. Mexico has an immense amount of history, culture and tradition that made me really fall in love with it and I can’t wait to go back to explore other regions. I stayed in Mexico City but took day trips to a few other places to sightsee and explore. Although I loved every place I visited, here’s a few highlights from my trip.

BIRDSEYE VIEW OF THE CITY

This was taken at the top of Torre Latinoamericana (The Latin-American Tower) which is about 590ft in the air. The views from the tower are amazing, and it’s about 100 pesos for admission to the tower as well as a museum that shows you some of the history of the city. We cheated and went to the restaurant to enjoy the views then soaked up some history at Mexico’s largest museum, Museo Nacional de Antropología instead (The National Museum of Anthropology).

CENTRO HISTÓRICO: WHERE OLD AND NEW MEET

We decided to walk when we were downtown in the Centro Histórico of Mexico City, which is essentially the downtown core. It has everything from Mayan ruins to government buildings.

We walked to the Palacio de Bellas Artes to admire the amazing murals placed all over the building. We grabbed some street corn and headed to another neighbourhood for the rest of the day.

CULTURE IN COYOACÁN

Coyoacán is the neighbourhood in Mexico City where both Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera lived. It is a must see if you love history, with museums dedicated to Diego, Frida and Leon Trotsky but it’s also a great area to take in the local culture, try some amazing food, and learn some folktales about the city.

While we were there, we noticed a traditional dance performance in the main square. My friend explained that the natives previously performed their dance as a sign of protest to the government. Now, their dancing also serves to remind the public of the indigenous community. It was amazing to witness a part of Mexico’s culture that is often overlooked.

PUEBLA

One of our first day trips was to Puebla, a small city a little less than 2 hours away from Mexico City. It was definitely one of my favorite places because of the same combination of old and new that I love about Mexico City. You can really see the European influence in Puebla, especially in the architecture of the buildings and churches.

REVOLUTION REMAINS

We started by exploring the historic centre of the city before heading downtown. The building in this picture was the home of one of the biggest supporters of the Mexican Revolution. It’s been preserved since the day there was a shootout between the police and family that lived in the house (all those holes in the building are from bullets, crazy right?). Now, it’s a museum with most of the house left as it was that day. It was definitely memorable (and slightly eerie).

TAKING A CABLE CAR OVER THE CITY AS THE SUN SET TELEFÉRICO PUEBLA

We ended our day by taking a cable car ride over Teleférico Puebla city as the sun set. There’s something about a good view and a sunset that really relaxes me (is it just me?) so this was a perfect way to end the day.

TEOTIHUACÁN, THE BIGGEST ANCIENT CITY IN ITS TIME

One of the most energizing day trips we took was when we went to Teotihuacan, an archaeological site about 40 kilometres (25 miles) northeast of Mexico City. The site includes the Pirámides del Sol y de la Luna (Pyramids of the Sun and Moon). The city of Teotihuacán was one of the biggest ancient cities in its time. Being here is definitely humbling and the energy there felt incredibly therapeutic.

RELAXING IN ACAPULCO

Near the end of our trip, we decided to take a couple days to relax from all of our exploring. We took a long 6-hour ride from Mexico City to Acapulco and had a few days to unwind on the beach. It was a great way to start winding down as my time to leave drew closer.

Once we got back to Mexico City, we celebrated Christmas, took one last day trip to Tepoztlan and then spent a final day in Mexico City. It was one of my favourite trips and I can’t wait to go back soon to explore more of the region.

That’s all from me! I hope this post inspires you to go against the conventional in your next adventure or in your everyday life.