Our family went to Mexico City for Thanksgiving Break 2021. It was our first time in another country with just our family unit of four. Tanner was in 4th grade and Dallin was in 3rd grade. We had an AMAZING time! Before going, we spent time reading books and watching youtube videos about the city, and that really helped make things more relevant for the boys.
The trip there was super easy. We walked over the border at the Tijuana airport and flew on a local flight directly to the capital city for the cost of a local flight instead of international flight. We had no issues!
Our first meal there was late at night and delicious!
The next day was Sunday and we enjoyed being at church.
Temple Visit
The temple was impressive and peaceful. The boys had fun photo bombing some of our pictures with just me and Jeremy. and we enjoyed the visitors center. They had cool videos and models of the temple and interactive displays. Also, there was a super yummy restaurant nearby with Mexican meals we had never tried before. It was so delicious and we had a really fun time giggling and enjoying ech other's company while eating some very delicious food.
Transportation
Getting around took a bit of a learning curve, as the city is incredibly huge and spreadout. We did a lot of walking, took public buses, and also used a lot of uber drivers. There was always something interesting to see at every turn!
Our trip to Walmart to get groceries was quite the adventure, but I can't seem to find any pictures from us inside, only this shot of the walkway in front. The place was ginormous, with products stacked 25 feet high or higher, completely unsafe. Sensory overload at every turn. We also had issues with transportation, buy very good learning experience for all of us.
The Castle
This pretty walkway is in the heart of the city where the castle stands! The boys helped push me up the long incline to the entrance. Then to be safe for my back, we rented a wheelchair for me to use while walking around the castle. The whole place was absolutely fascinating and beautiful. The boys were very well behaved, asked lots of good questions about the history and significance of the castle, and were able to appreciate all the beautiful architecture and paintings. They also loved looking at the views of the city from this amazing vantagepoint.
They giggled a lot at these paintings. Some of them really did look goofy and comical and we couldn't tell if that was the intent or not!
Central Park
The city central park had a great vibe. This is where the castle, zoo, ponds, booths, playgrounds and trails are! We came here on several different days. This our walk snooping around for lunch after our morning at the castle. We found a great food center and enjoyed yummy food and playground.
Dallin reported that the cotton candy at this park was disgusting.
Zoo and Paddle Boarding
The main reason we chose to do the zoo was so that we could see the axolotls! Both boys had become very interested in them, thanks to Minecraft. I think Tanner did some sort of report on them for school, too. Axolotls are a really special type of salamander that only lives in the fresh water swamps of Mexico City. We were excited to see a cool model of them, but super bummed to find out that the exhibit was under construction and we could not view them live. The zoo was a bit unremarkable otherwise. Luckily, the jaguars were very entertaining and impressive.
I caught a lizard.
Discussing important things about animals
Cool looking jungle gym. Can you see me throwing a ball to the boys? They liked trying to catch it while on the jungle gym.
The boys looked so cute in the paddleboat. As far as we all knew, this was a first time for them!
The boys dropped me off once my back was hurting too much, and they explored more around the lake.
Medieval Dinner Place
Keeping in spirit with the old history and elegance of the castle, we ate at a fancy and fun restaurant that served medieval/spanish type food and was very high class. The boys were super tired, though. We could hear the workers rehearsing for a dinner theatre show in the loft. It was a very dramatic Christmas show that they would start performing in 2 weeks. We were dying to see what the people's faces looked like as they were acting.
The Pyramids
One day we embarked on a grand adventure out of the city to the Teotihuacan Pyramids. They were absolutely amazing. But first, we had to get there!
We took uber rides on the way there. We stopped halfway so that I could rest my back. Jeremy used google maps to find a good halfway location that had a park. The park was prety run down, but we ventured in and played anyway.
The driver we found for the remainder of our trip to the pyramids turned out to be a retired professional soccer player. He was SO funny and energetic. Being with him was a major highlight of this adventure.
The pyramids were absolutely fascinating. We couldn't believe how huge they were! The base of the big pyramid of the sun is the same size as the base of the great pyramids in Egypt, but not the same height. So interesting to walk all around this place, trying to comprehend the civilizations that lived here. The boys were also very interested. They have such great questions to ask and I like to believe it's because we've worked hard to foster a love of history in them. Jeremy and I really do love history.
I mean holy cow, I gotta take a selfie to make sure this is real. How come I never learned about this place in school? Make sure to notice how tiny the humans are in the backgrounds of these photos, to help you grasp how huge we're talking here.
I had us all sit down right in front of the pyramid of the Sun, so that we could enjoy the great energy from the place and imagine what it looked like in it's full glory days. Each of us drew pictures and sketches of what we saw. Ya know, the type of things you would do if you were on a field trip with a school group. We had snacks and some great talks. Thanks to the internet we also googled some things to help answer our many questions. I'm so glad we brought blankets to sit on and took the time to do this. Also, Dallin found a necklace in the dirt and that became our lucky charm for the trip.
Then we walked down the ginormous corridor of what would have been a huge main street of the city, which led to another huge pyramid with lots of little pyramids around it.
Then there was an area where you could walk through the rooms and hallways of certain homes and palaces or meeting places that were part of the city. I got some great pictures of an area that was under preservation. It was amazing!!
Everything behind the boys is what used to be huge rooms and buildings that were basically like palaces for the higher class and the judges. All that remains now are the bases of the walls. SO COOL!
Can you see the stone jaguar?
We set up another resting spot and enjoyed watching the people and imagining that we had a booth at the market in the ancient days.
Dallin and Tanner walked all the way over to the steps of the pyramid of the moon. It took them a while to get over there.
This middle thing in the giant courtyard might have been a public forum area. Can you see Jeremy in teh middle with the grey shirt and hat?
Now he is taking a picture...
Here is the picture he took looking down the long stretch of road.
Here is a panoramic photo he took from his spot int eh middle of the courtyard.
For the route home, we joined all the tourists on a very inexpensive bus ride home, on a nice charter bus. Then we ate at the train station and tried to fix some money problems we were having.
We were very tired, but really glad we got to learn and see so much of the ancient history in this area of the world in that one day trip. I highly recommend to everyone, and I would totally go again.
A random yummy dessert that Jeremy brought home with one of the boys! Everyday, Jeremy would take one of the boys on a little walk to get pastries or sweets for the family. They alternated each day who would get to go.
Back at the hotel, Dallin's head got a bit deformed!
Lucha Libre Fight
Jeremy took the boys to an exciting night of entertainment at the arena to watch the famous Lucha Libre matches! They had a lot of fun and I enjoyed some time alone at the air bnb.
Axolotls
I was super sad that we couldn't see any ajolotes (spanish term) at the zoo, so I did some digging on the internet and found a preserve center that was working hard to save ajolotes in Mexico City! So we took a taxi for a very long ride to see it. Near some abandoned lots, we found this awesome nature center completely dedicated to axolotes! It was a great escape and respite from the bustle of the city. We stayed there a long time and just took it all in! The boys were in heaven when they saw all the tanks full of their favorite creatures. This was the first time that we all saw them in real life. They were soooo cute!!!
Original water habitat that is now covered by city streets and buildings.
The boys got to help feed some of the males.
We explored other parts of the nature center and enjoyed their flower beds and native plant gardens. They also had a natural sauna hut and housing for guests.
We went back to the spend more time with the ajolotes. We found some eggs on the rocks!
Saying goodbye was hard for all of us. They are such adorable and fascinating creatures with amazing creature powers.
Day at the Museum
We went to a famous museum that has history and artifacts from all the ancient civilizations that lived in the area/regions around Mexico City. We enjoyed watching the rope dancing ceremony, eating a delicious lunch in the museum café and spending hours in the exhibits. I had to rest after awhile, but the boys continued on with Jeremy.
As I'm finally writing this, I'm realizing how much my children love museums because we just got back from Japan where almost the exact same thing happened, haha. In Japan, we ate at the museum café, toured all the ancient art and artifacts of the region, and then Jeremy (not me) rested while I did more with the boys because they were still interested in stuff. So this is a cool thing we do!
Okay, here's the Mexico City museum...
Frida Kahlo
We managed to get tickets to an immersive experience with artwork by Frida Kahlo. It was very colorful and fun! We learned about her and her life.
I had hoped that there were more tactile things to experience and more than one large display room, but it was still very cool and creative and fun.
The floor was sand so I sat down on it to get the full experience.
And I laid down, too!!
Another delicious bite to eat from the street.
Sporting the new merch from the axilote preserve.
Historic Center
Our last full day in Mexico City was a real treat. We went to the central plaza and toured the huge cathedral and ancient ruins in the center of the city. Walking around the plaza was really cool, lots to see and be entertained by. They also had an area where you can see the ancient ruins that the Spaniards covered up and how they took stones from the ruins to build the cathedral. Absolutely fascinating and devastating all at the same time!
Black Friday Shopping at the Market
Then, we tried getting to a place for lunch in a taxi, but there was tons of traffic and it took us forever just to get a few blocks. We figured out that since it was Black Friday, there was a huge street market that caused several road closures. We decided to get out of the taxi and go explore the market.
It was insanely exciting! Hundreds of people on every little windy path, and tons of retail products for sale. We didn't see very many tourists here, it was all locals doing their Christmas shopping. It felt really neat to be there and see all the fun hype for the holidays. There was lots of food carts and snacks that we had never seen before that were fun to try.
Tanner and Dallin bought watches. Tanner found some fun off-brand Nike shoes, and I found some little trinkets. Dallin and I got separated for a bit from Tanner and Jeremy, but with some prayers and patience we found each other again. We spent about 2 hours there and then headed out of the market on a fun cart type of ride. SO Fun!
Not far from the cathedral.
Cobblestone everywhere in this part of the city! So crazy to believe that all of this use to be water, and sad to see in visible places how the buildings are sinking into the earth.
Tea House
After our buggy ride, we walked another fascinating area of the historic district to the famous Tile House. We enjoyed the restaurant for our dinner and looking around at all the charm and history there. And even just walking around the building was amazing, too. Could have spent another day in this area of town.
I mean, can you get more charming and cultural and fancy than this??
Tanner and I walked around to tour the ballroom, balconies, bar, courtyards, etc. The place use to be a super rich person's house and then was converted to a restaurant. There is tile all along the exterior and interior of the home.
You can see the building sloping on one side, as it is literally sinking into the ground year after year.
On the walk home, we passed some other important landmarks, booths, food stands, and lots of families out enjoying the day together. It was probably the busiest day of hustle and bustle that we witnessed on the trip. I wish we could have been in that area one more day.
Had to rest from all the walking. Really fun to people watch. There were street performers and cute families and vendors everywhere. The family got used to waiting for me, which I appreciated greatly.
Here's a good example of sinking buildings!
Mexico City was way more amazing than we expected and I'm so glad we took our friend's advice (Asia, Genine, and Adriane) to visit. I think it is one of the best kept secrets among Americans of amazing places to experience. In Mexico City, you get the Victorian architecture, castles, and classic cathedrals of Europe, the ancient ruins that rival with Egypt and Rome, exotic animals stranger than Australia, climate that combines dessert and the tropics of Asia, incredible art and modern architecture like that of New York and France, native foods and cultures that teach and demand respect, and literally every type of food that you could want, made to perfection!
We all agreed that we want to come back again!