México… Why Do I Feel As I Do??

 ¿Qué onda?…. from the Wandering Berkmans!

While I put this title in as a joke (it’s a line from the song “Mexico” from the 1940’s) , come to think of it we and our family/friends did experience many “feels” during this past visit to Mexico City, both physically and emotionally.   Yes, there were the stomach upsets that lasted for days (this time Don was the one on antibiotics and friend Laura dealt with the same from day 2 on during her week stay), Javi presented with artificially high blood pressure due to the altitude (7400 feet!) and I left with a jumbly gut and two banged-up fingers.  But! But!  We felt all the feels with Javi’s fantastic visit over Christmas, this time with their terrific friend Zeiva (also Mexican!).     And with Don and Javi boning up on their Spanish we all grew closer to Tavo, our newest member of the family (wedding date October 3, 2026!)!    Not to mention all the special outings we had with Tavo and Zach, both in CDMX and in other cities in Mexico.  Enough of the intro— let’s get into it!

Our wonderful friend Laura (and her friend Gail) flew into the city to stay in our place while we traipsed around the country (more on that below).  Unfortunately we just had one day with Laura and missed Gail all together but we were happy to hear they loved their time in CDMX. 

Laura received the quintessential  “Welcome to Mexico!” gift on her first morning as we were riding in a taxi to the airport — the earthquake alarm sounded!  We eventually heard from her from the roof of our building— she hadn’t heard the alarm but did hear someone in the street yelling.  Thankfully we had casually spoken the night before about the possibility of an earthquake during her visit and what to do should the alarm go off.  

As this post’s SOL— the earthquake alarm experience.   Below is one of the many scenes we saw from the taxi of people outside in their pijamas, waiting to go back inside.  In the end, the quake was strongest in Puerto Vallarta, at 5 and change on the Richter.  

Just when you think you’ve seen all the architecture in CDMX there is to see we came across this very unusual building, both in shape and facade.  The mural work on the  Poliforum Cultural Siqueiros is the largest in the world, with an area of over 2,700 ft.  The building houses theaters and galleries where you can see more of David Alfaro Siqueiros dramatic work. 

After many years of planning to go, we finally made it inside the Cárcamo de Dolores in Chapultapec 2, so excited to trek through the tunnel under the impressive fountain outside.  While the murals by Diego Rivera were impressive, we were disappointed to find out that the tunnel is in fact closed off.  Who fed us this lie??  

At least this one didn’t disappoint— also on our list for years was a visit to the Biblioteca Vasaconceles with its hanging book shelves.  Soooo many shelves!  To walk through the aisles is a book-lovers dream and the construction of the interior makes it the perfect shot for the 'Gram.  Here is Don on a mission to find his brother’s book and place it front and center.  

We knew about Frida Kahlo’s Blue House but the Museo Casa Roja just came on the scene as the other house to visit to explore more of the family life of this storied artist.  Also in Coyoacan, visiting this beautiful home gave us an inside look on the history of the Kahlo family and how close and supportive they all were to each other through letters, photographs and memorabilia.  Definitely worth a visit.   

We caught a concert by the musician Lieva from Madrid at the Auditorio Nacional.  With a vaguely George Harrison vibe to him, we got into his sound.  The crowd, of course, knew every word to every song.  Check him out here.

I can never resist a picture of Tenochtitlán, the origin of Mexico City in the 14th century.  Featured  in the Parque Nacional Cerro de la Estrella Tenochtitlán, this was one of the best we’ve seen, with the many canals easily identified.  The white rectangle in the center is the Zócalo.  Built on a lake, it’s no wonder that parts of the city are said to be sinking 1.5 feet annually!  

I feel like this was the stay where we visited all the places we’ve missed— like the Palacio Nacional.  Located in the Zócalo (see above!), it houses not only the government offices of la Presidenta Claudia Sheinbaum but the residences of  her family as well.   The fantastic tour was understandably very careful to not allow us to take pictures of the building where she lives but once we hit the extensive murals by Diego Rivera the gloves were off.  Spanning over  multiple walls he painted the history of Mexico from 1521 to 1930. 

It was notable how lovingly he portrayed the creativity and day to day rhythm of indigenous life and (spoiler alert)…... 

...how he portrayed  Columbus as if rife with syphilis.   There he is in the foreground  with the rust-colored jacket,  knobby knees and oh-so-grey complexion. 

The Zócalo is also known as the Plaza de la Constitucion where protests are held, festivals are celebrated, concerts take place and as shown in the pic below, art is exhibited.  This one featured hundreds of nopales (cacti)  painted by artists from all over Mexico.  

Sunday in the park is big for Mexican families and it isn’t just trees and a playground— vendors pull out all the stops and provide trampolines, snacks galore, electric kid-size cars and, my favorite, kiosks where kids can paint their favorite cartoon character on paper or pottery.  

Another on our wish list—the ever-elusive Casa Luis Barragán.  Only 25 tickets a day are released online so these literally took us years to snag.  Barragán was an architect of the 40’s  who designed and built this house for someone else but decided in the end to move in himself.  Accents of hot pink and gold as shown below are just a few of the many colors featured around the house.  Fan of hand rails on the stairs?  Apparently he wasn’t.  We thoroughly enjoyed this tour, only 6 years in the making! 

How many times had we passed the Museo de Arte Moderno on our many visits to Chapultapec 1 and never walked in?  Shows that often you need to play tour guide in your “own” city before you see some of its highlights.  The kids lured us in and it was terrific both inside where we saw among other pieces Kahlo’s Las Dos Fridas  and outside in the gardens an array of truly creative sculpture.  

The stars did not align for poor Don on this trip—he found the baby Jesus doll in his piece of Rosca de Reyes not once but on two separate occasions!  That meant he was required to buy all the tamales for the family on Feb 2 when we went to the Feria de Tamal.  He was not pleased.    

But we were— look at some of these options!  

My fav was the chiapaneco (shown below) loaded with plantain, egg, raisins, mole and a host of other stuff while Don was perfectly satisfied with the fresa (strawberry) option…. usually reserved for the kids lol.  No cumin so it was safe!

Truth be told, I nursed a sore belly that night from corn-overload (oh yeah, the multitude of atole drinks are also corn-based) but it hurt so good.  And I even got to keep the jarra (mug)! Thanks, DB, for footing the bill!

As is our want, Zach and DB planned a “trip within a trip” for the 4 of us to explore the Yucatan in the newly inaugurated and sparkly clean Tren Maya!  Fully completed in 2024, it connects 5 states in the Yucatan peninsula, highlighting Mayan culture and archeological sites.  

But first— we needed to get to the peninsula.  Mexico is a big country!  So first a flight to Merida where we spent 6 terrific days exploring this beautiful city, still all dressed up for the holidays.  

How lucky were we to be there at the same time as good friends Gina and Justin (from Seattle and Athens fame!) as they were spending a month in the city.  

The Palacio Municipal at night.  Gina and Justin told us that on January 6, el Día de los Reyes (Three Kings Day), fireworks were shooting out and raining down from this building!  So sorry we missed it?? 

Taking a bad and making it a good, this tremendous sinkhole, the Cenote Ka’ Kutzal,  is now a water garden museum located just outside the local Costco.  

First stop on Tren Maya— Izamal, one of the 83 Pueblos Mágicos in Mexico.  Just outside the city are the remains of  the Pirámide de Kinich Kakmó.  Tavo and Zach braved the climb, as many others did, but wisely only went up halfway.  Those steps were steep and crumbly!  

Gotta go to Chichén Itzá!  The site is impressive for sure and includes so much more than just the main pyramid but oy is it chock full of tourists… yes, like us.  Back in the day people were allowed to climb the structure but not anymore— after seeing so many struggle to climb the deteriorating stairs of the pyramid in Izamal  we weren’t surprised.  

 On to the coastal city of Campeche  where we were able to enjoy both a small walled city and  spectacular sunsets along the water.  Poor DB was sick for 2 days of our short stay so he (and I as nurse) missed the day when Tavo and Zach visited 4 museums in one day.  (Thanks, DB, for giving me an excuse— that's an itinerary for the young!)

Between the music played and the light show they had us dancing in front of this cool fountain  on the promenade.  

Another train trip took us to Toluca where we strolled the streets, took in the main plaza, stumbled upon an art exhibition of one of Toluca’s native sons...

... ate the requisite torta at La Vaquita Negra del Portal 

and the highlight— at sundown we visited the Cosmovitral Jardin Botanical.  A former marketplace, this art nouveau structure is now a botanical garden with every wall and ceiling filled with these incredible stained art masterpieces showing the different seasons.  Here are just two of the gazillion  pictures we took of the place.  Truly breathtaking.   

And as an added bonus— from the train station we had this great view of the volcano Nevado de Toluca.  It’s said that 25,000 years ago a tremendous eruption blew the cone off the top of the volcano, shaving off 3000 ft of height and leaving it with this crater.   Tavo used to visit the lakes inside the crater as a kid but the site has been closed since August 2025.    

Muchisimas gracias, Mexico, for a wonderful 7 weeks!

We’ve been in Cadiz, Spain since February 8 and are throughly enjoying it.  We’re breaking with tradition and staying within the walled medieval city as opposed to the outskirts and that has proven to be pretty darn swell.  And with the beach a 15 min walk away and temps in the 50’s in February... hold on….. could this be our new chosen winter destination??? You’ll have to wait and see until the next blog!

Happy spring to all and be well!  And our apologies to those who abhor DST— we get it!  

Thanks for following along! 

Don and Monica