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Merida, Capital of the Yucatan

By
Greg and Cindy Johnston
-
Merida historic center dancing

Hola Merida

After taking a short 3 hour ADO bus ride from Campeche at the cost of 613 pesos, we arrived in Merida, capital of Yucatan. We booked a two-week stay at an Airbnb (Pequeña Riviera – Bedroom, swimming pool, terrace) in Grand Santa Fe, a suburb just north of Merida with a pool and cooking facilities. It was time to sit back and relax, enjoy the pool, and enjoy some home cooking.

Airbnb apartment outdoor living with a pool
Airbnb Apartment

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Truth be known, to save a little money as well, as our last couple of months have gone a little over our budget. We find it can be challenging to balance the tourist/traveler aspect; we know that being away from home for 5+ months, you can’t afford to play tourist all the time as the costs add up quickly. From our place in Santa Fe, we could catch the bus to Merida’s central historic district, as most buses traveled to that location. Bus price 8 pesos each, a real deal. Getting back to Santa Fe was not always that easy; we looked for a bus that said Caucel on it; this would normally get us close to home.

Excursions from Merida

Merida is a hub of sorts for side excursions to other outlying attractions. We did look into taking some of these excursions in but thought them to be rather expensive. Merida sees a lot of cruise excursion traffic, and therefore I believe that’s why they charge so much. Some of the excursions are to local area Cenotes which you can swim or go diving at. Nearby Mayan ruins Dzibilchaltun (just north of Merida), Chichen Itza (east), and Xumal (west of Merida) all fascinating sites and worth the visit. There are caves south of Xumal worth a visit called Grutas de Loltun, a must-see in the area.

Cute Apartment in Historic Chem Bech

After two weeks at our pool guesthouse, it was time to move to Merida; we had booked a week at another Airbnb (Cute apartment in historic Chem Bech). From this location, we were to experience the real Merida that you hear about. As it turned out, we lost several days due to stomach issues, and life goes on. We made the best of it but never got to experience all that Merida had to offer. We had a small Mercado near where we did some of our shopping and a bar nearby to visit and enjoy a Chelada and even tried a Michelada.

Enjoying a couple of Chelada beers at a Merida bar
Chelada

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Palacio Canton (Palace)

Canton Palacio used to be a family residence that has been renovated into a Mayan museum, where ancient Mayan artifacts are on display. The cost of entry is 55 pesos per person. Great value to see some extraordinary pieces of Mayan history as it goes back several millennia. I find that I’m fascinated by the history and culture that surrounds these artifacts. Growing up in western Canada, we do not have much history, and nothing compares to these displays. I highly recommend visiting this Museum, besides walking the Paseo de Montejo is an experience all to its self.

Mayan stelae chief with headdress
Mayan rain god Chuc at Palacio Cantón
Mayan figure at Palacio Cantón
Mayan figure piece with lots of color at Palacio Cantón
Mayan mask stone piece at Palacio Cantón
Mayan human stone figure at Palacio Cantón
Depiction of what a Mayan city would look like
Picture of what a Mayan city would have looked like.

Merida’s Zocalo

Merida’s main square is always a hub of activities; it is beautiful, comfortable, relaxing, busy with sights and shopping. Saturday evening, make sure that you are at the Zocalo to watch the Pok Ta Pok game (Mayan ball game); it starts around 8:30 pm but gets there by 7:30 to get a good seat. The game gives you an insight into how the game was played back when the Mayans used to play for real, do not miss it as it is something to see. Sundays are very busy with entertainment and local food stalls, tempting your taste buds with the Yucatan flavors. Their many other things to do and look at not from the main square, so take the time to explore.

Mexico City venders
Mayan Pok Ta Pok demonstration Merida
Merida historic center at night cotton candy vendor
Merida historic center at night shoe shine
Merida historic center dancing

Off to Progreso

We leave Merida after 3 weeks. Our stay in this gorgeous city was truly delightful; people are friendly, the historic center is entertaining. But it’s time to leave, just up the road to Progreso, a short 1-hour bus ride using Autoprogreso.

Final Thoughts On Merida

  • We did enjoy Merida, downtown history, the Zocalo can be busy with activities. We would recommend, a great place to go visit some of the attractions nearby. Chichen Itza, Uxmal, Cenotes

Our Positives

  • The museums, Mayan and Canton Palacio
  • Friendly people
  • Foods from street food to fine restaurants
  • Walkable

Our Negatives

  • It is a City

Would have, Could have, Should have

  • Missed out on the Mayan Museum as it was closed when we went.

Next Stop

The next stop is Progreso for six weeks, the end of our winter away.

Support Our Blog And It’s Unique Travel Content

You can support our site by using the links through our Travel Essential links. If you purchase items through our links to Amazon and others we will receive a small commission on each purchase. There are no extra or hidden costs to you. These commissions assist us in our travel so that we can provide unique content to you through our blog posts. So thank you.

Recommended Travel Essential

Cindy and I call ourselves nomadic so with this lifestyle, we use certain essentials to make this way of life easier and more comfortable. With this in mind, we have composed a list of what we feel are essentials and some tips you might use to plan or take your next travel adventure.

Accommodation Options While Traveling The World

  • Booking.com is one of our go to’s when we are looking for a place to stay for a couple of days or longer
  • Agoda.com we find is best to use when in Southeast Asia, but hey you never know what you might find
  • Airbnb.com used to be our go-to but some of their cancelation policies are reasonable, give them a try as well

Travel Insurance

We always travel with some sort of travel Insurance be it just medical or complete trip coverage. We use Heymondo as we find their costs reasonable. Remember don’t travel and without coverage, the savings are not worth the possible costs.

Some links on this page are affiliate links, meaning if you buy a product using our link, we may earn a commission. This commission comes at no additional cost to you. Disclaimer.

Campeche, the Fortified Spanish City

By
Greg and Cindy Johnston
-

Our stay in Cuidad Del Carmen was over, it was time to travel the 206 km to Campeche, courtesy of the Mexican bus line ADO. Arriving in Campeche, this historic fortified Spanish city, it was off to catch a taxi to our hotel. We used Booking.com to make our reservation at the Hotel Maya Ah Kim Pech, centrally located within Campeche’s historic walls. We had 9 days booked in Campeche, this fortified Spanish city. Like most places we had booked on this part of our Mexican journey, the stay would be longer than needed, but we have learned to make the best of it by learning more about the culture and history.

Monument to the Fisherman in known roundabout of the city Campeche
Street dining at tables in evening
Spanish walls around historic district Campeche
Day pic Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception Cathedrals two towers
Bronze Monument donkey pulling barrel on cart with man the city Campeche

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Historic Campeche is a beautiful fortified old Spanish city, with lots of history complete with the magic of real pirates that tried to besiege the city. Making a point of visiting both of the Spanish fortified forts located within the city, San José el Alto, and Fuerte-Museo San Miguel. Furthermore, the historical artifacts that visiting these two forts offers, to me, are amazing. There is little history to be visited in Western Canada; it just isn’t there.

San José el Alto fort

We head out from our hotel toward San José el Alto fort; it turns out to be a 1 1/2 hr walk. In addition, there are many other interesting views along the way to San José el Alto fort, which are interesting. San José el Alto fort itself was fascinating, complete with structures, artifacts of the time, and canons everywhere. Furthermore, there is a museum that you can walk through, which is fascinating and well worth the time.

Fuerte San Jose el Alto moat
Fuerte San Jose el Alto looking over cannons
Fuerte San Jose el Alto looking cannons to fort

Fuerte-Museo San Miguel

The next fort on the list to visit was Fuerte-Museo San Miguel. We had heard that this fort was closed for renovations, but we could not confirm that it was indeed closed after looking online and talking to the front desk. We decided to check it out for ourselves as we had lots of time on our hands and nothing else to do. So off we headed in the direction of Fuerte-Museo San Miguel. The walk to Fuerte-Museo San Miguel was an hour and a half.

Arriving at Fuerte-Museo San Migu, we did indeed find that the fort was closed for renovations. Disappointed that we could not enter the fort, we thought that we could tour the outside of the fort since we were here. We took advantage of the fort as a backdrop and took lots of pictures. The forts themselves are truly awe-inspiring; they allow us to glimpse the past. Maybe for a moment, imagine what it took to build these fortresses and then occupy them in defense of a city; it truly makes you wonder what life would have been like back in the 1500s.

Both of these forts help make Campeche a fortified city that could protect itself from the constant threat of Pirates.

Portrait of Cindy looking to the side in front of stone wall
Fuerte de San Miguel showing outer wall and look out
Greg in front of outer walls at Fuerte de San Miguel
Mote at Fuerte de San Miguel
Mote view at Fuerte de San Miguel

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Cristo Negro de San Román

On our trip to Fort of San Miguel, we passed by the church of San Roman, the church associated with Cristo Negro de San Román (Black Christ). This story/legend is truly amazing.

Creation of the Black Christ Italy
Black Christ transported to Campeche
Black Crist arriving at Campeche
Black-Christ-Iglesia-de-San-Roman
Black-Christ-displayed-at-Iglesia-de-San-Roman

Our hotel was a half block to central park, a place for everyone to meet up. Moreover, it was an excellent place to grab our morning coffee and a pastry, sit and watch the people pass by. Not only this, but pigeons frequented the park in large numbers waiting for a child to throw food out to them or play a game of tag.

Campeche center pigeons flying

One of the things about the central park in the historic district is that they have a video presentation depicting the area’s history, a must-see, in the evenings at 7:30 ish. YouTube, Campeche, Mayan History, Spanish Arrival, Day of Dead and Mardi gras

B&W Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception Cathedral
Independence Square lite at night Campeche

Edzna a Mayan Ruin

Our hotel had a small pool to lounge around. One hot afternoon while at the pool, we ran into a couple of other Canucks from Golden, BC. (Larry and Carol Lindequist). Larry and Carol are winter snowbird travelers as well. Being that they had just returned from touring Edzna, a nearby Mayan ruin, and were overwhelmed with the number of structures and lack of tourists. It sounded great, so we decided we would have to go and see for ourselves. Additionally, they told us how and where to catch a collectivo to Edzna. The entrance fee was minimal compared to the more popular Mayan ruins.

Edzna is truly a must-see, as it has many awe-inspiring structures. Because of this, we took many pictures using the Mayan ruins as our backdrop. As a matter of fact, another great part about this site is that there are very few tourists, which is great for taking pictures and enjoying the solitude of it all.

Edzna 5 Storey Temple

Mercado

Just outside the historic walls of Campeche, we found a large Mercado with shops and food vendors. In fact, we had a couple of breakfasts there, delicious. To say nothing of the tamales as they were delicious and inexpensive.  As a result, we enjoy seeking out the small local spots.

One afternoon while walking inside the historic center, we found this quaint local bar. For every round of beer bought, you got a round of very tasty appies.  This place was inexpensive and had a real, local flair to it.

Greg enjoying appies and a cerveza local pub
Cindy enjoying appies and a cerveza local pub
Enjoying appies at a local bar

There are many other sites to see, such as small and personnel museums and murals on the walls.

portrait of Manuel Lee Chang, known locally as "el Chino
Museum stone piece
Calakmul jade mask
A Mayan sculpture is displayed in the Museum of Archaeology of Campeche

Final Thoughts On Campeche

  • We enjoyed our stay in Campeche, as there is a lot of Spanish history associated with this city and Mayan. The Spanish forts were a wonder to see, and a trip out to the Mayan ruins of Edzna was amazing as there was no one there, had the place to yourself. We overbooked our stay nine days when 4 days would have been lots.

Our Positives

  • Spanish forts San Miguel and San José el Alto.
  • The proximity to the Mayan ruins of Edzna
  • Historical city
  • Mayan museum

Our Negatives

  • We overbooked our stay, nine days when 4 days would have been lots.

Would have, Could have, Should have

  • Should have stayed another day.
  • Taken in the sunset tour

Next Stop

Well, we are off to Merida for three weeks, two weeks outside of Merida at an Airbnb with a pool that should be nice just to lay back and relax. This followed by another week in Merida experiencing the city itself.

Support Our Blog And It’s Unique Travel Content

You can support our site by using the links through our Travel Essential links. If you purchase items through our links to Amazon and others we will receive a small commission on each purchase. There are no extra or hidden costs to you. These commissions assist us in our travel so that we can provide unique content to you through our blog posts. So thank you.

Recommended Travel Essential

Cindy and I call ourselves nomadic so with this lifestyle, we use certain essentials to make this way of life easier and more comfortable. With this in mind, we have composed a list of what we feel are essentials and some tips you might use to plan or take your next travel adventure.

Accommodation Options While Traveling The World

  • Booking.com is one of our go to’s when we are looking for a place to stay for a couple of days or longer
  • Agoda.com we find is best to use when in Southeast Asia, but hey you never know what you might find
  • Airbnb.com used to be our go-to but some of their cancelation policies are reasonable, give them a try as well

Travel Insurance

We always travel with some sort of travel Insurance be it just medical or complete trip coverage. We use Heymondo as we find their costs reasonable. Remember don’t travel and without coverage, the savings are not worth the possible costs.

Some links on this page are affiliate links, meaning if you buy a product using our link, we may earn a commission. This commission comes at no additional cost to you. Disclaimer.

Ciudad Del Carmen, Pearl of the Gulf

By
Greg and Cindy Johnston
-
Ciudad Del Carmen sign post

After arriving in Ciudad Del Carmen at night after a long 10 1/2 hr the ADO bus ride from Veracruz, catching a taxi in front of the bus terminal to our hotel La Venta Inn, we booked through Booking.com. Cindy and I picked Ciudad Del Carmen to stay in as it offered sun and beach, which we both enjoy—having reserved our stay for nine days, which was probably 4 to 5 days too long in hindsight. This seems to be a theme with us to overbook our visits. You need to do more research or fly by the seat of your pants more often. I must admit I’m a lot more comfortable having places booked ahead of time rather than spur the moment, and this is something we will have to improve and change.

Ciudad Del Carmen

Our hotel room was about 1 km away from the beach area and other places that we may have wanted to see, this was not really a problem for us as we do enjoy walking. You never know what you will run across when walking through a town, a hidden gem maybe.

Seagulls & Pelicans sitting posts in ocean

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The City of Del Carmen doesn’t have that much to offer the general tourist. We did a lot of walking around town looking at the various sites; visited the local museum, which we did find to be interesting. Cindy and I visited the local Mercado to enjoy some local foods; had a delicious soup dish (not sure what it was called) here that we both enjoyed. We tend to get many odd looks as we are generally the only non-locals in some of these establishments, not a bad thing.

Locals try to help you out with food choices. Cindy and I have noticed that people are kind and have a general interest in your safety and that you enjoy their way of life, if only for but a brief moment. This holds, on one of our walks through a local area, we came across a couple of younger boys who informed us that we might be in the wrong area of town and that if we didn’t want to be robbed of our camera to leave the way we came as a couple of known thief’s were just up the road and in the direction we were heading. We told them that we appreciated the information, quickly reversed our direction, and made our way back to where we had come from.

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Enjoying Beaches And Seafood

The beaches are very welcoming, and we spent lots of time enjoying the tranquility of having this space pretty much to ourselves. We enjoyed the beach and took time to photograph objects or moments that interested us. The water itself was murky with the steady wave action, very shallow. We always enjoyed ourselves; we had several lovely dinners at one of the restaurants on the beach. What’s a beautiful walk on the beach without stopping and enjoying a Corona’s and getting lost in the moment.

Sand dollar on beach
Cindy & I sitting on beach enjoying a couple of beer
Pelican waiting on the fisherman
prawn-dinner at beach restaurant
Cindy & I selfie on beach looking out in to waves

We would recommend visiting the City of Del Carmen as it offers a nice place to take a break on your way to other locations, two to three days at most. Enjoy the beach and the seafood; you can never get too much of either.

Fish dinner at beach restaurant
Couple of drinks at beach restaurant
B&W pic Cindy with shell to ear

Final Thoughts On Ciudad Del Carmen

  • We enjoyed our time in Ciudad Del Carmen as the beaches are beautiful and the seafood was truly a delight. We booked 9 days here which was far too long, 3 – 4 days would be more than enough time to appreciate this Mexican city.

Our Positives

  • The beaches and the seafood are well worth the visit

Our Negatives

  • Booked to long, not enough to keep busy and very little history to see.

Would have, Could have, Should have

  • Booked 3-4 days

Next Stop

Well, we are off to the City Campeche, looking forward to Spanish and Mayan history.

Support Our Blog And It’s Unique Travel Content

You can support our site by using the links through our Travel Essential links. If you purchase items through our links to Amazon and others we will receive a small commission on each purchase. There are no extra or hidden costs to you. These commissions assist us in our travel so that we can provide unique content to you through our blog posts. So thank you.

Recommended Travel Essential

Cindy and I call ourselves nomadic so with this lifestyle, we use certain essentials to make this way of life easier and more comfortable. With this in mind, we have composed a list of what we feel are essentials and some tips you might use to plan or take your next travel adventure.

Accommodation Options While Traveling The World

  • Booking.com is one of our go to’s when we are looking for a place to stay for a couple of days or longer
  • Agoda.com we find is best to use when in Southeast Asia, but hey you never know what you might find
  • Airbnb.com used to be our go-to but some of their cancelation policies are reasonable, give them a try as well

Travel Insurance

We always travel with some sort of travel Insurance be it just medical or complete trip coverage. We use Heymondo as we find their costs reasonable. Remember don’t travel and without coverage, the savings are not worth the possible costs.

Some links on this page are affiliate links, meaning if you buy a product using our link, we may earn a commission. This commission comes at no additional cost to you. Disclaimer.

Veracruz, Port City Founded In The 16th Century

By
Greg and Cindy Johnston
-
San Juan de Ulua Veracruze blog

Veracruz, a port city, was founded in the 16th century after the landings of Juan de Grijalva, who landed on an islet that he baptized with the name of San Juan de Ulúa. Hernán Cortés followed who, touching the mainland in front of the island, founded the Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz. Hernán Cortés was the Spanish conqueror who, at the beginning of the 16th century, led the conquest of the Aztec Empire in Central America.

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Time had run out with our stay in Mexico City. It was time to move on, so we said our goodbyes to Mexico City and boarded the ADO GL bus to VERACRUZ, which would take us 5 ½  hours. Upon arriving in VERACRUZ, we grabbed a taxi, and it was off to find our accommodation. We had used Booking.com to find this 2-bedroom apartment (Inmobiliaria Percales). Our cost to stay here for the next 9 days was reasonable at $278 Canadian (2600 pesos). This location was a cash-only payment, which was unusual as this was the first time we ran across this.

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We got out of the cab and tried the door, but it was locked so I called the owner and he spoke very good English and he told me to go into the hardware store that was right beside the door and a lady would check us in. I went inside while Greg stayed with the luggage and I filled out forms. One problem though, all the forms were in Spanish and they wanted me to sign a contract. I got out my trusty Google translate app to try to read what I was to sign. In the meanwhile, Greg is baking outside in the mid-afternoon heat. Finally, we get the keys and a copy of the contract to take up to our room.

The apartment was very spacious as we walked into the living room through the main door. The dinning room, kitchen was beyond the living room and a terrace past the kitchen. Off to the left of the living room was a bedroom, a bathroom and the master bedroom.  We had air conditioning in the bedrooms. The living room and kitchen had large windows for air flow and a fan. The kitchen had pots & pans, but the non-stick frying pan was all scratched up.

We started out going to restaurants but found this was going to be too expensive for the nine days, so we found a Mercado not that far away, we purchased fresh vegetables, fruit, pork, chicken and some very tasty seafood (fish and prawns). With Veracruz sitting on the gulf coast, seafood was fresh and plentiful. This Mercado was one of the bigger ones that we visited on our trip and had plenty to offer, it was an assault on your senses with all the smells including fresh spices. This was definitely a Mercado that was frequented by the locals and being such, we didn’t see any other gringos here. It makes one wish that one could find selections and freshness like this in Canada, but with regret I have never found such a place. We even had a couple of meals here which were very good and inexpensive.

Veracruz Mercado vegetables
Veracruz Mercado fruit vender
Veracruz Mercado vender spices
Veracruz Mercado pork vender
Veracruz Mercado fish vender

One attraction that we visited and would highly recommend, is to visit San Juan de Ulua, a Spanish fortress. We caught a taxi over to San Juan de Ulua for approx 60 pesos, it is to far to walk and not easy to find. There was a fee of 80 pesos each to enter the fortress.

We found this fortress to be extremely interesting as it dates to the early 1500s, a time when the Spanish had first landed east of this area and went on to defeat the Aztecs. The construction started in 1535 but needed 172 years to complete. The fortress is unique as it was made from some of the corrals of the area; it has a moat around it for protection. We took lots of pictures here as it was so interesting and beautiful. This place has a very interesting history as well as it was also used as a prison.

San Juan de Ulúa Veracruz
San Juan de Ulúa draw bridge
San Juan de Ulúa buildings
San Juan de Ulúa fort exterior
San Juan de Ulúa water view
San Juan de Ulúa exterior walls
San Juan de Ulúa archways

We also went to the Mexico Naval Museum which is located in downtown Veracruz which took about 1.5 hours to tour. They have lots of rooms with history of the Mexican Navy with several scale models of ships. The downside to this tour is that everything was in Spanish, so we didn’t get everything as much out of it as one might have if they speak Spanish.

Lastly, we met a couple from Finland, and they had been to Veracruz before so they told us about an Olympic size swimming pool that they go to. Well, we had to check it out. It was about 4.5 kms away but we decided to walk it anyways. The 1968 Olympics were held in Mexico City, but Veracruz was where the swimming and diving athletes came to compete. We made it to the pool. Greg had to borrow some yoga type shorts as his long shorts were not allowed in the pool. We swam laps in the pool for about an hour before getting out and walking back to our place. It was a good day.

We made several visits to the beach as well, the one located downtown. Always very busy with people and families. You rent chairs and umbrellas on the beach which is inexpensive, and you can order food from the restaurants near by as well as beer. All in all, we did enjoy our visit to Veracruz. Nine days was probably a little to long. There are places to visit near by but like everything there is a cost and the need to pick and choose is always present. Well after nine days in Veracruz it was time to go to our next destination of Cuidad del Carmen.

Veracruz city empty beach

Support Our Blog And It’s Unique Travel Content

You can support our site by using the links through our Travel Essential links. If you purchase items through our links to Amazon and others we will receive a small commission on each purchase. There are no extra or hidden costs to you. These commissions assist us in our travel so that we can provide unique content to you through our blog posts. So thank you.

Recommended Travel Essential

Cindy and I call ourselves nomadic so with this lifestyle, we use certain essentials to make this way of life easier and more comfortable. With this in mind, we have composed a list of what we feel are essentials and some tips you might use to plan or take your next travel adventure.

Accommodation Options While Traveling The World

  • Booking.com is one of our go to’s when we are looking for a place to stay for a couple of days or longer
  • Agoda.com we find is best to use when in Southeast Asia, but hey you never know what you might find
  • Airbnb.com used to be our go-to but some of their cancelation policies are reasonable, give them a try as well

Travel Insurance

We always travel with some sort of travel Insurance be it just medical or complete trip coverage. We use Heymondo as we find their costs reasonable. Remember don’t travel and without coverage, the savings are not worth the possible costs.

Some links on this page are affiliate links, meaning if you buy a product using our link, we may earn a commission. This commission comes at no additional cost to you. Disclaimer.

Mexico City Founded by the Aztecs

By
Greg and Cindy Johnston
-
Cabeza de caballo
Cabeza de caballo

Mexico City was founded by the Aztecs, whose capital city was called Tenochtitlan. Additionally, the Aztecs are believed to have settled in this region in the 13th century. By the early 16th century, the Aztecs had come to rule over some 5 to 6 million people, either by conquest or commerce. Tenochtitlan, at its height, had more than 140,000 inhabitants. The Aztecs were defeated in 1521 by Hernán Cortés, who also founded the port city of Veracruz. After which Cortes destroyed Tenochtitlan, he built Mexico City on its ruins; it quickly became the New World’s premier European center.

Mexico City Fulfills on Dream Destination

Cindy and I were looking forward to visiting Mexico City; you could even say excitedly. We wanted to experience this metropolis, with everything it had to offer. Furthermore, we didn’t want Mexico City to be just a jumping-off point to the rest of Mexico. Our goal was to experience Mexico City and its many wonders.

Indeed the size, and population of Mexico City itself, was something this Canadian country pumpkin had not experienced. The Aztecs and the Spanish all played into the development of this city. Mexico City offers many interesting tourist activities from history, architecture, museums, cosmopolitan style, and people watching. We were not disappointed as all attractions that we visited left us in awe.

Night pic of Hemiciclo a Juarez
Bellas Artes lite up at night
Bellas Artes grounds
Outside Museum del Templo Mayor
Facade of Palacio National Palace

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Mexico City, We’re Ready!

Left Guatemala Friday morning flying with Avianca airlines, the direct flight into Mexico City. A piece of friendly advice is to exchange your monies when leaving Guatemala. Mexico City airport was difficult to exchange and was not favorable. After clearing Mexican customs, we had two priorities.

Firstly, a Mexican sim card for Cindy’s phone, secondly to get some pesos to cover initial costs. We found an AT&T store in the airport and for 200 pesos we got 2GB of data and unlimited calls back to Canada to keep in touch with family.

After that our next step was to find a ride to our accommodations, Hotel Diligencias, located in Mexico City’s historic district. Our stay in Mexico City was 6 days, hoping this would be enough time to experience the sites. We like to use Booking.com, as they progress you through levels to improve your discount rate. Hotel Diligencias being located inside the historic district afforded us the luxury of walking to most locations in the district.

The Front Desk Clerk was extremely helpful and friendly. Additionally, they offered us food and sightseeing suggestions, arranged rides, maps, and spoke English. All these little extras made our stay here welcoming. I would not recommend eating here as the cost was high, and many other nearby locations are less money and tastier.

Be Aware at all Times

Having issues with Cindy’s phone as it could not find the network. So we were off to find an AT&T store in the area, found one located in the historic district. The phone issue took a bit of time to figure out but they got it to work, it had to be registered on the network.

I had taken my phone out while at the AT&T store and when I put it back I must have put it in my back pocket (I know I had it in my front pocket previously). While walking around on the busy sidewalks, I was spat on at the back of the head. I found it odd at the time that these two young women had commented and were concerned over this incident.

We stopped not 50 feet from this location for Cindy to use the bathroom; at this point, I noticed that my cell phone was not in my pocket, not a good thing. We determined that the spit was a distraction while these 2 ladies stole my phone out of my pocket. On the whole, not the best first impression of Mexico City!

Chapultepec Castle

Wanting to visit Castillo de Chapultepec we talked to our hotel clerk about arranging transportation, a taxi arranged to pick us up in the morning. Chapultepec Castle is located in the park of the same name upon a hilltop that overlooks Mexico City.

The castle itself is majestic with marble floors, intricate stained glass windows, and full of rich history. The walk up to the Castle is a bit of a climb. With all the hills that we had walked in San Pedro, it was no match for us.

We would certainly recommend seeing Chapultepec Castle as it is completely furnished with authentic-time period furnishings of its past. I believe the cost of entry was 80 pesos, and it took us approximately 2 hours to see all. Next was the National Museum of Anthropology; just a short walk away from the Castle.

Dinning room at Chapultepec Castle
Room with piano at Chapultepec Castle
Bedroom at Chapultepec Castle
Beautiful stain glass woman at Chapultepec Castle
Dually pistol at Chapultepec Castle
Grounds with fountain Chapultepec Castle
Carriage at Chapultepec Castle

National Museum of Anthropology

The National Museum of Anthropology is a must-see when visiting Mexico City. The Museum of Anthropology is imposing in every sense of the word. Many interesting and informative displays, including hundreds or thousands of artifacts from the Aztecs and the Mayan civilizations.

Our time at the Museum of Anthropology was a little over half of a day, allowing us just enough time to view all the presented displays and information. I would recommend a full day, take your time, and let yourself be fully engulfed by the displays and information presented. In addition, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see such a comprehensive display of Mayan and Aztec artifacts. The cost of entry is 80 pesos each.

statue of woman from Tenochtitlan
statue of from Tenochtitlan
The 16th century statue of the Aztec god Xochipilli
Chac-Mool statue originating from the Temple of the planet Venus, Chichen Itza
Head piece from Tenochtitlan

Paseo de la Reforma

When in Mexico City make the time and enjoy a nice stroll down the iconic avenue Paseo De la Reforma. Here you will find many interesting and famous landmarks. Such as Angel of the Independence, Cuauhtémoc—the last Aztec emperor, Diana the Huntress Fountain, and many others.

Located not too far from this avenue Reforma is yet another landmark Monument to the Revolution. Here you can purchase a ticket to view the internal skeleton of this structure and then ride up an elevator to the top of the monument. The views are worth the price of admission. The cost of this particular attraction is 90 pesos each, I believe.

Statue of Christopher Columbus, Paseo de la Reforma, Mexico City
Monumento A La Revolucion
Angel of the Independence Mexico City
The Huntress Diana Fountain

Zocalo, Mexico City’s Main Square

Mexicos City Zocalo is located in the heart of the area known as the Historic Center of Mexico City. Additionally, the Spanish conquerors chose the Zocalo location to be established in an area close to what was previously the political and religious center of Mexico-Tenochtitlan, capital of the Mexica.

Mexico City’s Zocalo is a park square that consumes a whole city block and is designed to gather family, community, and special events. Around the Zocalo are the Cathedral Metropolitan de la Cuidad de Mexico, Museo del Temple Mayor, Museo Nacional de las Culturas, and others.

Even though it was January, there were still many Christmas decorations around Zocalo, making the area so colorful and vibrant. Very beautiful to see.

Zocalo street view with xmas lights
Zocalo street view with xmas lights displayed
Christmas lights Mexico city main street off of main square
Greg & Cindy selfie Christmas lights Mexico city
Vendor selling balloons

Churches, Places of Wonder And Beauty

The churches located in the historic district are utterly amazing and a must-see; you don’t need to be religious to appreciate the splendor. In fact, we visited several churches in the historic district, Metropolitan Cathedral along with Santo Domingo, both magnificent churches and awe-inspiring. Myself, I was brought up a Catholic, but Cindy had no such upbringing. Never the less we were both taken back by the sheer beauty and the deep feelings of God’s majestic presence in these houses of worship.

Metropolitan Cathedral looking toward altar
Metropolitan Cathedral organ pipes
Metropolitan Cathedral alter
santo domingo church - jesus

Palacio de Bella Artes

Palacio de Bella Artes is a prominent cultural center in Mexico City located in the historic district. In addition, it is a visually stunning building inside and out. This cultural center houses famous paintings and artifacts and performances of Ballet, Jazz, and Theater.

There is an expansive park on one side of the building where we found a food market set up on the weekend (where we ate grande burritos, tacos, churros, fries, etc…), vendors selling their wares, and other showings off their talents (juggling, magicians and local theatrical talents)—a magical atmosphere.

Palace De Bellas Artes horseman outside
sculptures on Palace De Bellas Artes
Palace De Bellas Artes, highlighting top

Historic District, Sights

We spent 6 full days and thoroughly enjoyed our visit and will be back to touch on places that we missed and there are many. Here are some interesting picks of the Historic District.

Zocalo, square Mexican flag
The House of Tiles Mexico City
Bronze art women's top torso sitting on bottom showing egg
Stone sculpture top of building 29 Av Francisco I. Madero
Top of building 29 Av Francisco I. Madero
Stone sculpture of priest with women on robe
Bronze art women's laying naked on side

Support Our Blog And It’s Unique Travel Content

You can support our site by using the links through our Travel Essential links. If you purchase items through our links to Amazon and others we will receive a small commission on each purchase. There are no extra or hidden costs to you. These commissions assist us in our travel so that we can provide unique content to you through our blog posts. So thank you.

Recommended Travel Essential

Cindy and I call ourselves nomadic so with this lifestyle, we use certain essentials to make this way of life easier and more comfortable. With this in mind, we have composed a list of what we feel are essentials and some tips you might use to plan or take your next travel adventure.

Accommodation Options While Traveling The World

  • Booking.com is one of our go to’s when we are looking for a place to stay for a couple of days or longer
  • Agoda.com we find is best to use when in Southeast Asia, but hey you never know what you might find
  • Airbnb.com used to be our go-to but some of their cancelation policies are reasonable, give them a try as well

Travel Insurance

We always travel with some sort of travel Insurance be it just medical or complete trip coverage. We use Heymondo as we find theirs costs reasonable. Remember don’t travel and without coverage, the savings are not worth the possible costs.

Some links on this page are affiliate links, meaning if you buy a product using our link, we may earn a commission. This commission comes at no additional cost to you. Disclaimer.

Antigua Home To The Spanish Of Old

By
Greg and Cindy Johnston
-
Santa Catalina Arch, Antigua Guatemala

Antigua a UNESCO World Heritage site. Antigua Guatemala, home to the Spanish of old that has plenty of unique experiences. Walking is a good means in which to experience the local sites. These include architecture, museums, churches, and many tours. These should keep you busy. If you want to converse with the locals there are many places in town that teach Spanish.

Antigua has lots of accommodation choices, hostels, hotels along with Airbnb’s. We like to use Airbnb ourselves as hostels are not our thing and the cost is generally less expensive using Airbnb then going with hotels. Everything you read about Antigua said to stay here as it is a safe and charming city. It is also a hub of transportation and tour packages to get to most destinations while you are in Guatemala.

We stayed in Antigua on 3 separate occasions. Firstly when we arrived in Guatemala on our way to San Pedro. Then again coming from El Paredon on the west coast on our way to Tikal. Lastly when flying out of Guatemala onto our next destination Mexico City.

We stayed at the same Airbnb Apt! shuttle from airport, best view in town each time, all booked separately.  We used this Airbnb’s shuttle service when we arrived and departed Guatemala. Very convenient and reasonably priced (maybe not the cheapest), shuttles are cheaper but you feel like sardines in a tin can. Antigua, home to Spanish of old for us, very interesting experience as the sites are so amazing (history and architecture). The people are so friendly. We were here around Christmas on one occasion. With the Christmas lights in the central park all light up. This was so nice to see as there was no snow or minus temperatures around to detract from the experience. We are from Canada after all.

Street view through Santa Catalina Arch, Antigua Guatemala
Cathedral of San Jose ruins antigua guatemala
Santa Catalina Arch, Antigua Guatemala
Francisco el Grande ruins Anigua Guatemala,
Francisco el Grande church Antigua Guatemala,
Central square fountain Christmas lights with ballons in forground
Convento de las Capuchinas Antigua Guatemal
Inside iglesia la Merced antigua guatemala
Iglesia San Pedro (Church of Saint Peter), Antigua

Support Our Blog And It’s Unique Travel Content

You can support our site by using the links through our Travel Essential links. If you purchase items through our links to Amazon and others we will receive a small commission on each purchase. There are no extra or hidden costs to you. These commissions assist us in our travel so that we can provide unique content to you through our blog posts. So thank you.

Recommended Travel Essential

Cindy and I call ourselves nomadic so with this lifestyle, we use certain essentials to make this way of life easier and more comfortable. With this in mind, we have composed a list of what we feel are essentials and some tips you might use to plan or take your next travel adventure.

Accommodation Options While Traveling The World

  • Booking.com is one of our go to’s when we are looking for a place to stay for a couple of days or longer
  • Agoda.com we find is best to use when in Southeast Asia, but hey you never know what you might find
  • Airbnb.com used to be our go-to but some of their cancelation policies are reasonable, give them a try as well

Travel Insurance

We always travel with some sort of travel Insurance be it just medical or complete trip coverage. We use Heymondo as we find their costs reasonable. Remember don’t travel and without coverage, the savings are not worth the possible costs.

Some links on this page are affiliate links, meaning if you buy a product using our link, we may earn a commission. This commission comes at no additional cost to you. Disclaimer.

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