Day 1 Mexico City, Mexico
Landed on time, walked to Pantitlan metro station and arrived at our Airbnb right at the 3 PM check in time.
Dropped off our stuff, then went to Los 4 Ases (recommended by our host) for lunch. The music was loud, so we sat on the balcony and enjoyed the sounds of the 4 PM party crowd inside.
Walked to the farmacia that was allegedly an outlet for SuperBoletos to pick up our concert tickets for the following night. They told us that they weren't an outlet, but to try the Valbuena branch.
We took a metro to that branch, only to find that it no longer exists. Luckily, there was a Soriana hipermercado in the strip mall, so we bought breakfast supplies and a bag of washed spinach (Espinaca, Baby!) and took the metro home.
Dropped off our groceries and went to Circo Volador (where the next night's show was taking place) to see if the box office was open. It wasn't, but we got to see the piñata making class.
I should mention at this point that between our street and the venue AND the metro station was a huge flower market, so all of the backing and forthing was accompanied by the lovliest of scents.
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| Also for sale were block after block of Christmas trees |
On our way to the venue, we'd spotted a glorious trompo loaded with al pastor meat, so we stopped on the way home to get dos y dos con todos para llevar, picked up a couple of beers at the shop down the street and feasted at the apartment.
Wound down, unpacked and got to bed around 10:30 PM.
Day 2 Mexico City, Mexico
Woke around 6 AM, made some coffee and hung out until I got too hungry to wait for Bhob to get up. Woke him around 7:45 and went out in search of tamales.
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| Water pumps; love the color combo, but not the late night noise |
Walked through the flower market
Went to the bank to get some cash from the ATM and then went into the branch to get the large bills converted to small ones.
Explored our colonia
Slowly made our way to Circo Volador
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| Funko Pop nativity |
Arrived at noon, when the ticket office was rumored to be open. The show wasn't scheduled to start until 8:30 PM, but there were already people waiting in line to get in.
Having only a confirmation email from SuperBoletos was making Bhob very nervous, so he couldn't relax until he had the paper tickets in his hand.
The never did actually open, but the very friendly staff helped us to make the transaction through the gate.
Went back home, through the flower/Christmas market for the millionth time
and had lunch across the street
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| Guisado suadero ! |
Took the metro to the Velodrome for the sole purpose of taking a photo of the sign.
There was a teenager on the metro wearing a Behemoth t-shirt, and we were like "Yo quiero Behemoth!!!" "Behemoth es lo mejor!!!", which probably ruined the band for him forever, knowing that these dorky abuelos were also fans.
Googled "cantina near me open now" and were directed to La Numancia.
It was 2:30 on a Wednesday afternoon and the place was hopping!
Had a couple of cold Bohemia beers and enjoyed the show.
Walked home, passing Circo Volador again, where the line had grown a bit.
Rested for awhile
About 6:30, went next door to Tacos Los Güeros for longaniza and tripa tacos. ¡Muy rico!
Stopped back at home for a couple of shots of tequila, then left for the show.
Got to see our favorite holiday lights vendor again
We had general admission tickets, but there were still plenty of seats left, so we got to sit for the whole show without paying VIP prices 🤘
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| Lots of young fans |
I was expecting that the vocalist wouldn't be able to perform with the band due to a serious illness, but she rallied and did a great job.
The band was fantastic, but I think the audience was the star of the show.
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| The drummer agrees! |
Day 3 Mexico City, Mexico
Woke up at 6:30 and putzed until 7:30, when I made a solo foray to get some atole
Bhob got up at 8, and we went to get tamales.
Because the purpose of the trip was the previous night's night concert, and to stay through til Sunday so we could go to Tianguis El Chopo on Saturday, we hadn't really made any plans for Thursday and Friday, so we just looked at the Saved spots on our CDMX map, and used those to make a loose itinerary.
We headed for what we thought was a bricks and mortar spooky store for Bhob to find some Santa Muerte figurines, but turned out to be the huge, H-U-G-E Mercado Sonora.
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| Some rows were exclusively esoterica, some had spooky stuff and Christmas decorations side by side |
Aimed for a cantina (El Baluarte de Oro) that I had spotted on the map that was a very pleasant place to sit in the shade and have a cold beer.
Headed home to drop off our stuff
and went to the neighborhood pulqueria to have a couple glasses of pulque and ruin the other patrons' day with our jukebox selections.
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| First round was natural/blanco, second round was guava and passion fruit |
Walked to the liquor store to re-up our strategic reserves of tequila, went home, ate some potato chips and rested for a while.
Went to Tamaleria & Pozoleria Don Andres for two big bowls of pozole (since we hadn't eaten lunch).
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| So good! |
Strolled around the colonia for a bit
Then back to our street.
On the other side of our block was a Holiday Inn that we'd already passed several times a day, so we decided to do some recon on the front end.
It was really nice!
Got a couple of refreshing cocktails
Then went home for some reading and an early bedtime.
Day 4 Mexico City, Mexico
Got up around 4:30 AM, discovering that it was the quietest time of day, after the parties are over but before everyone wakes up, and there were relatively few airplanes overhead.
Putzed until 7:30, then went for tamales (when the guy saw me, he already knew my order).
With no real plans until the evening, we picked an arbitrary destination of the spot where the Santa Muerte phenomenal allegedly started.
Interestingly, the google maps kept telling me it "can't connect". Were there supernatural forces at work preventing non-believers from going there to gawk?
I didn't take any photos, but plenty of other people have, so here you go!
After an hour of walking, Bhob was getting worn out and wanted to rest. I googled "cantina near me open now", the closest hit being a 14-minute walk away.
As soon as we crossed a particular street, everything changed drastically and I felt like we were suddenly in Centro (which we'd vowed to steer clear of, having spent sufficient time there in previous visits).
On the map, it seemed like our apartment was a world away* from Centro, but after only 75 minutes of (very slow!) walking, there we were.
The first cantina wasn't open, but there was another one an additional 15 minutes away, so we went and it was an oasis of calm.
Spent about 90 minutes there. Bhob was feeling a bit off, so the chips and salsa were all mine.
It wasn't too far from a Linea 8 metro stop that would get us close to home. I was actually glad that we ended up in the area, because I had kind of forgotten just how cool so many of the buildings are.
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| Proof that I am not as stealthy at street photography as I think I am |
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| Gussied up for the holidays |
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| The façade is the only important thing |
Got home, and we each had a big glass of water and a lie-down.
Our original plan for the evening was to go see the Bloody Benders headlining a free show at Gato Calavera club, with the first band starting at 7 PM.
After napping, Bhob wasn't hungry, but I was, so we walked down the street to Taqueria Osama.
On the way, Bhob realized that he was feeling achy and requested that we skip the club** so he could have a chance to beat whatever he was fighting and have enough energy for the Saturday flea market that he'd been looking forward to for months.
Had our supper
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| 5 tacos for $3!!! |
Strolled around for a couple of extra blocks
And went home to finish the Lyle and Erik Menendez series on the Netflix. By the time he went to bed, Bhob felt like he had a fever, so we hoped that another good night's sleep would do the trick.
*For comparison, this distance is shorter than the equivalent at home of walking from my house to Como Pavilion and back.
**Considering that A) all of the google reviews of the club mentioned its heat and lack of ventilation and B) with 8 bands scheduled, the chance that one of them would be ska was dangerously high (because CDMX loves itself some ska!), I think our decision to stay home probably saved us a lot of misery.
Day 5 Mexico City, Mexico
Woke up around 6, and Bhob was not far behind me. His lungs were full of fluid and he was coughing up stuff with a pinkish hue 😔
I went to the Holiday Inn to ask if they could recommend a clinic. They suggested we go to a place that was about a 6-minute drive away.
We took an Uber, and it turned out to be a worker's/social security hospital. They directed us to a hospital another 10 minutes away.
We took another Uber and he was able to be seen relatively quickly. The doctor spoke English, which made things a little bit easier.
They took an x-ray, checked his oxygen levels and listened to his lungs. They diagnosed him with pneumonia and wanted to admit him, but we were scheduled to fly home the next day, so we crossed our fingers and got him discharged.
Everyone was very helpful and very nice, even other patients (one of whom translated for us at check-in).
Total charge for the visit?
$0
Would that ever happen in the US? Doubtful.
They gave him a prescription for antibiotics, Tylenol and cough suppressant, which we filled at a nearby pharmacy.
Total cost: $9.40
We got home about 11 AM and I finally got some breakfast.
After making sure that he had everything he needed, I went out to do what we'd planned to do together.
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| People were lined up halfway down the street to get into the candy store. Two days to Las Posadas! |
Went to El Malquerida pulqueria to buy a cool t-shirt that we'd seen a photo Till Lindemann wearing, but it turned out that they had given it to him, and there weren't any for sale.
Went to Tianguis El Chopo, with the promise of texting Bhob photos of things he might want me to bring back for him. He had been looking forward to it for months, so he was really bummed out to miss it.
The first time we went on a previous visit, we'd inadvertently arrived an hour before it officially opened, so it was fairly easy to navigate, but this time it was in full swing and Boy Howdy! It was PACKED!
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| I bought the Iron Maiden shirt, and it turned out to be the only one of its kind in the whole market |
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| I knew Bhob would love this one |
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| Even the dogs here are badasses |
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| Queen of Metal!!! |
Took a side street back to the metro station.
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| You know I love the fact that everywhere you go, there's a little girl who insisted on wearing her tutu that day |
Got home about 4 PM, dropped off the t-shirt, grabbed Bhob's metro card and went back to the station to re-up both of our cards for a future visit.
Took a shower, sat for a bit and went out to get some tacos Al Pastor from Taqueria El Torito 5 minutes away.
They made them a little bit differently there, mixing the salsa in with the meat and using scallions instead of white onion, and they had a bucket of sliced cucumbers for folks to grab with tongs.
They were great and like the previous night's, 60¢ each! 😃
Went home
Tended to Bhob and dove into The Guardian's Long Reads.
Day 6 Mexico City, Mexico
Got up around 5:30 AM. Check out wasn't until Noon, so we had plenty of time to pack and clean. Bhob felt about the same as the previous night.
I took a short walk.
And ate a huge breakfast to finish up everything in the fridge.
Packed, cleaned and relaxed until it was time to call our Uber.
Got to the airport 3 hours before departure.
Landed about 7:30 PM and my sister drove us to the ER, where Bhob was admitted for overnight observation. I'll keep everyone posted 🤞
Random Observations
Hmmm... None on this trip
FAQs
So, it was a good trip?
Mostly, yes.
Why CDMX?
Because a band we love was playing in a city we love, where we'd previously had two positive experiences seeing live music.
Why isn't Arch Enemy the most popular band in the world?
That's a great question! I have no idea.
They have it all: they're super tight, super poppy, great drummer and a charismatic vocalist
For the moment, however, I'm glad that they AREN'T the most popular band in the world, as it gave us a chance to see them in a relatively small venue
How was the weather?
Great!
What time of year did you go?
Mid-December 2024
How were your flights?
MSP-MEX
Airbus 319
No problems (although TSA at MSP was uncharacteristically schnell schnell scoldy)
MEX-MSP
Airbus 319
No problems
What did you watch on the airplane?
MSP-MEX
2 episodes of Zillow Gone Wild
Inside Out 2
The Heist of the Century
MEX-MSP
1 episode of Jeopardy
1 episode of Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders
7 episodes of The Office
Did you try any interesting foods or drinks?
Yes!
We tried two different kinds of tacos that we'd never had, I tried atole, and Bhob had pozole for the first time.
Is there still a water crisis in CDMX?
They had sufficient rainfall in the summer which postponed the water doomsday, and our host never mentioned it. Regardless, we did our best to conserve water.
Any highlights?
As always, the friendly people.
We really liked our neighborhood, and the smell of flowers and Christmas trees every time we walked in the direction of the flower market.
This was our first time seeing a show at Circo Volador and it was a fantastic venue! 2500 capacity, half seated and half standing room. The seating area had a good rise, and there was nothing to block the sightlines.
I would go back there anytime.
Bohemia Cerveza Clara! Widely available, always ice cold.
Any lowlights?
Bhob's illness.
Our apartment was relatively close to the airport, and there was a low flying plane about every 5-10 minutes in the day, and maybe every 20-30 minutes overnight. A few of the Airbnb reviews mentioned it, but I thought it would be more tolerable, like the area around Lake Nokomis.
There was also a noisy water pump that would abruptly kick in intermittently throughout the night.
Earplugs helped, but they got uncomfortable by the end of the night.
Any surprises?
How close we were to Centro.
I knew what a big deal Christmas/Las Posadas is, but I was surprised that people who live in a place with year-round greenery would still want evergreen trees for inside their home.
Is it safe?
We never felt unsafe.
What was the exchange rate?
1 peso was worth just under 5¢, so it was still easy to convert currency in my head.
How much did it cost?
For 2 people, 5 days
Flights $1896.06
Lodging $406.72
Travel insurance $151.68
Ground transportation $20.54
Food:
Groceries $8.05
Restaurants and street food $91.68
Coffee, booze and treats $131.77
Household $1.04
Souvenirs $81.98 (mostly two officially licensed Arch Enemy t-shirts)
Admission to attractions $110.86 (Arch Enemy show)
Total $2909.74
Total “on the ground” (not including airfare, insurance and lodging) $455.28
Total per person, per day $290.97
Total “on the ground” per person, per day $45.53
To save for a trip like this, you’d need to save $3.99 per day for a year
Would you go back?
As often as possible
Any advice for someone visiting CDMX for the first time?
Don't go out of your way to get some food at a place that you read about or saw on the Netflix. There is food EVERYWHERE and it's all really, really good.
Who watched Stinkerbell while you were gone?
Our dear friends and neighbors, Rob and Jennifer.
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