Mexico City

I was nervous...extremely nervous for Mexico City.
The night before flying out (while staying at possibly the worlds worst located hotel, I said location...not hotel...hotel was fine...East Hastings in Vancouver is the most disgusting and scary looking street I have ever had to stay on) I was freaking out, everyone had told me all the worst stories about kidnappings, taxi rides, drugs and I was wondering why I was doing this.

And then I got there and it was fine.

We did all the right things, got a radio taxi from the airport, had pre-booked accommodation in a good area that was approved by Lonely Planet and hostelworld...but although I wouldn't want to have got there and not had a hotel, or just hailed a taxi by the side of the road...my guess is everything would have gone alright there too.

Mexico City was safe.

What wasn't cool was our hostel. I wont name and shame, but no flyscreen on windows, no fan and no air con makes for a hot, stinky dorm room. The only saving grace was an awesome upstairs area, with a rooftop balcony and bar with wifi. A great place to google for a new place to stay! And here is a plug for a great website, well on this occasion it was great, it hasnt saved me again...but I think if you are going to a big city, this is a good place to start...

trivago.co.uk
it compares lots of other cheap booking engines to find the cheapest deal.

It was through this website that we found the awesome Hotel New York. Double room with bathroom for 19AUD. There are better deals to be had, for sure, but it was in a good location, clean bedrooms and bathrooms, free wifi and under 10 dollars each a night, and thats really all we want!

FOOD

After now going to a few different places in Mexico I have to say that Mexico City is the best for street food. Hands down. Awesome.
Juices, large 1 litre juices made entirely from fruit (with no added water...here's looking at you Isla Mujeres dodgy juice place) for around 20 to 40 pesos (thats including gringo tax). So tasty, so delicious.
And so many yummy little tasty antojitos...I think I have used that Spanish word correctly. We had no knowledge of most of these yummy things, as I think Old El Paso had fooled us well and truly with what Mexican food really is! Not knocking Old El Paso at all though, I am a big fan of their take on tacos.
And it was hot. When you got your 10 peso taco and went to spoon on the red sauce and the green sauce and those little bean things and potatoe things...watch out. Tread lightly. I think the golden rule is that when cooked with the meal, not so hot, when added as a sauce...super hot. But I like to think that all this chilliness is kickstarting my metabolism so the more the merrier!

SIGHTS

Mexico City and I have some unfinished business. Owed largely to the fact that I managed to receive Montezuma's Revenge .... the Mexican equivalent of Bali Belly. I wasn't a fan of this time, though I was a big fan of our decision to relocate to somewhere where we had our own toilet.

This meant that our sightseeing largely was centred around the Zocalo (lots of hotels with toilets), the Museo Nacional de Antropología- great museum, extremely fascinating (it has toilets), and seeing The Avengers 3D (cinema toilets).

Our limited adventures also meant that we used the Metro, which lots of places had warned us not to. The Metro was great, easy to use, cheap, and we felt safe. We never used it at nighttime, so I can't comment on safety at that time, but during the day it was really good and I would totally recommend others to use it.

So what's on the list for when we return:

• anything to do with Frida Kahlo, the boyfriend has had lots of time to adjust to this idea now, so no excuses...
• Xochimilco, for a canal ride...Mexican style
• wrestling