Travel Log: Mexico City, Mexico Part 1

If you follow me on Instagram, you probably saw that I recently spent a long weekend in Mexico City with a group of girlfriends. Mexico City had been on my radar for a while as a food lover's paradise with several restaurants on the World's 50 Best list as well as amazing markets, mezcalerias, and more. I had not found the right opportunity to visit until my dear friend Rebecca decided that she wanted to spend her birthday weekend in Mexico City this year at the end of July. I jumped on board without hesitation, and ten gals total headed south the last weekend of July to celebrate and explore this vibrant city. There are too many photos for one post, so I have split into two: one post for the first two days Friday/Saturday and a second post for the last two days Sunday/Monday. Please read on for more photos, travel tips, and details of our four days in Mexico City.

I hopped on a redeye flight from Seattle Thursday evening and arrived in Mexico City around 10am Friday morning with a layover in Houston. I have the worst time sleeping on flights, so I was extremely tired when I arrived but I couldn't nap yet. My fiancé and Rebecca's fiancé decided to secretly join our trip as a birthday surprise (she didn't know until Saturday evening) and they had made lunch reservations at Quintonil, #22 on the 2017 World's 50 Best list. I was not willing to miss that meal, so I pounded a cappuccino, changed clothes at the boys' Air BnB (in the Polanco neighborhood, the same neighborhood as the restaurant), and we walked to Quintonil for lunch.

Every dish in the summer tasting menu was fantastic, with a few photogenic dishes highlighted below.

After our meal we were treated to a tour of the kitchen, which was spread over multiple levels including a rooftop garden. I was so impressed with how everyone maneuvered around each other in the narrow spaces including tiny spiral staircases between the three levels and the rooftop. They even graciously posed for a group photo with us in the kitchen. We truly enjoyed our experience at Quintonil and highly recommend dining here when you visit Mexico City!

After our long lunch at Quintonil, I left the boys and took an Uber over to the Condesa neighborhood to meet up with the gals in our Air BnB. One travel tip, especially if you are not fluent in Spanish, is to use Uber instead of taxis to get around Mexico City. With Uber, the rates are set and the driver already has your destination, so you know what you are going to pay and how to get there rather than haggling in broken Spanish with a taxi driver. Once all of the gals arrived, we headed to a speakeasy called Hanky Panky for drinks and small bites. You can make reservations via their Facebook page, and fair warning it is supposed to be hard to find. ;) The cocktails were fabulous and Hanky Panky was a perfect start to our Mexico City weekend!

Saturday started a little later for me than normal, partly because I was still tired from a lack of sleep the day before and partly because I had a nagging headache from the altitude. Mexico City sits at almost 7,400 feet, but since I ski at varying altitudes every year I didn't think it would bother me. I was wrong--it took until late afternoon day two for the headache to go away and me to feel normal again, but that didn't stop me from joining the gals at the Frida Kahlo Museum late morning after a hot shower and more coffee! This museum is located in the historic house were Frida was born and lived for many years until her death, and when you visit you can see not only her artwork but also many of her and her family's personal items.

Saturday evening, we celebrated Rebecca's birthday by dressing up in a rainbow of colors (per her request) for dinner at Pujol. This restaurant is ranked #20 on the World's 50 Best list this year, and we enjoyed an incredible meal in their private dining room. This is also the night where Rebecca's fiancé and my fiancé surprised the ladies with bottles of champagne during dinner and we all had a fabulous night celebrating together. We treated ourselves to Pujol's tasting menu, where every dish was amazing with two photogenic dishes highlighted below: the pulpo (octopus) and the Mole Madre, Mole Neuvo. The Mole Madre, Mole Nuevo is a combination of aged mole (the darker sauce) and newly made mole (the lighter sauce). The day we dined at Pujol our Mole Madre had been aged 1,343 days! The difference in flavor and complexity was striking.

We asked to visit the kitchen and thank the team for our wonderful dinner, and as you can see they were happy to oblige! We loved our dining experience at Pujol and absolutely recommend it for a fine dining experience when you visit Mexico City!

I hope you enjoyed part one of my Mexico City travel log featuring two of many amazing restaurants and a must-see museum. Please stay tuned for part two featuring a step back in time to visit pre-Aztec pyramids and a market tour with a local food blogger. Thank you for visiting my blog today, and I hope you have a wonderful rest of your week!

Linking up with I Do deClaire, Pumps and Push-Ups, Shopping My Closet, The Fashion Canvas, Walking in Memphis in High Heels