Mexico City, Day 1 continued

Second half of Thursday I spent walking around stunning Condesa, which I believe is right now the trendiest area in the city. I could absolutely see the difference in surroundings the closer I approached Avenue Amsterdam and Avenue Mexico, the streets that make a circle around beautiful Mexico Park. Young people - yes! iPods – yes! Fancy cars – yes! Expensive restaurants – yes! No street vending – yes! If not for the architecture, I would think I am in Greenwich Village or something. But alleluia there was architecture!!! I could not believe how many Art Deco buildings were present in Condesa. Yes, I’ve read about the area, but I did not expect a massive attack of gorgeousness. Compared to South Beach Miami where all building are face lifted with night illumination, building in Condesa blend into the environment, they are hidden behind the trees and the park. It is just a neighborhood where you can get lost in the beauty of not yet renovated houses steps away from the life of hipsters.








I concluded my five hours of sightseeing in a bar called La Bodega on Cempeche in Condesa. The place is known for its mescals, and thanks to English speaking young men I was given a full tour of at least seven different tastes (a sip of each!). The only one I could remember was called Pechuga de Pollo – distilled with apples, plums, and a chicken breast. Another was cremas de mescal that tasted like Bally’s. Finally, I settled for a shot of sweet liquor – a girly drink, I guess a Mexican answer to Cosmopolitan. Lol. All of them were different smells and tastes. If you think chicken smell is weird, what would you think of snacking on some fried locusts? To be honest, I am not a fan of insects, quite the opposite. But given that these little guys were fried and not moving, I decided eating them would an easy way into my brave new world. So I did. Not tasty.

A couple of months ago my friend and I were wondering why there was no real Mexican bar in New York. Then we concluded that there was nothing to drink besides tequila and Corona. When I told this silly thought to Manu, Rodriguez and Abraham, they could not stop laughing. Given the assortment of mescals’ tastes and smells, La Bodega could be the answer to our Mexican dream bar in New York.




An hour later I was equipped with a few suggestions from locals on where to go next on picture hunt and where to eat the best tacos from street vendors. I felt the way was well spent!