Day 6 - Mexico City
We slept in a little bit and then got ready to see some more of Mexico City. It was another hot day and we got a taxi to the downtown area. It’s another very different part of the city from the airport and from Polenco and there are some really lovely old buildings, including the post office we walked through which was very ornate (and very gold!).
We walked through the Bella de Arts building to look at the massive murals, including some interesting works by Diego Rivera. We then moved on to the cathedral, another beautiful building with many grottos devoted to saints and other figures. Apparently, the cathedral is slowly sinking though, as the area is built on top of the Aztec ruins of Tenochtitlan. To see what was causing the problem, we went around the corner to see the Templo Mayor, an Aztec temple that was only fairly recently uncovered underneath the middle of Mexico City. It was great to be able to walk through the temple and see how it was still being excavated, then to go through the great museum adjoining it that showed a lot of the things that they found in the temple. Needless to say, there was plenty of gory stories about sacrifices, flayings and heart-cutting-outs to go along with the temple and altars!
Lunch called after the temple and we headed across the the Zocalo (stopping for a $1.50 shoe shine) to the Holiday Inn, which has a rooftop restaurant looking back over the square, cathedral and temple. We had a good lunch enjoying the view and headed back to Casa Fernandez by taxi.
After dinner, Vanessa mentioned how good the hot chocolate was in Mexico and we thought it would be a good idea to go and pick up some for Craig. Manuel offered to go and get some so I tagged along on the back of the motorbike. Luckily we made it back without having to use our travel insurance :)
It was then time to get our stuff together for a very early start and our flight to NYC!
Cute little Coronitas! (baby Coronas)
Katie with tacos and cerveza!
Day 5 - Acapulco to Mexico City
Our last day in Acapulco!! I made the most of it by quickly getting breakfast then straight to the pool for a few last hours of swimming and baking. It was just so relaxing in the infinity pool- I didn’t want to leave. Eventually the time came when we had to leave so we called Gerry to get us to the airport. A few bag checks and a 30 min flight later and we were back to Mexico City.
It was peak hour in Mexico so it was a long, long, long drive home. I just compared my tan to Simon’s redness and watched all the crazy drivers swerving here and there to keep entertained.
We went out for a very, very late dinner (for me, although normal for the Mexicans) as Manual was concerned that we were going to leave Mexico without eating real tacos. Despite it being 11pm, it was a very delicious meal of tacos! It certainly didn’t feel like 11pm as the place was packed and apparently it’s only the start of dinner time. We tried both corn and flour tacos with meat, salsa and fresh lime. Yumbo! We were very glad we made the effort to venture out.
Last day in Mexico city tomorrow so we’re off to explore the city…
View from Luz’ apartment
Day four- Acapulco
Today we woke to another perfectly sunny 30 degree day- spoilt. The weather here is amazing.
Getting back in the taxi with Gerry, we made a quick stop to the shopping mall before heading to the ‘new Acapulco’ area.
Vanessa and Manuel’s soon-to-be aunt-in-law, Luz, has an apartment on the beach, so we were lucky enough to spend the day using the pool and private beach facilities. It is paradise and there was barely anyone around! We pretty much had the beach and pool area to ourselves - crazy. Apparently it will become very busy as of tomorrow leading up to Easter so we came at a good time. The pools in the complex were huge and each had inbuilt sun beds - ahh. Simon and I spent a good few hours paddling around the water fountain and exploring one of the three pools. We then went to the apartment and met Luz who is there for a three week break - heaven! The apartment was absolutely beautiful and it’s up for sale if anyone wants to lend us a mere million or so..?!
We then returned to our condo and had some delicious steak soft tacos - yum! We needed another dip after that, so spent the rest of the arvo/evening in the pool as the sun set. It’s just too nice here - I don’t want to leave!
Katie
Day 3 - Acapulco
After waking up a bit late from a much-needed sleep, it was pretty much straight back to the pool for sun and relaxing. Luckily, the restaurant next to the pools does breakfast, so we didn’t have to go too far out of our way. The afternoon was spent lounging around in and out of the pool, looking out over Acapulco’s small bay, with lunch also at the restaurant near the pool to again avoid having to move too far!
By about six, we decided that we should think about dinner plans and Vanessa kindly made a booking for us at Becco, a beautiful Italian seafood restaurant that looks over the big bay, still only a quick taxi (driven by the enigmatic Gerry) away. The view was great, with the hills all around the bay lit up at night and much brighter then the less-developed small bay near where we were staying. The food was also fantastic - Katie had lobster pasta and I had the rib-eye steak, followed by a shared gelati. Gerry was there to pick us up when we were done and we made it back to the condo safely to finish another relaxing day.
Katie doing it tough in Acapulco
Day 2 - Acapulco
Today we woke to the most wonderful news that our good friend Elissa had given birth to a baby boy overnight! Samuel Thomas Darmanin was born a week early on Sunday afternoon (Melbourne time). I can’t wait to meet him when we get back! With this exciting news, we were up and at ‘em and ready for our flight to Acapulco. It was only a short flight thankfully, just over 30mins in fact. From the plane I could see so many dried up rivers. Vanessa says it’s the driest it’s been for years.
Acapulco is beautiful! I was imagining it to be flat, but in fact it’s built on hills surrounding a bay. It’s a bit of a mission to get to Manuel’s family condo- lots of security checks and winding around the mountain but so so worth it! The condo looks over the small bay with surrounding hills on both sides- just gorgeous! Their apartment is on the corner so lots of beautiful views. I was so keen to get to the balcony and admire the view that I walked straight into the glass door! The maids clean things too well here - hehe. After hearing I wasn’t the first one to do it, I felt a bit better although I have left a mark on the door. Vanessa thinks we should take a photo of it… hmmm. The beautiful view made for a speedy recovery and I was soon set to hit the eternity pool which over looks the bay. I was in heaven! Lime daiquiri in hand, floating in a pool overlooking the bay - perfect! About four cocktails and hours later, our fingers had turned to prunes so we called it a day. Tough, I know.
We headed to Zibu restaurant for dinner. We had been admiring it high up in the hills from our pool. So much work is put into the presentation of the restaurants here and they are just spectacular! It is built on the cliff edge, and consists of three large straw roofs with seating overlooking the bay - beautiful! It was Thai inspired food and was delicious. We had the dessert with a ‘surpise’ ingredient which turned out to be fried carrot. Somehow it worked deliciously with ice-cream and butterscotch?! Lovely way to end our first night in paradise. Katie.
Flights and Day 1
After some slight confusion regarding when our flight was actually leaving (itinerary said 10:10 & airport said 9:35), we managed to get checked in with enough time to make some quick duty free purchases and enjoy a freebie snack in the Qantas Club lounge (thanks Simon’s work :)).
Flight was like any OS flight… long and uncomfortable. I watched three flicks; Tangled, How Do You Know & Burlesque. That entertained me for a few hours! Seats were too squishy to sleep so we chatted about how we’re going to fly Business class when we make our first million - ha!
Despite the lack of sleep, we arrived safely and on time into LA. It was advised we get a bus to the next terminal (for our flight to Mexico) so we went outside to look for a bus and the terminal was about 100 metres away! hmmm… Simon was concerned about why a bus was recommended! We had a bit of time so we did a spot more df shopping and got some US mags for the next flight. We were pretty wrecked by the time we boarded so after our lunch of enchiladas (good choice of food, Alaska Airlines), we had a little nap before arriving in Mexico City.
It took a while getting through customs as the lady in front of us had 100 bottles of perfume (literally) and they seem to like checking bags. We only had one bag and were given the green light to go ahead! We were greeted by and excited and slightly flustered Vanessa who was wondering why we’d taken so long! Her husband was parked literally outside the door where they’d been waiting for half an hour telling the police (security) that they were waiting for an old man with a broken leg - ha! Vanessa failed to mention this to us as we happily flitted up to the car and greeted them! Was all good though!
The road rules are interesting… big wide roads with no lines and no indicators needed. Somehow it works. The only cars stopped in the middle of the road are ones that have broken down due to the heat! The drive through the city let us see some of the contrast in Mexico, with some really nice colourful buildings and beautiful old statues. Like many big cities (40 million live here), Mexico City is hot and covered with a layer of smog. There’s also a bit of a smell in parts which Vanessa calls the ‘smell of mexico’. It’s not a particularly nice smell and is apparently due to the fact that Mexico was built on a lake. Vanessa and Manuel live in Polanco which is a greener area meaning fresher air! There are some beautiful old buildings around which we’re looking forwarding to exploring further on Thursday when we do our Mexico City tour!
Their apartment has just been freshly renovated and seems huge! We’re very lucky to be staying here with such lovely hosts! We were so excited to have a shower and relax after not sleeping for over 24 hours! Katie.
