Thankfully today we were both feeling back to normal, so we decided to take a walking tour to Polanco, one of Mexico City’s most regal neighborhoods. This served a couple purposes: first, to get us moving after being in rest mode for a couple days and, more importantly, to enable me to purchase new shoes since my flats were falling apart. The walk was beautiful and Polanco is a relaxed, sleepy neighborhood (at least in the morning, before all the ritzy restaurants open). Our hotel is near many of the business office buildings (think Deloitte and others), so I was impressed to see an entrepreneurial cafe de olla stand right out front.

Along the way, we found ourselves at the Pink Wall, which is… quite literally just a pink wall.

There were some amusing little signs as we entered the eastern end of the neighborhood.

Shortly (about 45 mins after leaving our hotel), we entered beautiful Polanco. The streets are full of every luxury boutique you could imagine from Ferragamo (we counted no less than 7 Ferragamo stores, including those in the mall) to luxury jewelry inspired by Frida Kahlo. I loved the murals and displays outside as we wandered.

As we continued to wander towards the mall, we noticed a large gathering of people outside of one of the stores (we still aren’t sure if it was a store or a luxury lunch restaurant). We decided to stick around for a couple minutes, and it turns out it was actually a group made up partially of paparazzi / mostly of opportunistic onlookers. The celeb du jour ended up being Floyd Mayweather Jr., the boxer. We caught a brief glimpse before he was ushered inside (and I was amused by his extremely stylish armored car).

A couple blocks away, we finally found our destination: the upscale mall Palacio de Hierro.

Shopping is huge here and malls are definitely a sight to behold. After procuring a new pair of Birkenstocks, we were on to our true stop: Churraría de Moro. Sadly, this churraría no longer exists in this location (and we got a masterclass in how to correctly pronounce “churraría” from many confused salespeople who attempted to help us), but we did still get churros! They aren’t quite as good as the ones we’ve enjoyed in Spain, but that’s not surprising – I will say, the chocolate sauce was surprisingly good! Amusingly, we ended up also purchasing a “cafe frio” which in this case basically meant a coffee milkshake (in other places in Mexico, cafe frio means basic iced coffee; I also tried cafe helado once and got ice cream, and tried “cafe con hielo” but only got a scolding that cafe frio was the right term – you can’t win!).

Post churro, we were in the mood for lunch and decided to take advantage of the fact that Mexico City has incredible international cuisine (and, I’ll admit, I had one bite of black beans this morning with breakfast and felt immediately queasy). So, we headed to a local upscale Italian restaurant named Parole.

The walk along the way took us through a couple of the less commercial streets in Polanco, which were lovely. Along the way were some wonderful local restaurants, including a taquería and a seafood bar.

We also got a good chuckle out of the electrical wiring – Polanco may look absolutely pristine, but Mexico is still a developing nation in some ways! The placement and proximity to the trees reminded me quite a bit of Manila.

The vibe was wonderful and it was so refreshing to have Italian comfort food (and the waiter was so kind and joking with us throughout the meal about our wine preferences).

Since it was already getting later in the day, we decided to visit the Castillo de Chapultepec, which houses Mexico’s National Museum of History. As we waited for our Uber (Uber Black is <$10 here!) we strolled through the gorgeous leavy streets and took in the beautiful architecture.

Located in Bosque de Chapultepec (essentially Mexico City’s Central Park), it’s the former imperial residence and presidential residence, as well as having served as a site of strategic and cultural importance going back to the time of the Mexica (Aztecs). Upon arriving in the park, you pass a couple interesting sights, including street art that varies based on the museum nearest to that part of the street within the park (I believe we were closest to the Museum of Modern Art when I snapped my photo, so these appeared to be photos paired with writings from a Mexican author about the experience of womanhood). You also pass the Altar a la Patria, which is a war memorial. Of course, there are also many food vendors and hawkers for your every need (especially noise-makers for the kids!).

The actual castle is accessible about 15 minutes into the park – at least, the ticket stand is! Oddly enough, there were kiosks and yet again, no one was purchasing from them, so we breezed by the line again. Once you pass the ticket booth, you’re uphill for about 15 more minutes, which gives you beautiful views across the city.

The Castillo itself is an architectural masterpiece and absolutely worth the trek.

Complementing the exterior design are the beautiful internal features, which include majestic staircases and incredible murals on many of the walls.

The home itself (and the museum) has a variety of murals, each of which depict various pieces of Mexican history. Especially captivating were the murals describing the conquests by Spain, and later different wars of independence. I thought the below mural – showing the conquests – was fascinating. The Mexican side clearly shows struggle and sacrifice while the European side shows excess and decadence borne off the backs of their colonial subjects (detail view in the individual photos below).

Beyond this mural, there were several other beautiful ones, including one undergoing active restoration.

The variety of artifacts was definitely more sparse than those in the Museo Nacional de Antropología, but they did have a chronologically expanded collection. My favorites, of course, were the prehispanic artifacts. These included relics such as incredible crosses, 16th century armor, and a wonderful ornament made of leopard / jaguar skin.

Of course, there was also a beautiful Mayan codex – it was much closer than those in the National Anthropology Museum, so you could really appreciate the vibrant illustrations the details.

From there, you proceed to progress in history, moving towards the period of colonial rule. Interesting pieces included the original Virgen de Guadalupe painting (the Virgin of Guadalupe is now a famed symbol not only of Catholicism in Mexico, but of Mexican heritage), a beautiful old confessional, and a painting showcasing the conquests of Mexico. There was also a lovely model ship (and by model ship, I do mean a full room’s worth of a ship).

The “historic” exhibits round out with an overview of different Mexican political and social heroes, including Zapata.

After the “history” museum is finished, the tour continues into the absolutely stunning living quarters of the families that inhabited these spaces over the centuries. While the remaining artifacts are sparse, they are incredible and showcase the wealth of Mexico over the years. Of particular interest were these amazing doors, which were a gift to the Mexican imperial family from Tsar Nicholas of Russia.

Their personal rooms and effects were also amazing – I wasn’t able to get a picture (everyone was looking), but the rubies and other jewels were stunning. I also loved their carriage collection.

Perhaps most amazing, however, were the incredible pieces of stained glasses that formed the back hallway of the Castle – essentially every “living” room and “bed” room would be entered through this hallway. The different panes of glass represent different versions of abundance and fertility and were truly beautiful.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, it was a great show!), it started absolutely pouring while we were atop the castle. While most of the space is pretty well insulated, we had to dodge the rain and – of course – had to leave when closing time came around.

Thankfully, the rain held out while we walked down the path to the park, but we had to take shelter again under a gazebo with several other unlucky individuals to wait it out a bit until we could run back to the hotel.

Post impromptu rain storm, we decided to continue our trend of trying Mexico’s international cuisines and headed to a Michelin Bib Gourmand Thai restaurant called Galanga Thai House. As with all the trendy restaurants here, the ambiance was impeccable. The food was great too – I wouldn’t say it was perfect, but the flavors definitely matched southeast Asia and were creative.

We tried: the pandan margarita (a fascinating combination of flavors); the Isaan-Isaan (which melded rum and chili de árbol with palm sugar and kaffir lime; dumplings three ways (these were the cutest, but also the least successful texture-wise); the pad thai (with the traditional egg cocoon!) and the southern-style green curry. All were delicious!

Overall, a great day exploring Mexico City! We’re off to some of the archeological sites tomorrow afternoon before exploring the old city during our final day here.