Random Observation/Comment #770: Hackathons are super fun and definitely a good way to connect with all this remote working.
Observations about Mexico City
- Mezcal is so smooth and smoky – Definitely get some of the top shelf bottles for around $30USD. It’s dangerously delicious.
- Large pedestrian street potholes – I almost fell into these while walking around. Definitely be careful and take a look down.
- Random smells – This is the same with any city with construction areas and exposed sewage. You can get a whiff of some funky stuff.
- Remember to buy water bottles and don’t have mixed drinks – Get enough water for brushing teeth and remember that the ice could also lead to stomach issues.
- Street food is delicious and inexpensive – Shout out to the street gorditas we ate multiple times this trip. 3 gorditas for $50 Pesos, which is around $2.50 USD. Later we found out it’s delicious because they fry the whole thing with a lot of oil.
- Marketplaces by the National Palace are great for souvenirs – I’m a big fan of getting some random ponchos and magnets for the fam. There were a lot of choices throughout all the vendors in the middle of the market area.
- Definitely revisit that pigeon Español from high school – We were very lucky to have some patient waiters at restaurants to listen to our poorly pronounced words and stumbling through orders.
- Beware of tourist traps – There’s some places that sell bottles of liquor and give you tastings beforehand. The trick is the inside contents of the bottle might be different from what you’re taste testing. The bottles are pretty, but I wouldn’t pay more than $40 USD for any bottle.
We were here for the ETH Mexico Hackathon so there weren’t too many touristy things. We probably had two half days of walking around the neighborhood.
Some highlights from walking around:
The venue and the main place we stayed was around Proyecto Publico Prim. This means we were able to walk towards Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral and the National Palace
Comedor Lucerna – Cute multi-shop dining hall with lots of options. Apparently the hotdogs are excellent. Tacos are triple the price from the street, but it had a great vibe and matched the neighborhood.
Walking 30 minutes from venue past the Palacio de Bellas Artes – Really beautiful little park in Alameda Central. Photogenic areas with some old town streets.
Street gorditas and Mercado de Artesanias La Ciudadela for really pretty traditional crafts
The rest of the photos are from ETH Mexico’s venue. 36 hours of just coding away and building narratives.
With more time, I’d love to explore other areas in the city. There were definitely some sketchy areas I’d stay away from walking late at night, but in general, I felt like the city was full of life and friendly people.
~See Lemons Love Mexico City
