April and May have been such amazing months. I spent much of April on the road with 10 days in Puerto Rico and a week in La Paz, but since then I’ve had my feet firmly planted in Mexico City.
What I Got Up to in May
I can’t believe it’s the last week of May! Life in Mexico City has had a few ups and downs this month.
There were some terrible wildfires (and many still going on around the country) that left the city in the most polluted state that I’ve ever seen it. I was waking up in the morning with a sore throat. My eyes were burning and I was using eye drops every few hours. Schools were closed, all outdoor activities were canceled. You basically just had to stay inside and not exert yourself. It was pretty terrible.
Luckily, we’ve had a little bit of rain since then and things are looking a lot better. The skies are a lot clearer. They pretty much just look like they always do in May (one of the worst months for pollution every year anyway!).
I have been working really hard on a project that I’m going to be releasing in June, so I’ve been spending a lot of time working from my couch with as few distractions as possible. I’ve also been loving checking out a few different co-working spaces with the Croissant app. It allows you to visit totally different ones every single day without being tied to a contract or spending a ton of money. It’s been nice to get out of the house and not sit in a Starbucks just for good WiFi.
I’ve also been working crazy hard on building up my YouTube channel. I love this blog, but I also love the community that you can build on YouTube. So if you enjoy videos about Mexico, I would love it if you would head over and subscribe, check out some of my recent videos, and let me know what you think!
Enjoying the fish at Contramar!
Best Recent Mexico City Eats
- Loncheria La Rambla: If you want to have the best turkey sandwich you’ve ever had then you should definitely come here. They also make an outrageously delicious turkey consomme and a ham sandwich with roasted ham that tastes a little bit like a bacon sandwich (in the best possible way). It’s located in the Centro Historico.
- Tortas al Fuego: I was recently recommended this 24/hour taqueria in Condesa and it did not disappoint. They are known for their pastor which is enormous (you can’t miss it as you walk into the restaurant). I loved the tacos and I also really enjoyed the beef in a torta.
- Contramar: I just visited this popular seafood restaurant with fellow travel blogger Expat Edna, and I understand now why it’s so famous. I really recommend going for the aguachile, ceviche and some of their tostadas. The seafood is just SO fresh!
- Quintonil – After talking about going to this restaurant (which is ranked 11th best in the whole WORLD) for months and months, we finally managed to score a reservation on a Saturday night. It was truly one of the most amazing food experiences I’ve ever had. I gave it a full review over on my YouTube channel here.
Mexico City is full of sweet moments despite the bad air!
Favorite Recent Books I’ve Read
It’s been a slow few months for reading. I have picked up a lot of books and just not loved them, but there is one that I really loved.
- Children of the Jacaranda Tree by Sahar Delijani – a beautiful and heartbreaking story of several families in Iran between the 70’s and 2011 torn apart by politics, war, prison, and death. I knew so little about the revolutions that have taken place in Iran over the last few decades and reading about family separations and all of the turmoil that people went through really opened my eyes. I highly recommend reading this book.
More beach time is in my very near future!
Upcoming Plans for June (and July & August)
I’m SO excited for this summer. I’m trying not to wish away the rest of May and June, but the summer plans are just getting me SO PUMPED. We haven’t solidified all of it yet, but the loose plan is to spend a few weeks on the Oaxacan coast and then the rest of the summer on the east (Yucatan). We’re probably going to base ourselves in Merida so that we can explore more places that we missed on our last two trips to the peninsula.
I’m thinking Uxmal, Campeche, Valladolid, Chetumal, Bacalar and maybe even a quick crossing into Belize!
The whole summer is going to center around Spanish. Luke and I have been talking for months and months about having a seriously immersive summer where we study Spanish every single day and we’re finally going to do it. I found what sounds like a seriously amazing system with Baselang where you get to spend 2 hours a day with a tutor and then you have unlimited access to additional lessons. I truly cannot wait to move to the next level and be really pushed forward with my Spanish!