The capital city of Mexico was definitely the hidden gem of our trip. I’m not sure why, but in my head our time in Mexico City was a bit of a stop-gap on the way to more interesting places. Instead, I ended up loving the vibrant atmosphere, delicious food and drink and the wealth of culture on offer and wasn’t ready to leave!

We stayed in the Four Seasons – probably the best hotel of our trip.  The staff were so friendly and helpful (and kindly put up my awful attempts at Spanish with good humour).  The whole hotel felt light and airy – there was a luscious green courtyard in the middle of the hotel which was such a peaceful spot and a great place to start the day with breakfast.  Our room was spacious and clean with an incredibly comfortable bed and living area and a huge bath (complete with lots of lovely L’Occitane goodies).  Although on the small side (well, compared to the monster gym we had in our Las Vegas hotel), the gym had modern machinery and multiples of each machine, it was impeccably clean and the attendants were so attentive and helpful.  The gym looked out on the small pool area which was an oasis of calm from the hectic city outside.  Although we didn’t end up eating an evening meal in the hotel, the breakfast that I had there was absolutely delicious and the buffet looked incredible.

We had about two and a half days in Mexico City.  Little did I know but Mexico City supposedly has more museums than any other city in the world, and it definitely felt like you could spend weeks just wandering around and stumbling across new things – from ruins of Templo de Mayor which were discovered right in the middle of the city in the late 1970s, to wonderful stained glass

to endless churches (with sumptuous gilded interiors,)

and beautiful tiled buildings.

We were also in the city for National Day, unlucky on the one hand as we were there for such a limited amount of time and nearly all the museums were closed, but on the other it was such an interesting day to be around and people watch.  Seeing so many people and families out and about, and witnessing the protests in the Zocalo, we felt we got a real sense of the city.

As well as the history all around, the art scene in Mexico City was also something I was keen to explore.  Although not my favourite style, I found it so interesting to look at the murals painted by Diego Rivera which cover the walls many of the buildings around the city, 

and to visit his and Frida Khalo’s Blue House. 

The Casa d’Azul museum is in Coyacan, a lovely area of the city to just wander around – it had a much more bohemian vibe compared to the area around the Zocalo.

For a history geek like myself a visit to the Museo Nacional de Antropologia was an absolute must and so we ended our time in the city immersing ourselves in this huge museum.  Set within the beautiful Chapultapec Park, the architecture of the museum was impressive in its own right

but just as awe-inspiring were the wealth of artefacts from Mexico’s rich history and amazing reproductions of temples that the building houses.  Organised with rooms for each pre-Colombian civilisation, you could spend all day reading about the different civilisations that existed in Mexico thousands of years ago.

I feel like we barely scratched the surface of what Mexico City has to offer in terms of sightseeing, and that’s before you even get to the delicious food and cocktails that were also on the menu…