As some of you know, I spent last week in Mexico City. I needed to go for a doctor’s appointment and going to Sweden was going to be way too expensive, so I drove up to the Mexican border town Chetumal after work on Friday, and hopped on a flight to the capital. Adriana picked me up in the airport and we spent the weekend and next couple of days running errands, going to the doc, hanging out, eating sushi, talking about love, shopping, and watching some Mad Men.
During the second part of my stay, I stayed with Chema and his family, who welcomed me to their house as if I were family. I got lots of hugs and it felt like I had been there two weeks ago, not two years!
As I do whenever I get a chance, I asked for a Peruvian restaurant, and was recommended Astrid y Gastón – the world renowned (No.1 in Latin America in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants in 2013) concept that also has restaurants in Lima, Santiago, Buenos Aires and Bogotá. It was an experience, all the way from the attendance of the staff and the little details “would you like lime, cucumber or pineapple in your water?” to, obviously, the food. I love Peruvian food, and this place definitely delivered. Causas, tiraditos, ceviche. All of it. And free valet parking service. That thing always makes you feel a bit special, no?
I had already gotten my cultural shock of the roughness of this huge city last time, and done all the “musts”, so this visit was a bit calmer and less overwhelming. Traffic and pollution was still quite disastrous to spirit and body, but luckily we escaped the city before I started disliking it again. We made our way to Cocoyoc, a bit outside of the city, where Chema’s family has a summer house close to picturesque towns and with a pool and a proper hang-out lounge. So we watched movies, exchanged tunes, danced around, played air-drums to Dirty Loops, made big breakfasts, hung out in the jacuzzi and explored the surroundings.
We came back to Mexico City late on Sunday evening, and managed to squeeze in a last dinner before everything closed down. We ate at Cluny, a Belle Epoque inspired restaurant just next to Chema’s house in San Angel. I had a salmon tartar, Chema had a pepper steak, we both had good red wine, and we paid less than 40€ for the meal! The prices for quality food in this city are really.. wow. And being able to walk around in San Angel by night wrapped up the stay and my vibe of the city really nicely. I urgently needed all of this.
I flew back to Chetumal early early morning on Monday accompanied by a fresh book by the Mexican writer Angeles Mastretta, and once I got back into my car I realized I wouldn’t be able to drive it back all the way to Belize City. I pulled up by the first workshop I saw and I explained the issue I was having (and have been having for months) and the guys immediately knew what the problem was. (I want to point out that 1. It’s a really common issue that it took the mechanics one minute to guess, and 2. I have previously taken the car to three different workshops here in Belize City and they all said something else and charged me for NOT fixing the real problem. Urgh.. Never again.) I had to spend the night in Chetumal while waiting for the car to get fixed and happily passed out in my hotel at 7pm. Next day I worked from my room in the morning, did some grocery shopping, and was on my way back to Belize in the afternoon, Suz shooting off like she had been given new life, full speed, loud music, and myself singing along with the sun setting behind me. It was a great way to close these 10 days of being away.
I’m back in town, folks. Now enjoy the visual part of this story.
