Last day in Mexico for the year!
We started this day off by waking up at 4:30am (yes another early day) to go to do a hot air balloon excursion. It was located an hour away from the Airbnb (near the Teotihuacan pyramids, which the balloon did fly over).
As part of our tour, it included transportation to and from.
Some things I learned from the hot air balloon pilot:
-wind direction changes 50 minutes after sunrise
-there is a fast landing position you may need to do depending on wind speeds (which we ended up doing… although our landing was fairly ok for the most part)
-you will likely land in some private property (for safe landings). Usually owners are ok and want 200 pesos. If not, the pilot would go back up and try another private property
-there is a military zone near where the balloons fly, and only they are allowed over it
-after completing one’s first hot air balloon landing, it is tradition to celebrate with wine. We got a red sparkling wine (it’s one local to Italy). The tradition apparently stems from the earlier days when they had successfully hot air balloon landings.
After the hot air balloon ride, our driver picked us up from the landing site and brought us to the main office, where we bought some photos and videos.
After (included in the tour), we got breakfast at a place called La Cueva:
http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2023/12/20/la-cueva/
From there we went to a shop where they sold some crafts (I think these shops are called Artesanians). Learned a couple of things. First, white Agave is used to create many things like plants, threads, and of course alcohol. We were also taught about the obsidian stones. You want the “gold” ones (they’re black, but if you stare through them at the sun you can see the sun). Also we had a sample of alcohol from agave.
After the shop, we checked out the Teotihuacan pyramids (our driver took us there). It was 90 pesos for the entrance fee. You could walk around the area in 45 minutes (as you can go inside, it’s only an outdoor thing). Apparently Teotihuacan was once the largest city in Mexico.
After our excursion above, went back to the Airbnb (took 2 hours drive because of traffic) and slept until dinner.
For dinner, we were celebrating a friends birthday, and ended up going to Auna, a restaurant in Polanco. Details here:
http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2023/12/21/auna/
Afterwards, checked out a bar/drinking restaurant called GinGin. Details here:
http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2023/12/21/gingin/
We ended the night by going to a club bearby called Vanderbilt. Cover was free (since it was a Wednesday). Got some Macallan 12s. Music was on / off (ie. Some edm, and sometimes it would transition). Probably wouldn’t go back.
And that is a wrap for this Mexico City trip! (Will say that we ended up stopping by the Amex Lounge the next day. It is sort of like the Chase sapphire Reserve lounge in that food is sit down (but even drinks are also, which is slightly different). Got the tuna tar tar and rib eye tacos. Both were great.
