I love CdMx: Hipódromo Condesa

When I travel to another city I like to wander and explore its streets and neighborhoods. I like to imagine myself living there and how my life would be, what kind of friends I would have, what I would do for a living if my decisions had taken me to live there. I like to escape, think my life in different scenarios.

Last time I did that I was in Mexico City. I traveled there to attend a concert by my favorite band, Muse. It was an early  birthday gift to myself. I’m turning 40 this year. It was the experience of a lifetime. A cousin who lives in Mexico City came with me to the concert but I also had some time to be by myself as well.

I’ve been very blessed to have done a little traveling and visited some of the greatest cities in the world. Their beauty has taken my breath away and I’ve fell in love with many of them, but no matter where I go I always have the same thought “man, this city is amazing, but never like Mexico City”. My heart belongs to Mexico City, forever. I love this city, it is the greatest, most colorful, noisiest, yummiest, coolest there will ever be. It is truly alive, you can feel it beating beneath your feet as you get lost in its many serpent streets and neighborhoods.

Whenever I travel there, and I try to do it at least once a year, I visit or revisit different places. I have been traveling here since childhood but there’s always something new to do: a new museum, a new neighborhood, a new restaurant, new flavors, new places… the city is ever changing, always evolving, and what used to be upscale-run down neighborhoods (like the Roma-Hipódromo-Condesa) are hip and cool again, filled with history and the chiquest architecture.

Let’s talk about this last 2 adjoining neighborhoods called simply the Hipódromo-Condesa. Las time I visited Mexico City I stayed here. It is a very buzzy cool part of the city conveniently located near the airport and the Foro Sol, the venue where the concert was held. I’ve stayed in this lovely neighborhood a couple times before but never by myself. The landscape acquires a different tonality when admired solo. I didn’t have a set plan, just a lunch reservation for a cool place called Lardo by the even cooler chef Elena Reygadas. But apart from that my time was unscheduled so I could improvise on the go. My flight landed early in the morning so I got there in time for a light breakfast and some exploring. I just started walking around it’s streets, got to Parque México where people were working out at the Foro Lindbergh (an outdoor theater in Art Decó style). I bought a sugar “tamal” and vanilla “atole” from a little food stand on the street and took it back to eat it in the park while others exercised. It was mean, I know, but there’s some guilty pleasure in eating carbs while watching others burn them.

When my exploring resumed I found several buildings in Art Decó architecture like the “Edificio Basurto”, a nod to my former student days shared with the always kind and amazing Luce Buona. I even bought some handcrafted art from some vendors on the street: a wooden “alebrije “ and some cool handmade Mexican toys. I also had time for a quick stop in the Rosario Castellanos bookstore which used to be a cinema. Then just enough time to freshen up at my hotel before lunch at lardo and getting in time to the shuttle stop the would take me and my cousin to the concert. By the way, it was awesome! 60,000 people singing to my favorite band at el Foto Sol, quiet and experience.

Next morning I grabbed a quick breakfast at my hotel, did a last short walk around my block and got my Uber to the airport to be on time for my flight (the airport is only 15 minutes from this neighborhood, ensuring there is no traffic though .

I could make a lot of recs based on my former experiences in Hipódromo-Condesa but I think my best advice is to get lost in it: explore, wander it’s streets, try some cafes or places to eat, have no plan, just go with it. You can just sit at a cafe or a park and read or write or sketch. Don’t bring your headphones, just listen to the city’s music all sounds. I tell you, it’s alive.

I’ll leave some lite directions below dough, but I insist: the best way to enjoy these neighborhoods is at your own pace.

Neighborhood to explore and get lost in:

Hipódromo Condesa

Traditional churros and chocolate:

Churrería el Moro

Avenida Michoacán #27, Hipódromo

Fine lunch and dining:

Lardo

Agustín Melgar #6, Colonia Condesa

Cool bookstore:

Librería Rosario Castellanos

Avenida Tamaulipas 202, Hipódromo

Lovely parks

Parque México, Hipódromo

Parque España, Colonia Condesa

Art decó

Edificio Basurto

Avenida México #187, Hipódromo

Plaza Popocatépetl, Hipódromo

Foro Lindbergh, Parque México, Hipódromo

Foro Lindbergh at Parque México, Mexico City