A short stay in Mexico City

From Poza Rica we managed to line up another couchsurfing opportunity for Mexico City. One of the largest cities on earth, it was not nearly as giant and soul-sucking as I would have feared. Actually, Mexico City seemed just pretty much like any other big city with a good Metro system; you could get around the city easily, and there was never an overwhelming crush of people.

We really didn’t see much, though. A trip mainly to see the big pyramids nearby, we only spent one day sightseeing around the Zocalo and National Cathedral. I thought the cathedral was great, with one of the most impressive pipe organs I’ve ever seen. There was an immense amount of art inside, but most of it was kept in small alcoves that were unlit when we visited, so you could just make out the barest details.

We stayed with Erick, a physics student, and stayed in apparently the university part of town. We didn’t notice too much of a student vibe though, except that prices for food and such in general were a few pesos lower than average which was a nice surprise. The most notable thing I found about the area is that in the morning when you look towards town, the view is in almost sepia tones. The smog was immense, and while I didn’t have any trouble breathing you could really see a giant brown cloud billowing up into the sky.

Although there was a lot more that we would have liked to see in the capital, we only stayed a few days. Erick and his two roommates were all gearing up towards finals and finishing their theses, and one roommate especially didn’t seem keen on us being there. So we did one day of sightseeing, and one day at the pyramids, then headed out.