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  1. #491
    Administrator dodint's Avatar
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    If it wasn't for people on FB pointing out that it isn't a holiday in Mexico I never would have noticed it in the US either.

  2. #492
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    Holy shit! I always thought it’s Mexican Independence Day... it’s not?!?!!

    US beer companies are just too powerful.

    Thanks for the tip..., or I’ll probably still be living inside my bubble!

  3. #493
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    Quote Originally Posted by dodint View Post
    If it wasn't for people on FB pointing out that it isn't a holiday in Mexico I never would have noticed it in the US either.
    It's a pretty big deal out here in CA at least. When it comes to Mexican restaurants, it's basically like NYE - amateur night.

  4. #494
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    Somewhat of a lesser impact here in St. Paul. I wonder if Somalia has a faux-independence day.

  5. #495
    Ask me about my bottom br FaultyMario's Avatar
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    Glad you had a great time, Brian!
    acket.

  6. #496
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    We did! We feel like we barely scratched the surface of the city, but we're also a little proud of ourselves for walking a good 30 miles or so in a few days around town so I feel like we at least got a little bit of a taste of what's there. That said, it's a larger city than LA and it's taken me a couple of decades to even see what I've seen here.

  7. #497
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    So were there significant differences between Spain and Mexico?

    My wife doesn't like Mexican food, but she's totally fine with Spanish food. I don't quite understand... perhaps Mexican has some ingredients in their spices that's totally turning my wife off...

    Anyway, my wife's eating habit will probably prohibit me from going to Mexico in the near future...

  8. #498
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    There were huge differences in food, but the food in Mexico City was definitely different than the Mexican food here in the US. We had scallops with a dill sauce, tuna sashimi with savory fried kale, steak tartare with mustard greens, lamb al carbon, an amuse bouche of masa and pico de gallo that was out of this world, Huitlacoche, ceviche with yuzu, a mole that had been cooking/adjusted for the past six years, octopus with a carrot puree, lamb barbacoa en papillote, a chile relleno with yucca, seared ahi with an avocado salad, cornbread and honey muffins, churros, a blue corn tamale wrapped in an ancho chile, scallop and shrimp aguachiles, and a really good fried egg w/ spinach, avocado and speck on some brilliantly good toast. We ate really damn well, and often pretty inexpensively. I'd say an average meal with a couple of drinks a piece was running us around $25-$30 US. Pujol, which is supposed to be one of the top 50 restaurants in the world, ran about $400 US after 10 courses and three drinks a piece. Pricey, but you can easily top that here in the states for the kind of experience we had. I think Mexico City's food was more varied and adventurous than what we found in Barcelona, definitely had the feeling of a city full of chefs that were finding ways to incorporate cuisine from the rest of the world. We had fish meatballs made of cod that had a sauce that was almost like a thick curry but with Mexican chiles. Michele wasn't that into it but I thought it was outstanding.

    The drivers in Mexico City weren't as pedestrian/cyclist friendly as those in Barcelona - crosswalks appear to be completely ignored in Mexico City whereas peds were king in Barcelona. That said, in Mexico City it's legal to cross on red on foot or on a bike if the coast is clear, which was nice.

    One thing I missed in Mexico City that Barcelona had was all the sidewalk eateries. Mexico City has them, but on our long walks sometimes we'd just want to sit and have a beer or something. That was super easy to find in Barcelona, and nobody ever had a problem with us only wanting to stop for a drink and then head out. A few places in Mexico City said we had to order food as well, and the sidewalk cafes were fewer and farther between.

    Mexico City is also clearly a younger city than Barcelona - other than the historic center, the city seemed young. It actually reminded me more of Tel Aviv than Barcelona, except that people actually paint their places in Mexico City, so it's not just one drab grey color like Tel Aviv is. From what we gather, the area we stayed in is an older one and was very heavily damaged in the quake, and that's still evident. However, a lot of the younger hipster type people have moved into the area and it's now the most expensive rental market in the city, with prices not out of line with Los Angeles ($2,500 a month US for a one bedroom is apparently not out of the question).

    With precious few exceptions, everyone we met was incredibly nice and didn't make us feel too bad about our awful Spanish. I think it is a good idea to have at least a rudimentary knowledge of the language, though, most people we met knew little to no English except in the really touristy areas. I think just living in the Los Angeles area gets you enough exposure to the language to get by, though. Surprisingly, I found it a little bit easier to understand people speaking Spanish in Barcelona, though Michele pointed out that it might be because technically that's a second language for people living there as well.

    A huge plus - it's cheaper to fly to and it's like a 3 1/2 hour flight vs. the 10 hour one to Barcelona. Weather was great (low 80s during the day, mid 50s at night, afternoons often had 30-60 minute thunderstorms), but it's also really high up, 7,200 feet or so, which made climbing the pyramids at Teotihuacan somewhat tough.

    At any rate, in the US we seem to only get either northern Mexican food or Oaxacan food, and maybe a bit of Yucatecan. It's nothing like that in Mexico City, so if your wife is concerned about that, you can reassure her that it's not just carne asada burritos and refried beans. I actually didn't see any carne asada, any burritos, or any refried beans the entire time I was there.
    Last edited by Tom Servo; May 8th, 2019 at 03:30 PM.

  9. #499
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    Man, you should start some sort of travel blog or something... I had absolutely zero interest to visit Mexico City, but after your report, now I want to go!!!

    Maybe you’ll be able to convince my wife... I’ll have her read what you wrote. Thanks for the awesome feedback!

  10. #500
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tom Servo View Post
    It's a pretty big deal out here in CA at least. When it comes to Mexican restaurants, it's basically like NYE - amateur night.
    Yeah, it's definitely a thing in areas with higher percentages of Mexican/Hispanic population and restaurants. When I formerly lived in a small town, it was only really noted on the South (Hispanic) side of town. It's a much bigger deal here in KCK, which is something like 40% Hispanic.
    -Formerly Stabulator

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