October Eternal Spring recap, plus a little Day of the Dead
Highlights from the places we went, the things we did, and the meals we ate in October in Mexico City, plus a peek into our plans for Eternal Spring in November
We’ve been in Mexico City for almost all of October, and we’ll be here well into November.
In fact, we were planning to head back to the U.S. on November 12 but Paul decided to skip a work trip to Chicago, so we’re staying here for another week. We’ll be home for the holidays, and then back here in Mexico for even longer after New Year’s.
Here’s what we’ve been up to this month.
Día de los Muertos
Let’s start with the big event of the month here in Mexico City. Yes, I know Day of the Dead is in November, but the buildup runs all through the second half of October.
We loved seeing the ofrendas all over the city and we made a video walk-through of the display in our neighborhood.
There are two parades for Día de los Muertos. We went to the earlier one, called Mega Procesión de las Catrinas, on the Sunday night before the big celebration, and saw lots of people dressed as skeletons, oversized skulls, and dance troupes from all over the country.
Our friends Acacia and Nate came to visit and went to the big Día de Los Muertos parade on November 2. Paul and I weren’t brave enough to face those crowds.
We costumed up a little for a party that night, though.
Other fun stuff
It feels like we spend a lot of time working here, because we do, including daily work on our Mexico City guidebook. But when we look back over October, we’ve managed to fit in a lot of fun stuff, too.
In the mornings, we walk in the park nearby, Jardín Ramón López Velarde, and a couple of times a week I take a hot yoga class at Mat MX. On Sundays, we hit the weekly fancy farmer’s market, Mercado 100, for kombucha, cheese, and other treats.
Rock Stop concert
We were at Café Tacobar one night when one of the bartenders saw Paul Shazaming a song and asked what kind of music he liked. Minutes later we were online buying tickets for a concert the next night. The band was Rock Stop, a group that covers mostly 80s and 90s hits from the US, and the show was amazing.
Juarez tour
Talented Substack author Nadine Heir of Migrant in Mexico fame gave us an insider’s look at one of the city’s beautiful public libraries, Biblioteca de México Jose Vasconcelos as well as her Juarez neighborhood. We wrapped up our afternoon together with some delicious orange wine at one of her favorite nearby hangouts, Melina Bistro.
Zócalo book fair
We explored Centro one day and discovered that the Zócalo was hosting a book sale. We brought home a bilingual book of Emily Dickinson poetry, go figure. We also had lunch at Los Cucoyos that day and discovered that our favorite hole-in-the-wall taco stand has taken over the restaurant next door, with a much bigger menu and lots of seating. It doesn’t feel the same, but the tacos are still amazing.
Day of the Dead show
Our friend Miguel Hipolito is a talented drag queen and singer, and we saw him perform in an amazing show for Dia de los Muertos called Cerro sus Ojitos Clero.
San Ángel
We spent a day in the San Ángel neighborhood, where we had a delicious lunch at the San Ángel Inn, explored el Bazaar Sabado (Saturday art market), and toured the Museo Casa Estudio Diego Rivera y Frida Kahlo (Studio Museum of Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo).
Paul’s birthday
Paul was surprised for his birthday twice, thanks to friends who celebrated with him at Bolero Cafe and Amici.
Not-so-fun stuff
Despite our best efforts to prevent birds from nesting in our air vents, which included PVC pipe, chicken wire, and duct tape, they outsmarted us. Our latest attempt—milk cartons filled with sand so they are too heavy to move—seems to be working. Stay tuned.
We brought a pair of Apple speakers from home, and connecting them took a month and involved borrowing our neighbor’s Mac (twice). But they seem to work fine now, at least.
Eating
We’ve settled into a routine where we work during the day with a street-stand jugo verde for breakfast and an inexpensive lunch at a local cocina económica.
We like the restaurants Cocinas Juanita e Hijas in Mercado Medellin, Caldos de Gallina Luis, and Tortería Los Güeros for inexpensive lunches, too.
Gin Chan, our favorite sushi place, was our first stop when we arrived, and we eat there most Thursday nights, when they have a ramen special. This month we were also there to celebrate Juan’s birthday, sushi chef extraordinaire.
We’ve been back to Bolero Cafe several times—it’s our go-to place for sourdough-crust pizza and American sports (go Dodgers!). We’ve also returned to neighborhood favorites La Morenita Comedor and Vulevu for breakfast.
We’re fans of Café Tacobar del Sur for tacos and cocktails, so we’ve been there a few times. We love sitting at the bar and chatting with other people at Tacobar. In Mexico City, bar seating isn’t as common—people seem to prefer to sit at tables. We like the socialization you get at the bar.
We met Mehedi Hassan, a London-based colleague Paul worked with for years but never met in real life, for a drink at La Chicha.
We’ve been back to La Oliva Tapas Bar—it’s one of our favorite local spots, and it’s open on Sundays and Mondays, when lots of places are closed.
We almost skipped Antolina because we couldn’t find a menu online. But we happened to get out of an Uber nearby, took a look at their options, and ended up having a great meal there.
Here’s a quick roundup of some places we’ve tried this month. You can expect to see most of them in our upcoming guidebook.
Baltra Bar: Always a favorite cocktail spot; try the Sumi.
Carmel: Housemade vermouth; best croquettes we’ve ever had.
El Manjar: Cute little lunch place with a good menu del dia.
El Tigro Silencio: Upscale, small menu, great but expensive steak.
La Sirloinería: Spit-roasted beef tacos, a nice change from the traditional pork.
Liqueria Limantour: Consistently great cocktails; try the fried chicken.
Nican Nican: Menu del Dia plus a full menu; inexpensive but a step up from cocinas economicas.
San Taco: Good variety of cheap tacos (skip the ribeye).
Soul la Roma: Classic American-style burgers.
Vigneron: Wine bar with fantastic food options and pricey wine.
Xel-Ha: Inexpensive Mexican food; great mole.
Tacos Hola El Güero: Tiny taco stand with a friendly staff.
Tacos Los Alexis: Small variety of delicious, upscale tacos.
Taqueria Alvera Obregon: Great al pastor tacos; big menu.
Eternal Spring updates
Here’s what we wrote about on Substack that we haven’t already covered here:
We also recorded these YouTube videos:
Coming in November
We are almost ready to share a first preview of our book, Eternal Spring: Our Guidebook to Mexico City, to our first readers. Expect to see:
Our firsthand tips for visiting the city
Our thoughts on the top sights
Our favorite restaurants in key neighborhoods
A detailed guide to Centro Historico
And more!
On Substack, we’ll also recap our recent visit to Pujol, one of two restaurants in Mexico City with two Michelin stars (Quintonil is the other), our meal at another top restaurant, Pargot, and more of our adventures.
Thanks for being part of our journey! If you know anyone planning a trip to Mexico City, please share this email with them.
Let me know the next time Miguel Hipolito is performing! And also, lovely face diamante Stephanie.
Glad you're staying a little longer, must get that 4-way dinner on the books!
Miguel has 1 more show, a week from today, and yes, let's get that dinner planned!