I couldn’t have dreamed up a more beautiful city to spend my birthday week in. The history of Mexico City is so relevant to the world today and learning how the neighborhoods have come to be what they are now feels important as I walk these streets. The preserved remnants of a heavy colonial past (elaborate European architecture) mixed in with a more modern vision of Mexico City, one that feels very local and international at the same time, makes this part of the city one to not miss. We walked this city every single day, 18,000 + steps every day. I felt like I grew attached to these streets in some way. Mexico City is one of those places that to me felt easy to find a routine here. We kept walking around and noticing places we would live, the coffee shop that we would be regulars at, and the streets we took suddenly started feeling familiar and second nature after just a short time. Gabi and I absolutely love this city and especially the importance it has in Latin American history. I’m so happy we got to get to know this these streets together. The indigenous history, the architecture, the food, the art, the colors, did I say the food? Trust me the I say that making a trip out here for the chilaquiles with chorizo Lalo is totally worth it. Creativity is in the air here, and it felt as natural as can be. We especially fell in love with the Roma Norte and Condesa neighborhood. So much to explore there.

See below for my list of our favorite museums, sights and restaurants in Mexico City!

Museus

Museo Nacional de Antropología

You can’t miss this. If you’re in town for 2 days this is one. It’s an amazing look into MesoAmerican history that is such an integral part of understanding the rich culture of Mexico.

House of Tiles (Casa de los Azulejos)

This place is amazing! It’s in the Centro Historico area of the city. It is best to go not on a weekend since the area is really busy on the weekends, but still the place is so huge it’s easy to get a table. We love the second floor to sit near the balcony with the gorgeous view of the inside of the building. It’s a historical building and you can sit and have a full meal, or a snack or a drink. We went twice 🙂 

Soumaya Museum

This free art museum has amazing architecture and a really incredible collection inside. One of my absolute favorite art museums. We went for the last two hours before closing. It’s across the street from another free museum, Museo Jumex, which is a modern art museum, but we didn’t have time for it. But I hear it’s also great!

Chapultepec Castle

This castle is at the top of Chapultepec Hill in Mexico City’s Chapultepec Park. It is absolutely beautiful and pristine, and shows a great amount of historical objects from the history of colonialism in Mexico City! You get an amazing view of the city, as well.

Casa Estudio Luis Barragán

It’s kind of hard to get tickets but I was able to exactly a week in advance on the website. It’s pricier than all the other museums in the city, but I’ve always wanted to see it so thought it was worth checking out if you are a fan of art and interior design. I left feeling inspired to make some interior changes at home because of this visit!

Museo Tamayo

Contemporary art museum next to the Anthropology museum. Interesting building, rotating exhibitions and a permanent collection.

Museo del Objeto

Just down the street from Rosetta Bakery, it’s a super small museum where the exhibition focuses on one object/theme. It was very interesting with a very in-depth collection of objects surrounding the theme.

ARENA MEXICO (for Lucha Libre matches)

Dr. Lavista 189, Doctores, Cuauhtémoc, 06720 Ciudad de México, CDMX, Mexico

There are two locations in Mexico City I believe, but we went to the one at the address here. It was one of the most fun experiences ever that we ended up going twice! Tickets are so cheap! We just walked to the location the day of a match (check online for matches), and bought our tickets in person the day of a match when they open around 11am. Highly recommend, as this kind of show is very unique to Mexico!

Comida: 

LALO

Great place for brunch but if it’s a weekend you might have to wait, it is very popular, but we actually never had to wait at all for a table on the weekend. The chilaquiles are AMAZING!!! We became obsessed lol. Add the chorizo! Also pancakes are amazing! We went twice here for brunch!

LARDO

This was high on our list, but we never had time to go. We were told that if you like places like Il Buco, or Romans, or Rucola in NYC you will love Lardo. It’s kind of Italian/Mediterranean and related to the Rosetta crew. But we did make it to Rosetta …

ROSETTA

This place really is amazing, and the setting is so beautiful. We weren’t super hungry the day we went, but we ended up having a light lunch and shared some appetizers and the tamale main dish. Delicious 🙂 

The wait at the Rosette Panaderia across the street from the main restaurant was always so crazy busy, so we went to their other location closer to our Airbnb on Puebla Street.

PANADERIA ROSETTA PUEBLA

This little spot is very cute and has the same menu as their other main location, but without the crowds! The cool thing is that you can ask to sit at the rooftop of the restaurant attached which is super beautiful and full of plants. We really enjoyed it! 

CHURRERIA EL MORO

There are a bunch of locations in CDMX. All I need to say is that they have the best churros and hot chocolate! An amazing combination.

TAQUERIA ORINOCO

This is a very popular chain that started in the northern city of Monterrey and branched out to CDMX. Simple menu but the quality and flavor is consistent. Try the especials Pirata (beef) and Gringa (pastor). Their sauces are amazing. Especially the tzatziki. This is a must. I recommend getting there early. We went right before it opened, and the line got long fast!

BEATRICITA

Established in 1910, Beatricita is a classic . They specialize in tacos de guisado, in other words, more elaborate stew tacos. Best of all, the tortillas are hand-made. The mole taco is delicious. 

FORBIDDEN FRUITS

Great for brunch. Their pecados (wraps), juices and aguas are great. Fresh ingredients prepared in the moment. My favorite wrap is Pecado Perezoso. Chilaquiles are also great. 

EL PENDULO CAFEBRERIA

It is a very cool library with a great design and it has a restaurant. Great for coffe and meals. Varied menu with salads and sandwiches. 

CAFE NIN

Old historical building that is very picturesque and has a European feel. It felt similar to Rosetta bakery. Love it for breakfast or a snack.

LA CASA DE TOÑO

This place is cheap and they bring the food quick. Best for when you are looking for an easy meal. Best pozole ever amongst other Mexican delicacies. Best of all, super cheap. Enchilladas are good too. Sometimes is crowded, so is best to grab a ticket and come back 10-15 mins later. 

IMBISS

This was a recommendation from someone who said it was the best meal of her life. And it happened to be on a small quiet street just 5 minutes walk from our Airbnb. It’s not Mexican food, but if you like fusion then this is the place. We shared the carbonara which is made with rice pasta (Japanese style), and the fried chicken is amazing! Truly delicious!

TAMALE MADRE

This place was recommended by a friend who knew we loved tamales. I love the set up of the restaurant. You can sit around where they hand make the tamales fresh. It’s intimate and cool. The weather is always amazing in CDMX, so I also recommend sitting outside which is covered in green plants. The tamales were some of the best we’ve had in the city.

“the day so empty yet ready and willing to be filled with last minute adventures”

Spending the majority of the second half of summer staying put in the city really has its perks. Trying all the restaurants I didn’t have time to try before. Glasses of wine in the park. Spending an evening up on the rooftop and taking in the sunset. More walks … everywhere. Getting into mangas all of a sudden and being very happy about this new addition to my life. A few weeks not filled with packing and travel and itineraries has come to feel like the most free thing. And you don’t even realize the feeling until you are already set in the motion of just living your life in the city. And New York City is a pretty great one to call home. We really do forget how lucky we are to live in this city this is as batshit as it is stunningly poetic.

I like the pace of how summer at home allows me to gradually coming alive into my energy in the morning. No rushing. Time seems endless and the day so empty yet ready and willing to be filled with last minute adventures. Like sleeping in on a Friday, and suddenly deciding to take the day off and go to the MET … two Fridays in a row. That’s a summer feeling. It’s bringing a blanket and a book all the way uptown to Central Park and just people watching and staying still, enjoying the buzz from a quiet little spot, going unnoticed and unbothered and just absolutely at peace with just being. It’s watching tourists flag down taxis. It’s grabbing a $1 water bottle off the street to cool off from the sweltering heat. It’s eating ice cream on a stoop in Fort Greene. It’s finding the treat in all the little everyday things that normally get overlooked. Not everyone gets the chance experience their city in this sort of way.

30 blocks in the summer feels like climbing a mountain but I love how my feet and legs feel worn from it. I feel grounded and connected to this city this way. I always think, in the summer, we dream of Europe and all the other place in the world that show up on our social media, but with a different perspective, a vacation can be made right here at home. Just an escapist sort of mindset just starts with looking around and slowing down and just taking in the feeling.

Don’t get me wrong, I love having a new destination to plan out, and I am in fact planning to get out of the city at the beginning of fall. Gabi and I are still deciding on where exactly we want to go, but for right now, being here in NYC is simply wonderful.

“we listened to the rain and the insects and the frogs and the birds and the ocean”

Photos shot on film from my three days in paradise at The St. Regis Bahia, Puerto Rico. This trip ended up being a very last minute girl’s trip with my sister, our cousin Miggy and our longtime friend Deb. What I remember the most from this trip is the amount of laughs we all shared. We endlessly tickled each others feathers until our stomachs hurt, and it was absolutely the best feeling ever. Three days away from work and priorities. My shoulders are no longer burnt from that strong Caribbean sun, but I still have the tan to remember it all by.

The property at The St. Regis Bahia is really quite special. I’ve been to San Juan twice before. The first time was many years ago with Puerto Rico tourism, which really allowed me to hit up some of the really important cultural aspects of the island like the history of Old San Juan, the start of reggae-ton, and the biodiversity of El Yunque rainforest. Here at Bahia, we were in between San Juan and El Yunque, and this little paradise was a quiet, calm escape; a very different part of Puerto Rico. The grounds were full of green and the air was heavy with moisture. All of it reminding you at every moment of all that is living all around us there. The days and nights were full of nature sounds, and we came to look forward to the daily 5pm tropical rainfall, which came down with such force and such gracefulness, and at such a time perfect to recharge before dinner in our spacious and elegant ocean-view suites.

We didn’t get to explore outside of the property, but it is so large that we felt like we had a full adventure nonetheless. We really made the most of our three days there. We biked, hit some balls around on the tennis court, went to visit the animal shelter and play with some strays ready for new homes, we swam, we danced, we pampered ourselves at the spa, we ate with full appetites, we listened to the rain and the insects and the frogs and the birds and the ocean, we slept deeply. We allowed our minds to lighten up a bit. This trip’s purpose was to just think about all the things we have to do in the city and tell ourselves “we’ll get to that later.”

Thank you The St. Regis Bahia for inviting us to come have the full experience. And thank you to the amazing staff who welcomed us with friendly faces and conversation. We loved being there and hope to be back again one day!

“Rio is a city full of contrasts all mixed up together into one really amazing, exciting city”

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. June 2023.

It feels bittersweet looking at these photos from our trip to Rio just over a month ago. This was my 7th time in Brazil, and only my second time in Rio, but this city is already one of my favorite places to visit in the world. It’s chaotically beautiful. It’s as romantic as the stereotype when it wants to be. It’s loud and energetic and in your face, sometimes a bit too much that you need to be on your toes more than you thought you’d be, but then the contrasts of the calm, the ocean, the mountains, the endless green sweeps you away. The way the sense of a city intertwines with mother nature is really incomparable here. It’s exactly how the music that was created from here sounds …. a unique blend you can only really feel in Rio.

The most surreal was being in Rio de Janeiro during the day that Astrud Gilberto passed. She was the voice of The Girl From Ipanema, one of my favorite songs ever. Her voice was what put that song on the international map, and attentions turned to magical Bossa nova. I’ve been listening to all of Astrud’s songs on repeat ever since. Her voice is airy, light, effortless, and breathy. She made the lyrics, when sung in English, sound like the most other worldly of feelings.

Rio de Janeiro is a very interesting place, with a history that one cannot ignore. I’ve always believed that when you get the chance to travel to a foreign place, it’s so important and so respectful to make sure to learn its history and roots to understand more the complexity of the place in modern times. Every time we told people we were going to Rio, or mentioned that we just traveled from there, one of the first comments we would received was about how dangerous they heard the city to be. I will always highlight the most beautiful parts of Rio, but it is true, Brazil is a country with a longtime history of violence and a huge class inequality that is a huge precursor for this history. Every trip to Brazil includes doing research on the safety precautions one should take in the area, which neighborhoods to avoid, what not to wear or carry on you to avoid theft. Number one rule is that you don’t walk around at night. The danger and level of security in Brazil is something very well known and always considered. It was something that kept us a bit on our toes when we explored the city, especially with my family in the city for the first time. This can lead us to a whole other conversation to get into on class, race and social structure that one can have about any country that still faces the leftover realities of colonization. This is true for much of Latin America. But aside this reality, no person can deny the beauty of this country and the richness of the culture that to me, observing as an outsider, completely captivates me. The history of immigration to Brazil lent to the country’s diversity that makes this melting pop of a country so interesting. European descent, Asian descent, African descent, native descent. Together they are all Brazilian. That feeling is strong here. It stands out all around. I had a completely different perspective of Rio, and Brazil in general, before getting to know it. And I am still continuing to learn. Rio is a city full of contrasts all mixed up together into one really amazing, exciting city that only sparks my curiosity more and more with time. I have completely fallen in love with this mountainous jungle city by the sea. This world is far from perfect, yet there is so much to learn if we really look around, and I just love to share these parts that I take home with me from every trip.