Day 1--Arrival in Mexico City

I arrived at the San Jose airport at 5 am after being picked up by a taxi at 4:30 am. Carlos came with me to see me off while I paid my exit fee (no extra charge for overstaying my visa by > 1 month!) and checked in to Mexicana airlines. I still had over an hour to wait so Carlos and I waited together in the main airport lounge area.

At 5:30 am I said goodbye to Carlos and passed through security with no problems and waited at my gate until my flight boarded. The flight was only 3 hours and I arrived in Distrito Federal (DF = Mexico City) around 11. The first thing I noticed when flying in was how HUGE Mexico City is…the second thing I noticed was the smog. There is a ton. The grey sky reminded me a bit of Lima and its ever-present overcast sky, except DF’s greyness isn’t made of clouds.

I took an authorized taxi to Hostal Casa Vieja near the Sevilla metro stop in the Zona Rosa. This was a really nice, small and cozy hostel. The hostel is in a great part of the city, very secure, cheap, and best of all only about 20 steps from the metro! I even had a private room located on the roof with my own bathroom. I would probably stay here again.

(My room at Hostal Casa Vieja in Mexico City)

After a little unpacking, I walked around the Zona Rosa (area with markets and cafes) and some streets near my hostel. I eventually found a supermarket where I bought some bread, tomatoes, cheese (manchego!), and snacks for dinner tonight at the hostel. I returned to Hostal Casa Vieja and took a little nap before more sight-seeing, a bit of reading, dinner, then bed. Tomorrow should be a really fun day—I am going to learn how to use the metro (my first time using one by myself!) and visit the National Anthropology Museum and Bosque Chapultepec.