Week in Review (March 4 - March 10)

Tuesday (15,531 steps) - Peloton and Olive walk before going to work in the office. Gym at lunch, and once again, someone was on the StairMaster. I opted to walk at 15% incline until the guy finished, which thankfully was only about 10 minutes. After my stair workout did some strength training.

Ben was making dinner and I tried to check in for my flight. We had booked on Volaris, which is owned by Frontier (I think) - so a cheap airline. Even scanning my passport I wasn't able to check in because it kept telling me I had to provide documentation of living in Mexico - which I obviously don't - or pay a fee, which was FINE, but it never directed me anywhere to do it. After many hours of trying to reach customer service through various social media, I was able to get them to add the fee to my account and I finally was able to get checked in. Lisa had the same issue and checked in at her airport and was told it was a tourist tax that JUST went into effect after Trump's stupid tariffs. THANKS TRUMP. Handmaid's Tale!

Wednesday (11,835 steps) - Got up at roughly the same time I normally do, even though I wasn't going  to work. Finished packing and took Olive for a longer walk. On the way downtown I stopped at both REI and Patagonia to do some returns I've been putting off. Left my car at my office and took the train to the airport. Security took two seconds and I had a beer while waiting for boarding. Everything went pretty seamlessly, and we actually left right on time. Watched Yellowjackets (ooooh is this show good!) and landed about a half hour early. Texted Lisa to let her know since her and Rosemarie were going to Uber to "pick me up" at the airport. Unfortunately, they hit some horrible traffic and it was probably 90 minutes before they got there. Also traffic to our hotel in Polanco. We were all hungry, so we went to a Peruvian restaurant right across the street. Mmmmm margaritas and random food that I'm not sure what I ordered...

Thursday (13,541 steps) - Woke up early so that I could go for a run before we started the day. I had mapped to a local park and it seemed relatively easy to get to. I had been a bit worried about safety in Mexico City, but the neighborhood we were staying in was very safe. I saw hundreds of people out running and exercising in the park. Navigating street crossings was a bit scary, but I managed to get in a decent run in Lincoln Park.

Even *I* had to duck under this one

When I got back to the hotel the other girls were just finishing getting ready. I quickly got dressed for the day and we went to a restaurant about a block away. Got a delicious protein shake:

And a VERY gigantic and delicious croissant sandiwch:

Lisa's big activity for the day was to go to the Basilica. I guess this is one of the most famous ones in the world. She neglected to mention that in addition to looking around we would be sitting through a mass. Happy birthday, Lisa, you are lucky I love you!!

After looking around inside, we toured the grounds outside. 

We attempted to find a market that Lisa remembered from her last visit, but we couldn't seem to find what we were looking for. We took an Uber back to the hotel and decided to get lunch. We couldn't decide on anything and last minute chose sushi (and margaritas).

And of course what is vacation if you don't get a dessert? Mine is of course the chocolate truffle, it was delicious!

We planned to have a movie night, but Lisa picked Zero Day and I think Rosemarie wasn't into it because she went to bed early.

Friday (15,489 steps) - Woke up early without setting an alarm and went for another run. This time I headed in a different direction and found a different park area to run in. This one was a little better for me as it was less street crossings and dirt instead of pavement. Hot and once again a lot of people out.

Got back and took a shower. Rosemarie wasn't feeling well so Lisa and I went to breakfast solo. Went to the same place, got another smoothie.

And this time, French toast! It wasn't quite as good as the sandwich, and I didn't finish ALL of it.

Went back to the hotel to finish getting ready and check on Rosemarie, who decided she was going to stay at the hotel while we went out. We took an Uber into "the city" and ended up in the middle of a parade/protest? 

The good/helpful thing was that following the crowd took us to the Grand Hotel, which is where we wanted to go. 

Lisa says the ceiling is the biggest Tiffany stained glass in the world - it looked very fancy!

Neither of us was especially hungry, but we still ordered margaritas (these came in huge fishbowls)

and some guacamole:

And we might as well get dessert while are here! I got some coffee flavored thing that I don't necessarily remember and Lisa got some ice cream that was wrapped fancy and the waiter lit the paper on fire. Dessert and a show!

There was another church nearby that Lisa wanted to visit that had been closed to visitors on her last trip. Thankfully, no mass this time. 

We took an Uber back to the hotel and relaxed for a bit. We went to a michelin star restaurant for dinner, but I have no idea what the name of the place was. Got a jalepeno margarita.

Dinner was skirt steak and it was pretty delcious!

We had another movie night, this time we watched Late Night with the Devil and started Smile 2, although I fell asleep before it was over.

Saturday (14,538 steps) - Slept in a bit and then went to get breakfast at our same place. We all got smoothies and no big elaborate food, just a croissant. Our plan for the day was to go to the Chapultepec Castle. I didn't realize that one of the runs I went on was very close to where we would be. Lisa was able to skip the half mile walk to the castle because of her cane, but Rosemarie and I walked up. It was REALLY hot and we took a billion pictures. We also had a decently hard time finding Lisa.

Really liked the tile and turret here

Cool wall of stained glass

We were all tired from walking around in the heat and planned on calling an Uber as soon as we got to a street.

It ended up being easier said than done! We exited on a different side and managed to end up in yet another protest/parade. This one also had the street completely closed down and it took forever to get an Uber to pick us up. We headed back to the hotel for a few minutes and then went to Siembra (I think this was also a michelin star?) for some tacos. The al pastor was amazing!

Apparently, in Mexico, you have to order a quesadilla con queso or it doesn't come with cheese? Like isn't that what a quesadilla is?

After we ate we took another Uber to some square to look for art for Lisa. This was basically like an "indoor" flea market. We walked up and down every aisle and did not see any art, but Rosemarie and Lisa both found several souvenirs. Finally, on the way out we found a guy that had some small paintings and Lisa and I both bought one, plus I got Olive a silly fringed bandana. Back to the hotel for more rest. Rosemarie picked Italian for dinner, so we walked over. The salad was good and so was our entree.

The lasagna LOOKED good, but it was sadly a little bland. Lisa and I shared this and did not finish.

Dessert of the day was a Red Velvet cake with buttercream frosting and fruit for a topping. Delicious!!

Rosemarie didn't join us for movie night, but Lisa and I watched Heretic with Hugh Grant. A very different type of movie. I had picked up two beers earlier in the evening, the Mexican IPA was garbage, but the stout was decent. Did some quick packing since we had an early flight.

Sunday (12,936 steps) - Thankfully we had both set alarms, because Lisa's didn't go off! We had scheduled our Uber for 5:30 to go to the airport and we both used the 30 minutes to finish packing and make sure we had everything. The drive only took about 25 minutes, goes to show how awful traffic was when I got in! It took about two seconds to get inside and we headed toward the gate Lisa and Rosemarie were departing out of. We stopped to get a coffee before we parted ways. The two things I will say about the Mexico City airport - there are NO bathrooms. Like I seriously only found ONE and there were only 4 total stalls?? So crazy. Also, I tried to buy a bottle of water before boarding and the lady told me "cash only" - like at an airport?? Thankfully another vendor sold one to me because I had spent all my cash at the Italian restaurant. We boarded on time and I was a little closer to the front of the plane for this flight. Thankfully I had downloaded three more episodes of Yellowjackets - made the flight go by pretty fast! Customs took about a half a second and it wasn't long before Ben picked me up. He had unfortunately spent the whole time I was gone being sick!! He dropped me off at my work so I could pick up my car and then we stopped at Parry's on the way home since I hadn't eaten. Ben went to Golden to deliver coffee to Ariel and I went home to take Olive for a long walk. Doesn't she look adorable in her new bandana??

We went to 4 Noses for happy hour and then finally got to catch up a bit more on Handmaid's Tale. Bed early because we were both exhausted. 

Monday (24,457 steps) - Thankfully I didn't have much work to get caught up on. Took Olive for a long walk and then went for my run, which was surprisingly really good! The weather was so nice compared to the excessive heat (and poor air quality) we had in Mexico.

Met Ben at Costco so we could pick up some groceries and a pizza for dinner. Took Olive for another walk before Handmaid's Tale binging. 

Stats:

• 108,327 steps
• 14.32 miles run
• 13.16 miles walked
• 28 minutes of cardio
• 20 minutes of strength