Condesa & Roma

The prospect of writing about and documenting a metropolis as large as Mexico City is a little intimidating to me sometimes. In most cities, I’m of the mind that 3 days is all you really need. But of course there are exceptions to that. Some cities are too big, too historic, or too complex for me to do them justice in such a short span of time. In these cases, I try not to bite off more than I can chew. In cities like San Francisco or Boston that I visit regularly, I choose a couple bite-sized pieces for myself with each trip, often taking the form of specific neighborhoods. After all, that’s what it’s like to live in a big city in reality—it’s more about your neighborhood than the city itself. For example, while there are lots of people who live in LA, very few of them actually have much earnest interaction with the complex behemoth that is ~Los Angeles~. Most of those people spend the majority of their time interacting with Santa Monica. Or Silver Lake. Or Long Beach. It’s the combination of all these different pieces that make up the whole, but few people really ever see the whole, except out the window of an airplane.

In Mexico City, I knew that the neighborhood we stayed in was going to be key. I had lots of recommendations given to me, and the areas that separated themselves as the clear choices were Condesa and Roma. Prior to my arrival, although the two areas are right next to each other, I understood these neighborhoods to be more distinct from one another than they turned out to be. I actually stayed in both Roma and Condesa at different points of this trip because we left Mexico City for Puebla (spoiler alert) and then came back later. Once I had actually gotten a feel for both of these areas, I found that they were essentially just extensions of each other, with only minor differences. So I’m just going to treat it as one body. And oh my gosh you guys—I LOVE THIS AREA. Here’s a lil map for ya. Condesa is in blue and Roma is in Green.

By Mexican standards, these are wealthy areas… but by American standards, it’s almost like I never left home! If you dropped me here and I didn’t know better, my first guess would be that I was in California. The building fronts are tastefully weathered, a combination of Art Deco architecture, Hacienda Ranch style building fronts, and ugly apartment buildings clearly thrown up in the 1970s and 1980s which somehow, in this context, manage to contribute to the charm of the area. Another defining feature of this area is the vegetation. Condesa and Roma are dense with trees, giving almost every street nearly uninterrupted shade. It’s a great place to walk! There are also lots of small parks and boulevards with leafy walkways that go down the middle. Every couple blocks you’ll come to a commercial area full of intriguing restaurants, bars, and coffee shops. It’s an extremely pleasant area to explore! The whirlpool of streets that encircle Parque México was especially idyllic, and felt strongly European.

My visit to Mexico City was the week of Thanksgiving. Obviously, they don’t celebrate this in Mexico, so the whole city was already gearing up for Christmas. I don’t know why any of the following surprised me, but I was struck by how familiar it all felt. There were cars driving through the streets with evergreen trees tied to the roofs. Through the windows of houses I passed at night, I could see those same Christmas trees lit up, with stockings hanging in the background and all sorts of other decorations out in full force. The similarities of this place that I had expected to feel alien were quite surreal. What’s the opposite of culture shock? Anyway, here are some snaps from around these neighborhoods:

One highlight that I want to share from our wanderings around the Condesa / Roma area was a pop-up street market that was happened upon, which covered a few city blocks. We came back to the same spot more than once later in our trip, looking to walk through this market again, and there was no market to be found. It was a little spooky. But also there was probably schedule posted somewhere that we were not privy to. Anyway, this market made for a great walk. The red light cast by the tents gave these pictures all a weird tint, but aside from that, I think this place turned out to be pretty photogenic as well.

It’s an obvious lesson, but one that I find myself learning over and over again, every time I travel. We’re all fundamentally the same, everywhere, always. We can’t have this reinforced enough times. Sometimes, in places that are more alien to me, this is a harder kernel of truth to derive than I would like. But here in Mexico City, it was more obvious to me than it had been almost anywhere else. As an American, this was an important reminder that Mexicans are literally our neighbors, and should be treated as such. There’s a lot of fear mongering coming from the Right about migrants and narcos these days—which should be ignored for obvious reasons, which would apply to any minority group—but it’s important to remember that Mexico is also a sister nation to us. Even if you’re a smart person who doesn’t subscribe to xenophobic tropes, it still takes some intention to internalize that fact. If that fact that this is a big group of humans isn’t enough, remember that Mexico is also essentially your sibling.

Walking around Condesa and Roma at night, I couldn't stop talking about how easy it was to picture myself living here. With every coffee shop we entered, beer we drank, and taco con pastor we ordered, I was more and more sold. This neighborhood is on the short-list for future places to live. And as great as all those tacos were, I’d be lying if I told you I didn’t also order a few pizzas here as well. I do it everywhere I go. Don’t @ me. Why am I telling you this? Because I needed a good Mexican-Italian cross-over sign-off to set up this article’s gorgeous track of the day. Your introduction to Mexican artists continues with Natalia Lafourcade. Enjoy.