I spent Christmas at home in San Francisco, and wanted to come back to Chile to ring in 2012. So I booked a one-way ticket on Aeromexico, which happened to be the cheapest one-way flight I could find, and included a 16-hour layover in Mexico City (roughly 7am-11pm).

Despite the fact that I couldn’t get much sleep on the 1am flight from San Francisco to Mexico City, I enjoyed my layover adventure.

Before I left home, I downloaded Jim Johnston’s Mexico City: An Opinionated Guide for the Curious Traveler onto the Kindle app on my iPod Touch. Very helpful!

After exchanging $100 in cash for Mexican pesos and grabbing a much-appreciated cup of coffee, I got a city map and found the official taxi stalls. I had heard horror stories about unlicensed cabs in Mexico City and chose to play it safe.

I asked the driver to take me to the Zócalo.

Zócalo, early morning with Christmas decorations.

Flags adorn a gorgeous church, not far from the Zócalo

Huevos divorciados, a classic Mexican breakfast. Two fried eggs, one with red sauce, one with green. Served up with chilaquiles and a much-needed café con leche.

I strolled in and out of several pretty churches.

Such pretty light!

I then walked to the Palacio de Bellas Artes, where there was a special four-gallery exhibit of sculptures by Gustavo Perez. Each piece juxtaposed the whiteness of porcelain with the blackness and unequaled plasticity of black mud from Oaxaca. So striking.

I then followed my guidebook’s advice and took the subway to Colonia Condesa, an upscale residential neighborhood. I got slightly confused on the subway and needed to backtrack more than once, but I was glad to have plenty of time and no one following my directions. I think the subway was much less crowded than usual, since I was there during a holiday week.

Pretty house in Colonia Condesa

Dogwash-Mobile! What a brilliant idea!

"To sustain this park demands great expenses. Cooperate with us by not permitting its mistreatment." A different rhetorical tactic than I've seen at parks in other places.

My main goal during my long layover was to find the authentic Mexican food that I was spoiled with as a child. Though it did not equal Nana Petra's famous cauliflower casserole, this gordita was tasty.

Not long after that gordita, I got caught in the rain. In the dark. Exhausted. Umbrella-less, I scurried through the rain until I finally found an open restaurant (a lot of places were closed since most of the city was on vacation.) There I ate a decent strawberry and goat cheese salad and asked the waitress to call me a cab to the airport.

I arrived at the airport with ample time to browse through Duty Free’s selection of fine tequila. I chose a brand called Suave.

Overall, I enjoyed my layover in Mexico City, and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to save money and enjoy some nice art, architecture, and tacos.

If you have a long layover in Mexico City, you should also read this post: Mexico City – All the Fun You Can Have in 10 Hours by Jack and Jill Travel the World