Mexico City Adventure #4: Castle of Chapultepec

Thursday, December 28

Backing up a couple days… (writing this on Saturday 12/30).

We had spent Wednesday night in Mexico City. Thursday morning we got up and had a fairly slow morning while Ivan’s aunt and mom made tortas for breakfast. Basically like extra delicious sandwiches on telera rolls with refried beans and cheese and ham and fresh avocado and jalapeño peppers.

Ivan’s big goal for the day was to go the market at some point to eat (this particular market is only on Thursdays).

But we had just eaten, so, we had time to do something else first. I suggested we visit the Castle of Chapultepec, which is one of only two royal palaces in North America that were inhabited by monarchs.

We headed out by around 11 am by the time everyone cycled through the shower in the one bathroom they have!

We drove about 20 minutes (though only a couple miles, really). There is no parking at the castle, so we found a parking lot quite a ways away and walked through a huge park.

Upon arrival at the castle, there was a huge line!! It was so busy. This is a major tourist highlight and there were lots of foreigners and local tourists alike.

Fortunately the ticket line moved quickly.

I didn’t get any pictures of this, but the castle is located on the top of a huge hill overlooking all of Mexico City. So, we had to walk and walk and walk up a steep incline path to the actual castle entrance.

We did not pay for a guided tour and just went self-guided. There were enough informational placards and besides, none of us are huge history buffs. I mean, it was all super interesting, but being with a larger group (Ivan’s aunt, uncle, mom, dad, etc…) we mostly just wanted to see the castle and get an overview.

This is also the site of the National Museum of History, but we primarily focused on the Alcazár side (royal residence).

The stagecoach room had original carriages that carried both Mexican leaders and the previous monarchs around Mexico City, Maximilian I and Carlota.

I won’t bore you with photos of every room, but the castle was just beautiful!!!

My favorite thing about it was that it was designed such that each room opened up to the outside, to this huge, sweeping terrace overlooking the city. Each room also had huge doors with windows that opened up to the same view. I imagine it would have been amazing to just step out onto the terrace from your royal bedroom!

The terrace wrapped around the entire side of the castle! I zoomed in on the Angel of Independence in the downtown which can be seen from the castle:

You can also see the volcanos! They almost look like clouds, but they actually are snow covered right now.

Another view of the terrace and big hallways:

The views were really awesome. I don’t think the pictures do them justice.

The castle is very big and like I said, there were a lot of people. It took a while to work our way through and try to read some of the informational placards about each room.

On the upper level I really loved this pretty courtyard garden area:

Even higher up views:

This one hallway was all stained glass! So pretty.

And this staircase with these amazing murals and cool green stained glass was beautiful:

We finally finished and walked back down the hill. I was again having a lot of back issues which was really, really ticking me off. I was in a good deal of pain for much of this time ☹️ but tried to ignore it. I still had a good time but really could have done without all the back pain. (It’s been better now the last couple days… not sure if it was the mattress or all the standing or the walking or what.)

Some of us waited while Ivan and his dad went to go get the cars. They picked us up closer to the castle entrance so we didn’t all have to walk back through the whole park.

From there we drove straight to the market, where we made it just in time before they started tearing down the food market part.

Got the mixiotes that Ivan loves and I also ate TWO big servings of shrimp ceviche (it was fabulous).

The rest of the market was wrapping up – it was almost 5 I think? But they bought some peanuts by the kilo and a bit of fruit.

From there we said goodbye to his aunt and uncle and we headed back to Toluca! It took a really long time as there was a lot of traffic. Most of us dozed off for a while.

Back at the house, I felt lazy and tired, but Ivan the Energizer Bunny just quickly changed clothes and then got picked up by his cousin. He is close in age and Ivan usually likes to go to his house for a bit solo at some point when we visit. They catch up and have a few beers.

Ivan said I should just take the night to myself and just relax! That sounded good to me. I put on sweatpants and my slippers as soon as we walked in the door. 🙂

The kids just hung out and played some video games and I sort of switched between relaxing in my room/writing a blog post and drinking tea and chit chatting a bit with Ivan’s mom.

I welcome evenings like these (and Ivan knows it) because two weeks in Mexico = a LOT of family time. I really don’t mind it at all, but having some breaks and a bit of alone time helps me to stay balanced and keep enjoying. 🙂