Mexico City Day 1

Mexico City is amazing. In Spanish, it's known as Ciudad de México and it's almost always written 'CDMX'. It's a bright and colourful city, full of people. The population is around 23 million which is massive and explains why the streets are always absolutely full of people at all times.

It was built on a lake and so many of the buildings are lopsided as they are sinking. The city is sinking 5cm per year, with heavier buildings sinking more.

As far as Central American capital cities go, this one feels safer than most. When I think back to capitals such as San Jose (Costa Rica), Guatemala City (Guatemala) or Managua (Nicaragua), these cities were merely a means to arrive in the country and travel onwards to other parts. I did attempt to explore the city for all of these but very quickly returned to my hostel on all occasions as I just did not feel safe. Here, on the other hand, there is a visible presence of police, free Internet for everyone, and I today I saw protests against violence towards women. I haven't been approached by anyone once and I haven't spotted anyone staring at me which has always happened in other Central American cities.

I did a free walking tour on my first day, and then just spent some time generally exploring the Centro Histórico, the historical centre of the city.