I Left My Heart in CDMX (April 2025 Roundup)

Better late than never, humbly asking for your grace.

Sergio and I spent half of April in Mexico City, just the two of us. We experienced the city for what it was and for what we hoped it to be. We tried foods we’ve never had before and probably won’t have the opportunity to have again unless we went back. We stayed in El Centro for the majority of our time, with a few days in Roma Norte (like true American tourists). Being away from San Francisco for a time reminded me that coming home to the city is a feeling that can't be beat. Most of April’s roundup, as expected, are a few highlights of our trip.

[I’m extending my apologies for dragging this roundup out so late in May. For the last month and a half I’ve been hopping around from place to place, so I haven’t really found the time to finish my roundup until now.]

Mariscos

There was a day on our trip where all we ate was seafood. We had lunch at the viral restaurant, Mi Compa Chava, in Roma Norte. This spot reminded us that some places are viral for a reason. I still think about the tuna tostada we had there. I wrote down the ingredients so I could try to replicate it at home. There were 6 different hot sauces on the table and endless tostadas. It was the perfect midday meal.

Later that night, Sergio made a reservation for Kill Bill, an omakase restaurant and jazz listening bar. It was our first time having omakase and the experience was phenomenal. We both agreed that this was one of the best dining experiences we have ever had. As I drank orange wine, Sergio, a Japanese beer, the courses continued to flow out across the gorgeous ceramics. We took a bite of ginger between each course to cleanse our palettes. I enjoyed everything so much that I wouldn’t even be able to pinpoint which course as my favorite. We ended the meal with a shared matcha tiramisu. They offered us two servings, but we were satiated already.

Esquites

Amongst the many street vendors in CDMX, my most sought-after ones were esquites. If you’ve never had them before, they’re essentially elote served in a cup. And if you’ve never had elote before, it’s grilled corn topped with mayo, chili powder, cheese, and lime. Elote is one of my favorite summer treats, but I prefer the convenience of eating esquites out of a cup, without having to worry about making a mess or getting kernels stuck in my teeth.

New Fruits

While on a food tour in CDMX, we walked around Mercado Jamaica. One of the first stops was at a fruit stall where we tried fruits I had never even heard of. Namely – mamey, black sapote, and guanabana also known as soursop. Mamey had orange, very soft flesh, and tasted like flan or caramel pudding. Black sapote has deep-brown-almost-black, soft flesh, a similar texture to mamey. They’re a part of the same sapote family, but black sapote tasted more similar to chocolate pudding or whipped cream. Guanabana had this stringy yet juicy kind of flesh. It literally tasted like a green jolly rancher. As a candy lover myself, you wouldn’t believe the visceral reaction of love I had when I took my first bite of it. Never in my life have I tried a fruit that reminded me so much of candy. Leaving my trip, I was disappointed thinking about how I would have a hard time finding these fruits in the states, but also felt grateful to have experienced them during my time in Mexico.

Pela Pop

At OXXO in CDMX, I spotted a banana flavored ice cream in the paleta freezer. I know it’s oddly specific, but I’ve always loved banana desserts, especially banana ice cream. It definitely stems from banana Laffy Taffy. The artificial banana flavor is so nostalgic to me. For Pela Pops, you literally peel off the outer layer like an actual banana peel, to reveal a vanilla flavored ice cream on the inside. Whimsical and delicious.

Two-headed Calf Tattoo

The Two-headed Calf By Laura Gilpin

Tomorrow when the farm boys find this

freak of nature, they will wrap his body

in newspaper and carry him to the museum.

But tonight he is alive and in the north

field with his mother. It is a perfect

summer evening: the moon rising over

the orchard, the wind in the grass.

And as he stares into the sky, there

are twice as many stars as usual.

I have a few tattoos but I haven’t gotten a new one since last year. I found a tattoo artist on Instagram and figured it wouldn’t hurt to ask if they had any appointments open during our stay. To our luck, she had time to adorn us both with permanent souvenirs. Naturally, as an avid Pinterest user, I have a board dedicated to tattoo pieces I admire. Most of the work I’m drawn to are florals. Three of the five tattoos I have are flowers already. I've told myself that I’m growing a garden of art across my body. I contemplated getting a flash design from the artist. I nearly decided to get a flower once again but then I came across a drawing of a two-headed lamb that reminded me of the poem The Two-headed Calf by Laura Gilpin. I first came across the poem through a comic illustrated by Adam Ellis on Twitter, then was reminded of it when my for-you page served me a TikTok of an actual two-headed calf.

My natural temperament runs sensitive, I’m easily moved to tears whether it be happiness or despair. Like many people I understand the popular Fiona Apple quote all too well, I'm such an incredibly, stupidly sensitive person that everything that happens to me, I experience it really intensely. I feel everything very deeply. And when you feel things deeply and you think about things a lot and you think about how you feel, you learn a lot about yourself. I have the softest spot for animals. Often, I find myself tearing up over videos I see of animals of any kind. This calf was a true moment of feeling both happiness and despair. A two-headed baby calf being born is a one in 400 million chance. The poor, beautiful baby with four eyes, four ears, two noses, one body, one heart.

If you search the meaning of The Two-headed Calf by Laura Gilpin, you’ll find many interpretations saying the poem celebrates the unconventional, the exploration of identity and acceptance. Although these interpretations may be true, my initial reaction was different. To me – I see it as an inspiration to find beauty and solace in the saddest of moments. The baby cow does not know their fate, yet they still have the perfect night ahead of them.

Now the two-headed calf will live forever on the inside of my left bicep.

Salsa Macha

As a lover of chili oil, I brought back 2 jars of salsa macha back from the trip. I was first introduced to salsa macha from a batch made by Sergio’s abuelita. We probably finished that first jar in less than a week. I’m the kind of person who thinks that food doesn’t taste right if there’s no spice to it, I can put chili oil or salsa macha on nearly anything. Don’t tell me if it’s weird because I don’t care, but recently I’ve been topping my cottage cheese with it. I’m sure by the next time we speak, I’ll be done with both of the jars we brought back from CDMX.

Organic Architecture

I was able to book us a tour of Parque Quetzalcóatl, a park designed by Javier Senosiain. As described on their official website, it was “originally conceived as an independent space for ecological preservation [in the year 2000]. However, over time, the land was expanded to create an ecological regeneration park and a space for connecting with nature.”

The park was made up of three different kingdoms. The first we went through was the mineral kingdom, where we traveled through an immersive dark tunnel, full of sparkling sounds and vibrant naturally-occurring gemstones. The next kingdom we entered was the plant kingdom where Senosiain created a rainbow prism greenhouse. The entire ceiling was constructed of stained glass, light would flood down into the greenhouse then bounce off of the mosaic ceramic tiles that lined the walls and the pool of water in the center of the space. It created a mesmerizing soft glow, shining across the various plants that lived in the greenhouse. The last kingdom, the animal kingdom, is currently under construction, but the theme was still seen throughout the land – a serpent fountain, lizard motifs, bees pollinating flowers on cactuses.

The park was built with the intention of preserving the nature around it and honoring it. The curve of a wall, the placement of the thousands of tiles, the well-kept greenery, everything was thoughtfully placed. There are apartments on site for rent, we were told some residents have lived there for 15 years, nearly the entire time the park has been under construction. If I too had the opportunity to live on the site and see the patient creation of Parque Quetzalcóatl, I would never move away too.

Funky French Tip Manicures

My two most recent manicures: baby blue French tips with red polka dots, then deep red French tips decorated with a rhinestone collage (I’ve been referring to them as infinity stone nails because of the various gems). I think that funky french tip is becoming my go-to manicure design.

Star Wars Prequel Trilogy

As I’ve previously mentioned in last month’s roundup, I don’t watch a lot of television. I’m attempting to catch up on lost time by watching more movies if I so choose to spend my time on the couch. Sergio loves Star Wars, specifically the prequel trilogy. With the re-release of episode III in theaters to celebrate the 20 year anniversary, I finally gave in and watched the movies. I had no real reason behind my apprehension to watch them and it showed when I became easily indoctrinated into the fan base. The prequel trilogy is a tragic love story, it’s mono no aware, just as I see the two-headed calf. On May the 4th, I watched Episode IV from the original trilogy for the first time.

With much tardiness, that sums up my April roundup. I’m aiming to get back to regularly scheduled roundups with more intentional designs. You can listen to my April playlist on Spotify here. Promise to be back and less chaotic in the next one!

Until then,

Lindsay

xx