Our abode in Condesa

I just crashed in my friends Air BnB. On Christmas Eve I booked a night there by myself (way more pricey than I would normally spend on one nights accomo) but my friends arrived on the 26th. 

Our quaint little abode.

Our Air BnB host had messaged me on Whatsap saying "Dear Grace, Welcome to Mexico City. In the apartment there are regulations seals from the local administration please note you won't have any issues during your stay. The seals don't look great but unfortunately we have to wait to remove them. Cheers, Diago"

I didn't think much of these until the rest of the crew arrived. Then I decided to send to a couple of Spanish speaking friends to see what they said. A Mexican friend responded with simply "Closed by The government". My friend Bec, who lives in Perth but speaks fluent Spanish was a little more descriptive with her reply. "It's basically saying you will get sanctioned if you violate the clauses... but it doesn't say which ones".

At this point some of our travel party were concerned, as there was a lingering damp feel in the air of the apartment. They wanted to make sure it wasn't condemned.

Not so quaint official warnings on our front door.
"Scansions apply if you violate the causes"

We asked for our Diago to clarify. "It was a mistake so it taking ages to solve but actually the sanctions apply when you are building a place, not after it is being built. In this case, sanctions also apply if we remove the labels without permission". I for one choose to believed them.

As the accomodation only had two double beds I was destine for the couch. Unfortunately the couch wasn't designed in a way conducive to sleeping (see image below). Mandy found me a quilted blanket, so I folded that up as a sleep mat and slept exceptionally well. It wasn't actually that much of a blow out as the bed Mandy and Hamish had was so hard it was like sleeping on the floor anyway.

The couch

We were staying deep in the heart of 'Condesa' a delightful bohemian arty suberb. Condesa and neighboring Colonia Roma were together designated as a "Barrio Mágico Turístico" ("Magic Neighborhood for Tourists") by the city in 2011. 

Mexico City sits at 2250m. This is the 8th highest capital city in the world, with Bolivia's La Paz (3640m) the highest. 2250m is high enough to affect humans like us who are used to living at sea level. 

"Altitude sickness is a reaction to the lower amounts of oxygen available at high altitudes (due to the lower air pressure)." - this generally only occurs at heights over 3000m, at which point you have to acclimatise. 

So symptoms expected for us were just general tiredness, feeling some shortness of breath, and the desire for naps. Mandy is a #1 napper even at sea level but she did well to manage without afternoon naps. 

On day one after adventuring all day we were all zonked and went to bed at 9pm and although sleeping on the floor I still slept until 8am, an astonishing 11 hours!! 

My little LEGO Christmas tree fitted right in

This table. I want. So great.
And Diego and Lola left us lovely flowers.