So after visiting the Day of the Dead Parade in Mexico City as you can read here, I began walking towards some park across the street called “Parque de Amistad” as you can see here.
My phone only had 17% battery left.
So while there were various parks that I wanted to check out after the parade, I knew I would have to be selective.
With that in mind, I almost contemplated just skipping any more park seeing until the next day when my phone would be ready.
However, as I walked closer to where Angel of Independence Status is, I see some street called “Sevilla.”
And, having remembered that a famous park in Mexico called Parque Mexico happens to be close to Metro Sevilla, I decided to knock it out of my list to take pictures of.
So I took a turn onto that street and began looking for Parque Mexico and another park called Parque España.
Right away, I asked some dude collecting trash if he knew where the parks were.
He told me “no, soy de Iztapalapa.”
So i kept walking.
The next dude I asked directions from was a street vendor and he also didn’t know.
Eventually, I found some taco dude who told me that it’s literally just a straight walk forward.
And, from there, I had for directions once or twice more to make sure I was actually taking the right advice.
I eventually found myself past Metro Sevilla station.
Which is a good sign because I remember Google maps telling me beforehand that it’s somewhat closer to Metro Sevilla.
Then I found myself at some very thin park that stretches some odd distance.
And asked then some random dude in a suit if “this is Parque Mexico?”
He said “sure” but didn’t seem too confident in his answer.
And I had doubts because the park itself didn’t look all that impressive.
Why would it have a good reputation if this is what it is?
Doesn’t make sense.
Nor did it have any sign saying “Parque Mexico.”
As I kept walking, I saw some homeless dude get shoved out of a fancy restaurant by an older security guard.
Who began yelling shit like “YA NO MAMES, YA ME VOY!!!”
And I asked the security guard then for directions to either park and he pointed me in the right direction.
Crossing a street, I found some cute chick who told me that “Parque España” is right there.
So not the Parque Mexico that I was looking to arrive to first but still one of the parks I wanted to see.
Within sight!
As I kept walking, I started to see why people call this area “full of hipsters.”
Despite having been in Condesa before and having spent 4 and a half years in Mexico, I have yet to see this “Parque Mexico” or “Parque España.”
As funny as that sounds.
Personally, I rarely give a shit to do “touristy things” unless the thing is something that actually interests me.
So I never cared for these parks despite the reputation they have.
Was I missing out on anything?
Well, here’s my experience first at Parque España.
Time in Parque España
Right away, my time in Parque España was both a pleasure and a disappointment.
A pleasure because I didn’t hear anyone speaking with that ear shattering Spanish accent despite being in THE Park of Spain.
But also a disappointment because there was nobody at the park to offer me tapas.
So not exactly a very Spain themed park, huh?
Anyway, here’s some photos as I began walking onto the park.
Right away, I asked that old man in blue in the photo above sitting down if “this is Parque España.”
He said yes.
I carried onwards.
Right away, as I said before, I noticed how “hipster” the area does seem to a degree.
A lot more of “that type of gringo” who acts a certain way, if you know what I mean?
But also a lot more gringos in general.
Anytime I come out of areas like Lindavista or Copilco, it’s always a tiny bit weird to see other gringos.
Not in a bad way though.
Just a “huh, I haven’t seen this in a while” type of way.
People like me!
Other gringos!
Here’s some more photos that I took anyway of the park before leaving.
Anyway, my overall impressions of the park?
It wasn’t bad!
I see why people like it.
I feel though a lot of its popularity comes from simply being in Condesa though.
If you were to place this exact same park in Ajusco, it obviously wouldn’t be as well-known or cared about given the location.
Or really place it anywhere that isn’t in a touristy area.
It wasn’t amazing.
Or, at the very least, it didn’t live up the hype I have heard from other gringos about how nice it is.
It was cool though.
Seemed like a chill place to hang out at.
Perhaps take some dates to.
Or relax alone and people watch.
All around, it was a decent park.
Anyway, I carried on to finally find this “Parque Mexico” after my time here with this scenery as I crossed the street to get to the next park.
Onwards to Parque Mexico
Parque Mexico happened to only be a street or two away from Parque España.
You can see the first few photos I took here.
Right away, I noticed some live band playing rock music with a little crowd of people watching as you can see in the photo above.
I also noticed this status here.
If I remember right, I believe that statue is of Jose de San Martin?
I think that’s what the text of the statue said if I remember right.
Here’s a video on him anyhow.
Look the same?
Yeah, kinda.
Anyway, I didn’t understand why they have a statue apparently of “Jose de San Martin” in Parque Mexico.
He was known for liberating Argentina, Chile and Peru from Spain.
Did he have any relations with Mexico?
Not sure honestly.
His Wikipedia article here has absolutely no mention of Mexico anywhere.
Does seem a bit weird to put him in the “Parque Mexico” area if he didn’t have that much importance to Mexico, no?
Maybe someone better fitting would be Emiliano Zapata?
Just a suggestion.
Anyway, I carried on.
The park itself felt a little bit similar to Parque España in that both places seemed like pretty chill places to relax, take someone on a date and people watch.
Between the two, Parque Mexico seemed better for taking someone onto a date given it was a little bit bigger from my impression.
And, overall, I liked the scenery in Parque Mexico a little bit more.
It also had more activity like the live band playing or these people dancing salsa music here.
Not to mention this spot here that has people running around here.
Or this nice lake of ducks that would be fun to watch here.
And, as you can see here, this place seems popular for hosting group events at.
All around?
Parque Mexico seemed nicer and more fitting to my tastes than Parque España.
Though both were cool.
Similarly, I think this park would have less attention obviously if it wasn’t in a touristy area and that might be why it gets all the extra hype it does given the gringos who come by to only hang in touristy spots and blog about it.
It’s not a park that I personally would go out of my way to visit normally if I wasn’t trying to cover every cool spot in Mexico City for my blog before going back to Iowa for a few months.
But, if I was living in Condesa, it would obviously be a place I would spend considerable time at since I like parks to relax in quiet and people watch.
At any rate, here’s some other photos I took of the area.
As I walked out, I saw some chick playing the trombone funny enough.
Something I used to play in middle school.
Offered her some money and kept on walking.
Long story short, I still had some battery left in my phone and visited a few other parks.
If you want to see those parks, check out this article here.
And I eventually took the metrobus back to Deportivo 18 de Marzo in the northern part of Mexico City.
And that’s it!
Final Verdict: Worth it?
Sure.
It’s worth it to visit both parks.
But, as I said, I wouldn’t go out of my way again to visit either one.
Only if I happened to be walking in the area or if I actually lived in Condesa.
My favorite park in Mexico City that is worth a small trip to, in my opinion, is Bosque de Chapultepec.
Granted, it is much bigger than your typical park.
And comparing Chapultepec to either of the parks above is like comparing the Yankees to your high school baseball team.
Anyway, as I said, I wouldn’t go out of my way to visit each park but they were both nice enough for a visit.
But that’s all I got to say.
Here’s a video on both parks here.
And thanks for reading.
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Best regards,
Matt