What I'll Miss About Condesa

As I have written previously, starting in April, I am going to start living in Mexico City every other month.  I made contact with a couple who lives in the United States, but who have a furnished, unoccupied apartment there.  They expressed an interest in renting it to me.  I visited the apartment during my recent trip to Mexico City, and it is a lovely, well-located place.  It seemed too good to be true.  Even though it appeared to be a "done deal", the "worry-wart" in me fretted that the arrangement might fall through at the last minute.  Well, yesterday I received an email from the owner.  Next month they are going to go to Mexico City to make sure that the apartment is ready for my arrival, and she is going to send me a set of keys via UPS.  I have a new "home away from home" in Mexico!

For the past several years on my trips to Mexico City, I have been staying at vacation rentals in the neighborhood of Condesa.  The new apartment is located in the equally nice Nápoles district, but I do have to admit that there are some things that I will miss about Condesa.

I will miss the tree lined streets and the many parks of Condesa.

Condesa is one of the greenest neighborhoods in the city.  Within walking distance of the places where I stayed were Parque México and Parque España.

My new place will be convenient to public transportation, but I will miss the fact that I could walk to the many attractions and museums of Chapultepec Park.  (Yeah, it was a bit of a hike, but it was a good way to burn some calories after indulging in Mexican food.)

I will miss the little laundry... "El Tendedero Condesa" (The Condesa Clothesline)... where I took my clothes every week.  The lady there was a real sweetheart, and we always had such nice conversations.

(In my new place, however, the maid will wash and iron my clothes!)

Most of all I will miss the fact that in Condesa and in the adjacent neighborhood of Roma Norte there are literally hundreds of restaurants.

All within walking distance was everything from fine restaurants specializing in the regional cuisines of Mexico, to little "taquerías", to American-style diners.  Even on my latest trip I was finding new places to add to my list of places to eat.

Yes, I will miss Condesa, but I am excited about exploring my new neighborhood of Nápoles in April!