Mexico City 🇲🇽 Palacio de Bellas Artes & Hidden Gems—RUN, DON’T WALK

Day 2 in Latin America: Mexico City (Ciudad de México, CDMX) 🌆✨ I spent the entire day diving into three museums/art palaces—here’s my recommended order to build your emotional journey from mild to wild. Pro tip: All three are FREE on Sundays except Palacio Postal 🆓🎟️. 1. Palacio Postal (Postal Palace) (Photos 4-6) 50 pesos gets you two random stamps as your ticket 🎫💌. Collections focus on postal history (more educational than artsy ), but the curators clearly poured their hearts into it. The building itself? A masterpiece 🏆✨—completed in the early 20th century by global architects, it’s a neoclassical jewel with gilded interiors, marble floors, and opulent elegance. 2. Museo Nacional del Arte (MUNAL) 🎨 (Photos 13-15) Spotlights Mexican artists from the 16th–20th centuries. Shame confession: Before this, I only knew Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera 😳🎭. But this museum blew my mind—Mexico nurtured tons of top-tier classical artists whose works could pass as Italian or Spanish masterpieces. Their solid foundations later inspired Rivera’s fusion art style. 3. Palacio de Bellas Artes (Mexico City’s Art Palace) 🏛️🎭 (Photos 7-12) A dream for art lovers, inside and out 💫🖌️. Before July, don’t miss the mind-blowing temporary exhibit—it’s worth flying to Mexico City just for this! The architecture blends neoclassical facades with Art Deco interiors 🎨🔨, while Mexican murals and totems dominate the walls. Unlike Singapore’s Atlas Bar (all glamorous Art Deco lady vibes ), this palace rocks a rugged, masculine aesthetic with sharp lines, metal/marble accents, and industrial-chic brass lighting and chain-link chandeliers. Swoon. 😍 The current exhibit? Loaned by the Dallas Museum of Art 💥. I walked in blind and was floored—Monet, Pissarro, Renoir, Sisley, Seurat, Signac, even Matisse, Munch, and Mondrian originals crammed into a gallery… and it’s free on Sundays . Go before July! Bonus: Don’t skip Finca Don Porfirio (Photos 2-3), the rooftop café overlooking the palace. Despite mixed reviews on XHS, the line wasn’t long, prices were fair, and my mango smoothie was divine 🥭🍹. The view? Absolutely killer 👀🌆—located on the 8th floor of Sears across from the palace. #MexicoCityArt #Impressionism #MexicoTravel 🌮