Day 4 in Mexico City

Cafebreria El Pendulo- nobody speaks English, and I respect this attitude.  I'm on foreign land, so I must conform with the reality.  This was a funny situation, because I didn't really anticipate that in a very touristic area, I'd have a hard time making myself understood in asking for a croissant. And none of the other languages I speak helped.  But as soon as I realized that I'd go hungry if I didn't find a way to ask for what I wanted, I got up and walked to the front of the cafe, pointed with the finger at the "pain au chocolat" and ta-da!!! I got what I wanted.  Easy! 

First stop: Museo Nacional de Antropologia 

My uber driver dropped me off at the wrong end of the building, as he followed the street address.  I asked a policeman how to get to the right entrance and he literally escorted me there.  He was very kind, and between my broken Spanish and his broken English, we made it work perfectly, and I looked very important when he delivered me to the entrance and shook my hand, too! 

The museum is a pearl, a vast collection of Mexican history that highlights the numerous civilizations on whose blood (literally! And I'm thinking work but also humans sacrificed in rituals!) the current Mexico was created.  

  

from Teotihuacán 

Mayan art and a replica in the museum garden 

My favorite vase (humans must have developed a sense of humor during these precultures) 

Mosaic and jewelry in different eras 

Lots of school children were visiting and guards constantly whistled at them to stop playing with the fountains' water, although to me they seemed exceptionally well behaved.  

At lunch I chatted for an hour with a very pleasant British couple, Cynthia and David!  It was incredibly touching to talk so closely with strangers about the world, languages, history, and travels.  Cynthia recommended a book written by an Irish writer who travelled though Romania 100 years ago, so I'll make sure I read it! 

Second stop: Castillo de Chapultepec - which means the grasshopper's hill.   The emperor Maximilian of Habsburg and his family lived there for a short time when yes, Mexico was an empire, too.  

Great view of Paseo de la Reforma from Charlotte of Habsburg's terrace.  In fact, Emperor Maximilian built the Paseo for her, calling it "Charlotte's Way" 

Third stop: Village Cafe to meet my friend Isabel and her sons! Best end of the day.   Great company and traditional Mexican food.  It's nothing like spending time with friends.  

FUN FACTS: 

1. Mexico City is at 2250 m (7300 feet) altitude, high plateau and in the evening clouds gathered and a storm thundered its way in.  Interesting how lightning seems closer to you when your at such high altitude... 
2. Ecobikes - great means of transportation, many young people hire the bikes from place to place. I'd lose limbs riding in this Mexico City traffic, but I admire all who eliminate a bit of pollution by riding bikes.  
   
3. Finally, at the museum boutique I got some Mexican chocolate.  It's was very expensive by all standards and it's a bit absurd to me.  The aztecs traded in chocolate beans! 

Third day in Mexico City

Polanco, San Angel and Cuayacàn

On the way to the Southern parts of Mexico City, I first ventured in Polanco, a central area that looks more like Western Europe (clean, upscale, with top-end boutiques, tall gates and fences around good looking villas, and leafy green avenidas) than like Mexico City I have experienced so far.  My guide even called Avenida Presidente Masaryk  the Rodeo Drive of Latin America. 

I am grateful for having a very knowledgeable guide, Ricardo, who is a walking (and driving!) encyclopedia of Mexican history and culture.  Of great importance, he drives effortlessly in the Bucharest-like chaotic traffic. My stomach came up to my throat only once when, smack in the middle of a huge roundabout on Paseo de la Reforma, we encountered opposite driving traffic.  Check out the picture!

Two more things about traffic here: despite the fact that traffic is chaotic, there is order in chaos and I've never seen so many bumpers so close to each other but NO accidents! Neither major nor minor.  It feels as if there is a mutual understanding among drivers and they give the right to pass the very last second, without incident.  Or I haven't witnessed any! The second thing is that like in Quebec City, the STOP sign is translated in the local language: HALTO

NEXT STOP: San Angel neighborhood, dating back to when Italian friars came after the Spanish to convert the native people to Christianity.  Casa de Risco dates back to around 1650 - beautiful yellow exterior and this altar made of broken tiles. 

NEXT STOP: UNAM, Universita Nacional Autónoma de Mexico - a university with 1133 buildings and 6 bus routes - no words to be added about its size... 

3-D Diego Rivera mural adornes the entrance in the stadium.  

MUAC - Museo Universitad de Arte Contemporánea 

Central Library with the mural by Juan O'Gorman

NEXT STOP: Coyoacán 

First, Diego Rivera studio and house with a famous bridge between them, so the heavy artist could move from one to the other without going down and up the stairs.  

Barrio Santa Catarina, villa Cuayacan - first settlements of Cortes 

This building is now used as a cultural community center. Check out the statue in the garden, the stove, and the tiles in the "readings room"

Frida Kahlo house - which she shared with equally famous Mexican artist Diego Rivera.  

Loved the corset with communist symbol, whimsical creations, and the unique hue of blue she frequently used.  

Coyoacán Marquet

I loved this bazaar of food, flowers, wool and everything imaginable on the planet.  Discovered new fruit: delicious mamey (looks like a papaya and tastes like a delicately sweet squash), Guanabana (related to cherimoya). 

Very friendly people, cheap food, and a tortilla machine (above)! We ate delicious quesadilla de Cochran huitlacoche con queso and quesadilla de flor de calabaza con queso 

Finally, immersion in history - great stories my guide Ricardo shared with me about Hernan Cortes, La Malinche, and the places that still carry their memories in Coyoacán. 

FUN FACTS: (or maybe not so much fun!)

1. Electric wires hang in huge bundles from the street poles and sometimes lose wires hang like ropes above your head. For how tall I am, it's a scary thing!

1. Tap water is not drinkable! Water sellers are everywhere and big trucks deliver water to many buildings in the city.  This is a terrible situation after the last earthquake and it's unclear what the government is doing about it. 

Pyramids, bookstore, and exotic food

Teotihuacán - I arrived before 8 am with my guide Ricardo - no traffic, no tourists, and not even the clerks and vendors were around. It was a chilly, clear morning, with a bit of fog from which suddenly erupted a few hot air balloons.  There is so much history in these pyramids, so many civilizations, and mysteries, I don't know where to start telling what touched me, impressed me and marked me! Mysticism floated in the air more than in any other place I've ever seen... My guide was exceptional in teaching me about Mexican history and culture!

I barely made it to the top of the pyramid of the sun  - the tallest, which left me gasping for air, when a stray dog arrived totally chill, no stress, no effort! Utter humiliation. 

Lunch at La Gruta, a restaurant with mariachi in a grotto close to the pyramids.  Exotic food: 

Yes, tortillas with escamoles and guacamole and green sauce - delicate and pleasant. I had no idea I could eat ant larvae with so much ease!  Question: why do avocados taste differently in Mexico? And why do Americans call everything tortilla? The tortilla chips offered at the beginning of the meal are actually called "totopos" 

We stopped on the way back at the Basilicas de Guadalupe- old and new.  The old one is sinking at an alarming rate, has been closed for 20 years, and after huge consolidation efforts, it is now open to visitors.  I could not get over the fact that from the entrance you walk downhill and see cracks in walls and columns everywhere.  

The new basilica is very modern, a bit cold, and it reminded me of a meeting room more than of a church. However, it has been built to accommodate masses of faithful people... 

Afternoon at a fantastic bookstore in Condesa - Libreria Rosario Castellanos - it was quiet, airy and bright! I could sit there for a long time writing.  

I wish they made cafe de olla - the traditional Mexican coffee - but I'm happy with a cappuccino after a very long day.  

Took an Uber to Zocalo, main plaza.  I was very tired but so excited to see and experience more of Mexico City, just couldn't go to the hotel... 

Then got carried away walking all the way back to the hotel on Paseo de la Reforma - check out the change in architecture over these 2-3 km

Two fun facts: 

1. Ricardo explained to me that the symbol for the pesos is S crossed with one line whereas the US dollar has the symbol of S crossed with two lines! This is to rectify my comment about confusing the two symbols.  I simply didn't see the difference. 
2. At Basilica de Guadalupe, a high school student asked if I gave him an interview in English, which was a school project.  I appreciated that schools make an effort to teach kids English as very few people actually speak the language in Mexico. However, the boy seemed lazy and not motivated at all about it... 
3. Only a small part area of Mexico City has always been dry ground. Most of it is built on what used to be a lake surrounding the central island, thus the sinking that affects not only Basilica de Guadalupe but also any other buildings.  
4. Did I say I was mesmerized by color in this city? Check out this picture of houses on one of the city's hills! 
   

1. Today's activity is quite a record - my body feels the pain 
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Bienvenidos - first day in Ciudad de Mexico

From a modern airport with quick passport control to a dirty, noisy, hot, but so charming in an old fashioned way city! 

Here are the first feelings and where they come from:

• Colorful! Is this a feeling at all? It is here! First I noticed the fruit and nut street vendors, with their push carts, then the bright yellow apartment buildings close to the airport and villas in Zona Rosa and Condesa - everywhere is just an abundance of color 
• Surprised! Many buildings look shabby even in the historic center and many scream for repairs but among them are the pearls - like this exquisite cafe Praga29
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• Surprised! Eating at Azul http://www.azul.rest/  all dishes have the names written in Spanish and the description in English. A Japanese woman at a neighboring table spoke beautiful Spanish! And finally, every table has a stand where ladies can hang their purses.  
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  Fantastico!
• Shocked - everything has a price written in $ but it's Mexican dollars - aka - pesos.  So if the mezcal I tried for the first time in my life was $120 and a double espresso was $30, no worries, they were real bargains: US$6 and US$1.5, respectively. 
• Surprised! Food! Would I ever eat corn pudding with plum sauce? No!  Well, only here.  And it was scrumptious! It was called nicuatole  zapoteco, and the description read corn creme custard with black sapodilla plum sauce.  It tasted smooth and slightly sweet, just gentle, velvet to my taste buds.  There is something adventurous and satisfying about trying food you've never had before and this was an awesome start for my vacation.  

Some funny facts, too, which make any trip more adventuresome: 

• I asked the waiter what drink from the menu was less strong than the tequila- he pointed out the mezcal list! That potion was so strong, I got tipsy from inhaling the smoky-flavored fumes from across the table.  
• So few people speak English, my Spanish is improving.