Family Trip To Mexico

Preflight Before we left for the airport we tried to eat as many of our leftover clementines as we could. We had eaten most of our food, but somehow the clementines had escaped us. Luckily our friend Rachel was able to swing by and pick up the rest of the bag of clementines before we got sick of them. We got through airport security no problem, and with all our extra time we looked for something to eat for lunch....

Walmart We started the day by driving to the Walmart around the corner to get some groceries. Mostly snacks and stuff for breakfast, but also ingredients for a few dinners. The produce section had some differences from what we were used to. There were way more varieties of fresh peppers. There were serranos, jalapenos, chili de arbols (which I had only ever seen dried before), bell peppers, and poblanos. They had nopales, a type of cactus, which Elizabeth asked if I knew how to cook....

Street Hustlers We started the day by driving to the Coyocoan district. On the way when we were stopped at a red light a man was dressed as a clown with his son trying to get money from stopped cars. In Toronto it’s fairly common to see people with squeegees at red lights, but Mexico City takes people working for change at red lights to the next level. In my time in Mexico City in addition to the aforementioned clown we saw a woman singing holding a mini amp to project her voice like she was in a eighties romantic comedy, a hoola-hoop girl who what hoola-hoops going simultaneously around both her legs, while standing on one leg, many versions of a guys selling snacks, and every variation of a person cleaning your car, including of course squeegee people....

Going for a Run My companions were having a slow start to the day, so I decided to go for a run. I ran to Chapultepec Park. Lizy wanted to go later, so I figured I could scope it out for the group. I ran under the big highway overpass. I noticed for the first time that all the walk signs in Mexico City are animated. The boundary of the park is marked by a wrought iron fence....

Popup Market Lizy and I drove out to get something at the pharmacy and on the way back we took the same street we had taken the evening before, but overnight a market had popped up and taken over the street. We parked the car to look around, I was particularly on a mission to find a tamale to eat for breakfast. There were a bunch of vendors, including stalls selling, fruit, vegetables, meat, spices, dried chillies, mole pastes, and cooked food....

The next day Andy was feeling too tired to come out for the day, so he decided to hang around the condo and rest. Lizy, Elizabeth and I decided to check out the San Angel district for the day. Frida’s Less Popular House Our first stop was a pair of houses that Frida Kahlo and Diego Riviera lived when they first got married. We got a parking spot right in front of the museum....

We drove to the Centro Historico and from the parking lot made a b-line to the Palace Belle Artes. The building was incredible to behold. I’ll just put in a few photos because, I’m not sure how to put this kind of building into words.The inside was spectacular as well. Each floor had a large cavity in the centre of the floor, so once could look from the bottom floor all the way up to the ceiling....

A Missed Opportunity We got into the car and headed north to the Teotihuacan Pyramids. On the way there were a few barbacoa pit stops. They all had the same big signs. We saw people eating in tents. I really wanted to go, but Lizy refused as she had to go to the bathroom and it was unclear what the bathroom situation was if people were eating in a tent....

Lunch in the Park We walked together to Chapultepec Park. I lead the way through the park pointing out sites I though they would find of interest. Lizy got a kick of the busts of Mexican poets. I directed the group to what I thought was a single restuarant in the park, but it ended up being a food stall that was part of an outdoor food court. Lizy and I walked through checking out all the different food courts....

Tlacoyo Near the Home I walked out of the condo and got a Tlacoyo on the street for breakfast. The stand was just up the street from the condo near the Walmart. I’ll describe the Tlacoyo in a future post. Diego Rivera Mural Museum In the afternoon we went back to the Centro Historico. Lots of museums and stores were closed since it was New Years day, but there were still a lot of tourists out walking around....

Breakfast The Tlacoyo stand outside the condo was closed for New Years so I got a tamale from another stand instead. I got a chili verde tamale and Lizy got a cheese and chili tamale. I think Lizy’s was better. Driving out of the City Centre The air pollution hung heavy on the streets so I suggested to the group that we drive to Ajusco National Park, which was just outside the city at slightly higher elevation....

Walking to Polanco In the morning I was feeling a little sick from dinner the previous evening. People were slowly getting ready, so I decided to walk over to Polanco to clear my head. I figured since everyone else would leave after me in the car, we’d both get there at about the same time. I walked through Chapultepec Park. It was nice walk, except at the end when I left the park and was walking through a construction zone....

Breakfast I went out early to get myself a Tlacoyo from the same stand I had gone to the day before. I watched the old woman make the Tlacoyo. She rolled masa into a ball then flattened the ball. Filled the flat piece with a dollop of refried beans, then stretched the masa over the beans so it’s back into a ball, then flattened it once again. She put the the now football shaped creation onto the griddle and brushed both sides with fat from a plastic jar....