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. I walked through Lincoln Park and saw a cool statue that I thought might represent the soul peering into the heart of the city.

I met up with Lizy and her parents just outside of Lincoln park. Lizy’s parents decided to separate and do their own thing. Lizy and I did some shopping in Polanco. She bought Elizabeth a nice necklace from a small jewelry store.

Lunch at Klein’s

We went to a Jewish Diner type of place for lunch. It was called Klein’s. They had mix of jewishy stuff (Matzo ball soup, Kosher Salami) and Mexican food. Sitting next to us was a Mexican, Jewish family, consisting of two kids and their mother. They told us that their mother’s side of the family had been in Mexico since around 1900 when they immigrated from Syria and had helped found the Syrian Synagogue in Mexico City. Their father was a first generation Mexican who came to the country when he was ten.

The son told us there was very little anti-semitism in Mexico, which he attributed to the fact that the population of jews was very small and non-visible. He felt safer as a jew in Mexico City, than he had studying abroad in New York City, where he said there was an increased tension because of the Israel-Gaza conflict. He also recommended to Lizy the chili verde for the chiliquilies.

The food was great. We both got chiliquilies. I got mine with two fried eggs.

Tuesday Market Again

We drove back to the condo and ran into the Tuesday market that closed down the street near our condo again. Lizy accidentally bought too many melons. The melon was sort of a cross between an avocado and a honeydew. We got some sorbet and deep fried bananas. I almost bought some poblano mole. I had never tried anything quite like it before, but I delayed my decision and by the time I got back the stand had closed. I ran back and forth among the stalls searching for the vendor, but with no luck.

Run in the Park

Afterwards, I went for a quick run in Chapultepec park. I crossed out of Section 1 and into Section 2 to the see the man made lake. After running around the lake I ran back to the gate to get back into section 1, but the gate was locked. On the other side of the gate I could see other people in the park trying to get out. We tried to communicate with the guard, but he explained that he couldn’t open the gate to either let people out or let me in. It was weird. Neither location was off limits, but the crossing was closed.

I had to run around the boundary of the park, beside a busy road, so I had trouble listening to the audio book I had been listening to.

Dinner at the Taqueria

I took Lizy out for dinner just the two of us to the taqueria beside the walmart I had stopped by on my walk a few days before. I’ll describe it in a little more detail here. There was a take out window out front. Inside there was a long counter that ran the length of the floor that separated a standing area for customers and the kitchen. On the counter they had bowls of pickled cactus, red salsa, green salsa, four hot sauces, and potato salad.

Lizy looked at the green salsa and tried to gauge whether it had avocado. Another patron saw her confusion and let her know in semi condescending way that it was, Salsa Verde, and did not have avacado and that she should watch out because it was often spicy. It was a weird thing to be so sure about, considering that it did indeed contain avocado and it was very mild. But what can you do.

We got tacos, flautas, and gorditas. I like the tacos the best because you could stuff them with all the ingredients in the bowls on the counter.

The man standing beside us was currently living in the city, but came from a state a couple of hours north. His wife was sick so they were staying with family in Condesa. He told me about his son who was a programmer for a company in the United States. He worked remotely, while still living in Mexico. He showed us a picture of his son standing in front of the Golden Gate Bridge. He seemed very proud of his son.

Lizy said she liked the restaurant. She said it felt like a hipster bar with food. We got some drinks. She got a couple glasses of wine and I got a Mezcal. She seemed happy on the walk home.