Mexico City - Day 3: Bike Tour & Birthday Dinner

Perhaps we shouldn't have gone for that second episode of the cdrama last night...it is a bit hard to get the twins out of bed this morning. But I admit the show has been quite good! (Pursuit of Jade, for those who were wondering).

Anywho, back to our CDMX trip. Today, at the recommendation of an old friend and colleague, we booked a Centro Historico tour with Bikes & Munchies, combining history, eating, and a little exercise all at the same time. It did mean a slightly earlier start (9am meeting time), but honestly probably a good practice/warm-up for the 7:30 pyramid trip tomorrow!

The meeting point was in Roma Norte, at Bazar Fusion and we started the tour with a walk across the street for breakfast and coffee.

The first food item on the tour was a variety of chilaquiles, a very traditional breakfast dish always made with leftover tortillas. We had some chicken ones, some steak ones, some mushroom ones, and some egg ones. The first bite was delicious but as we dug to the bottom, the sauce got a little overpowering and overall a little bit sour for my tastes, but in my opinion still preferable to bacon and eggs!

With that, it was time to get fitted for our bikes and helmets and into our formation, two by two led by our leader Valentin. Caught a selfie at a stop!

I'd like to give a few rounds of credit here: first, to L, for wearing a backpack and lugging around her sketchbook the entire day. Second, to LaoLao and LaoYe for braving the tandem bike! And lastly to Jiujiu and Jiuma, for putting up with being last in a very slow bike caravan. 

Our first stop was the Monument to the Revolution, a which apparently doubles as a mausoleum to many revolutionary heroes, including Pancho Villa.

They happened to be setting up for a book fair right outside the monument -- in hindsight, I should have let the twins buy a Spanish book as a souvenir! Alas. Hopefully we will run into some more bookstores later on this trip. Language immersion moment Mama fail. 

Next we headed to the Palace of Fine Arts to check out some of the famous murals inside. It was truly a very beautiful space with some really amazing pieces of art. 

We got a bit of history on Mexico's famous muralists from Valentin. Here's Diego Rivera's famous "Man, Controller of the Universe" which he had to recreate here after the original was torn down in Rockefeller Center in NYC after Rivera refused to remove the prominent figure of Lenin.

Right outside the Palace of Fine Arts is the Torre Latinoamericano, a marvel of engineering famous for surviving four separate 7.9, 8.1, and 7.1 and 7.7 level earthquakes without even a cracked window! Even more crazily, the last three (in 1985, 2017 and 2022), all happened on the same day! The city actually holds a nationwide drill on Sept. 19 to commemorate the large 1985 earthquake, and the two later ones actually happened shortly after everyone finished the national drill. You'd think great they know exactly what to do, but some people thought the sirens were just a false alarm from the drill! In any event, as Laolao noted -- maybe best fo stay away on September 19...

After standing in the hot sun for awhile, we were feeling a bit wilted. Perfect timing for a juice stop! 

It smelled so nice in there - and everyone LOVED the juices. We had a mango passion fruit and a strawberry guava. 

Followed up with some tortas - one grilled veggies and one meat -- very tasty, every last bite was polished off. 

After this food stop, we headed to the central Zocolo for the large number of historical and politically significant buildings and sights there. Here is the National Palace, where the President lives. Because it is a real residence, public access is more limited so we won't be able to see the Diego Rivera murals there this trip.  

I couldn't help but snag a photo with the Supreme Court building. 

Some of us also got a quick glimpse of the inside of the National Cathedral - very pretty, decked out for Easter.

But the real star was the Templo Mayor and the collection of ruins. 

We didn't have time to go see the actual ruins, but we got a little bit of a history and archeology session standing from the National Cathedral plaza. Here's the depiction of what the site would have looked like in Aztec times...so much bloody sacrifice. Though Valentin was quick to point out that even though the decapitations and live killings seemed barbarian, the loss of life and brutality of modern warfare is arguably much much worse. 

There were a bunch of folks dressed in native garb offering to do purification cleanses for a small fee. Valentin said it was mostly a trap for tourists, but interesting to watch regardless!

At this point, we headed to our  last food stop, tacos and more fruit waters. I forgot to take a photo of the tacos, they were this 24 hour long cooked pork, with fried and non fried versions. We would have eaten more except we had a dinner reservation for 4pm, so "second lunch" was a bit restrained. Two thumbs up again from all though!

And finally, we circled back to the starting point for a mezcal tasting. Conclusion: I am not a fan. Not sure anyone was a REAL fan. At least half of us mixed it with the fruit juices. 😆 

Valentin is a part time author as well and in honor of Laoye's birthday, he gifted him a copy of his book of ghost stories:

I would say all in all we were very satisfied with our bike and food tour experience. I would highly recommend as a great way to see the sights for a family who doesn't actually want to spend hours at the ruins or looking at art. This was a quick in, quick out type of thing -- checks the boxes on history and culture in a novel, memorable way. Certainly this was the longest L&R have cycled in their lives so far, after learning during pandemic, so good to know they still remember how to use a bike!

After the tour ended, we were in walking distance of the Ciudadela market, which I had read was worth checking out. So the half of us more interested in souvenir shopping went for a stroll to the market while the others headed back for a nap. I managed to find a couple more hair clips and R got herself some bracelets. It was a more manageable market than Coyoacan, in my opinion. 

By now it was time to do a quick wardrobe change and then head to Laoye's birthday dinner. 70 years, pretty momentous! We picked Esquina Comun for the occasion, a fairly small restaurant but the dishes were packed in flavors! 

Thanks to Jiujiu's Chase Reserve card, we were able to snag a reservation -- cheers to having the in!

Food-wise: in reverse order:

Donut with ice cream. We found the donut a little dry, but the ice cream got high marks. 

Steak with pea sauce, served with corn and bean cakes. I liked it...but it wasn't my favorite. Though I often wonder if I like mains less in larger meals just because I've gotten too full already. 

Calamari over rockfish, with cherry tomatoes, squash, and various spices. This was probably my least favorite dish to the evening. Not bad, just nothing to be that excited about. 

Shrimp crudo with avocado, roe, and fruit/citric juices. This was very good - I loved the light sweetness of the cerviche style cooked shrimp. It wasn't overly sour or sweet just a nice mix of flavors. 

Our favorite dish of the evening: stracciatella with squash blossom dumplings, sweet potatoes, and other root vegetables served over bread.  We liked it so much we ordered a third serving. 

 

Tuna poke - served on a corn tortilla cake thing. I liked the flavors, though I am a fan of poke generally so this would have been a hard one to miss for me. Such beautiful presentation!

To start, I think this was a carnitas or barbacoa tostado-y thing with avocado and radishes. Maybe their twist on steer tacos. The sauce was a little spicy for some of us but still a very tasty way to start the meal. 

Group photo -- we tried to use "Add me" from the pixel phone but failed...so got a passerby to do it the old fashioned way. 

We were within a few minutes of a Walmart at this point so we did another grocery run - yogurts, candy, veggies and fruits. R picked up about a half dozen mangoes. Much cheaper than the vendors...though she reports not as good. Must need to ripen them a little longer...

At this point, some of us were feeling the time zones again, so the original nuclear family headed out for a nightcap at Limantour. The drinks were nice...but definitely did NOT feel like a worlds top ten bar. That or I just don't appreciate alcohol enough!

Thankfully it was only a 12 minute walk from the rental, so at least we got another walk in for the day. Took us past this lovely establishment (took the photo for Baba):

By the time we got home, it was now after 10:30. So to bed we all went. Tomorrow is an early start for the day at Teotihuacan!

Mexico City - Day 2: Coyoacan

I woke up after a fairly restful sleep -- it was a little hard getting to bed at first because of a yappy dog in one of the apartments around us but eventually they went to sleep. 

Today the main attraction was Casa Azul: Frida Khalo's house & workshop turned museum. We had tickets for a 2pm entrance which meant the morning was open for gastronomic exploration. Our original choice was Expendio de Maiz, this cool restaurant concept where you have no menu but instead eat whatever the kitchen is serving when you sit down and then continue eating until you're full (charged by the number of courses you stick it out for). They opened at 9, but unfortunately upon arrival at 10am, the waiting list was already 3 hours deep. Maybe not today... Luckily we had a backup plan within walking distance - the famous Panaderia Rosetta. The line was daunting but for takeaway moved very quickly.

I have to admit I did not come in with high expectations. I am not a big bread or pastry fan, so not sure if it was me being on an empty stomach or if it was a matter of having very low expectations, but I was actually quite pleasantly surprised! We ordered six different pastries (guava roll - enjoyed it quite a bit, chocolate croissant - LOTS of chocolate inside, ricotta and cacao roll - good flavor, cinnamon roll - Baba said it was just okay, dulce de leche roll - R gives it two thumbs up, and a traditional concha - a little dry for me but L enjoyed it). This is the only photo I remembered to take:

After we were full of dough and sugar, we called for the UberXL to head to Coyoacan. Coyoacan is a bit apart from downtown Mexico City (for perspective, our rental was in Polanco, which is about an hour walking from Centro Historico - but Coyoacan would be 2.5 hours away walking). The neighborhood is often described as lively, bohemian feel with lush and bustling public spaces. We arrived around 12:30 so had some time to kill before our museum reservation. Time for some market action!

I decided to try one of the fresh juices...but this was a miss. It was a combination juice with papaya and guava and something else...the papaya and guava I think were too strong. 

Happily, reviews on the shrimp tostados were much higher. Very fresh -- and the veggies on top were a nice change of pace after all the pastries. 

And then...more shopping. I wasn't a big fan of stuff in this market, it was more a time passer. The crowds admittedly were a bit much even for me...but it was interesting seeing a working local market, with everything from handicrafts to fresh vegetables, spices, and candy. 

Around 1:30 or so, we decided to mosey over to the Frida Khalo museum. This was the hottest ticket in CDMX, when we were in line, a sign said that tickets were already sold out until the last week of April.

Good thing we went a little early too, because even with timed entry, the line was quite long. Reminded me a bit of Ghibli Museum in the "small museum, very specific focus, hard to get tickets, in a random neighborhood" feel. Luckily, the twins came prepared for line waiting. 

This is basically what they looked like whenever they weren't in motion. Waiting for food, in the ubers, while Mama was taking too long in the shops...sometimes even when walking they'd still be trying to read at the same time. I guess I should be supportive -- better reading than looking at YouTube shorts!

The estate where Frida spent most of her life was both grand and small at the same time. Technically the acreage was probably fairly large, it fit gardens, two museum sections, gift shop, cafeteria, etc...but everything you went still seemed very quaint and personal - everywhere you looked, it seemed a plant was intentionally put there, or a stone pattern specifically designed this, a plate or doorway painted a particular shade of red or blue or green. I suppose that is the heart of Frida's artistry -- you really did feel like this was the home of a true free spirit.

Sadly, the childhood polio combined with teenage tragic car accident and then countless surgeries over her life meant much of the museum reflected a life of significant pain and struggling. Here is a photo taken from the perspective of Frida's bed, on which lies her death mask, looking up at a mirror installed above the bed so that she could paint her self portraits while lying horizontally (due to her immobility after certain surgeries). 

This is the wheelchair from which she would paint, in front of a moveable easel gifted to her from Nelson Rockefeller. 

Her kitchen - I took a picture of this because that bowl in the middle of the shelf there is SO huge! The picture doesn't convey the immenseness of it -- I have no idea why you would ever need a bowl that size!

In so many of the rooms, there are these skeleton-like sculptures that are colorful and yet very macabre, focusing your attention on the delicate nature of the rib cage and spine -- I imagine intentionally, given how much that area pained her, both physically and emotionally (due to its impact on her inability to have children).

 

There was also a very cool separate exhibit showcasing her dresses and corsets as well as present day fashion examples that continue to take Frida as their inspiration. No photos of that area as the lighting is kept intentionally very low to preserve the dresses. 

I really enjoyed the museum so this is not meant to detract from the impressiveness of either the museum or Frida's art or experiences...but I couldn't help but wonder how much of her legacy is also due to the fact that she had the financial means to enable it all. I don't at all doubt her enigmatic and charismatic nature -- clearly she had great allure to so many...but all of those surgeries could not have been cheap. All of the art supplies...the special corsets...the special furniture...and the ability to have been introduced to Diego by a family friend in the first place -- it makes you think about the other Fridas who have likely lived and passed away in anonymity because they did not have all of those. 

After we finished at Casa Azul, we headed towards the central square at Coyoacan, where we noshed on some street food while checking out the street performers and souvenir stalls. 

R enjoyed the fresh mangos so much that she ended getting two servings. Laoye on the other hand was a bit disappointed by the elote...he chose poorly and got one where the grilled corn had gone cold.

The colorful entrance to the Artisans Market Coyoacan with the coyote statue -- the name Coyoacan means the those of the coyotes, I'm told. 

Some of us were...perhaps less than thrilled with the amount of market-ing today.

We had to reward Baba's patience with his version of an ice cream treat: beers and pizza. 

The pizza at Traficante was quite good but my favorite part of dinner was actually the watercress salad. That sounds crazy, but the roasted sesame and garlic dressing and radishes really made for a tasty combination! Photo of the kitchen hard at work:

We did a little more people watching after dinner (beat boxing act, comedian/juggling act, I even threw a couple darts at some under inflated balloons) but we knew that a thunderstorm was brewing...we managed to call and hop into the Uber JUST as the sky really opened up. 

And back at the rental, Jiujiu and Jiuma had arrived! Bring out of the card games! They had been up since 3am Mexico City time catching their flight from Boston though so no late night today. We all have a bike tour to catch in the AM anyhow.

Parting shot of me admiring my new earrings from the Coyoacan market!