Ow my back!

Sitting for hours on those elf chairs on the boat wrecked my back. I didn't do a whole lot Monday during the day except rest up. Monday night, I went to Entremar with my Brther's friend's sister's daughter and her husband. (To be fair, the sister is my HS classmate and friend and made the connection - I just wanted to draw it out). Entremar is the less-busy and more casual sister of Contramar. The share a menu. I had many a delicious thing, but by far the best was the ceviche of some local fish something like a flounder. The setting is on a second floor and I had a look out onto a park.

My friend's daughter has a food and drink instagram and if you want to gasp at the beauty of Mexico City's offerings, check it out

The next day, Tuesday (why is this all being done so long after the fact? You'll see...) I walked 4km over to Ticuchi in the Polanco section of town. I ordered way too much to eat and like a dummy I scarfed it all down. My favorite hands-down the tamal de esquites - stuffed with roasted corn and cheese and other goodies.

From Ticuchi, I walked 4km to the Mezcal tasting, making a few park stops along the way

The mezcal tasting was booked through AirBnB and I didn't care for it for the content of the presentation nor the mezcal itself (it was from one small producer - many styles). The host was giving us a lecture on Mezcal and the history of Mexico. She has traveled extensively it seems and was making lots of references to things around the world...and half of them were just wrong. I have to think that perhaps some of the mezcal facts and stories might not be reliable. The mezcal itself was jarring, with a burnt plastic approach to the palate and gear oil finish. Nobody bought a bottle at the end of the tasting. Nobody even asked about the pricing.

The tasting group consisted of a guy from Youngstown, Ohio, who was on his fifth trip to Mexico City. He looked like Neil Tennant from the Pet Shop Boys in his big glasses phase, but bald and short. The guy was nice and took off 1/2 way through the tasting. He has some pressing matter, probably rinsing his mouth out with ginger ale. There was also Jez - a 30 year old from Daly City. He's an ER nurse and works some crazy schedule where he does super long hours 11 days straight and then gets the rest of the month off. I don't remember the exact numbers but that how he can travel so much. Rounding out the group was a pair of friends from Toronto who were able to work remotely and decided to travel through Mexico. Those ladies were fresh out of college by 6 months or so. We all suffered through the bad liquor and headed out the door. Jez had a reservation at the "Hank Panky Cocktail Bar" - a super cool speakeasy. I was already starting to feel...unwell...and bailed. The Toronto ladies were debating whether to go or not. Jez, who I mentioned was 30, was actually EXACTLY 30 - it was his birthday! I convinced the Toronto crew to jump in on his reservation and celebrate his birthday with him. Off they went, and I Ubered home.

That night, I did not feel well at all. I thought it was maybe the large lunch, or the excessive walking in the heat, or maybe the putrid mezcal, but I just caught a stomach bug.

Now you know why this update is coming all in one chunk, days late. I was completely down on Wednesday, and canceled my trip to the Pyramids for today. Bummer. Today, after a very light breakfast and walk, I was feeling somewhat on the mend. I took an Uber to the National Museum of Acheology and THAT was well worth it!

There's a great park next to the museum and I had a relating stroll

I left the park and crossed a major road via overpass and ended up at the fringe of the Condesa area (very nice place). (S)trolling for food, I happened upon a spot specializing in Wild Boar. Well, come on. I had to, right?

Not wanting to tax my feet/back too much, I took an Uber to get some Gelato.

Let me tell you, Joe is on his grind. This gelato was the best I've had, and, yes, I've been to Rome! I forgot to mention that I came here Tuesday afternoon before the mezcal tasting. This was a repeat visit! Uber back to the hotel, and here I am relaxing. I took my covid test this morning, got the negative results (yay!), and checked in for my flight. The were heavily discounting the upgrade to business class, AND since business class gets 2 free bags instead of just 1, that knocked off another $30, making it an irrestistible propsistion. OK, United, you got me, but I am sure it'll be worth it.

Staying in, I think, and watching the Warriors in my hotel room. Great WiFi here at the Le Meridien - can stream without any problems. Trying for a late check-out so I can roam around in the morning.

Aztec Venice, sort of.

What is now Mexico City used to be a huge lake, with a small island center. What I can only descibe as levees were constructed to connect the island city with the surrounding land. As the center grew with in-fill, the water in the lake was reduced to canals. Later those canals were turned into roads. There were still canals that connected the city to some outlying lakes where agricuture was featured. The canals built inside those outlying lakes were shouldered by berms made through planting of deep-rooting trees and soil movement, and the crops there were ferried back to the city for sale.

Nowadays, save for some vestegial boutique farming done for high-end CDMX restaurants, the canals have become a place for boat rides and relaxation. Vegetables have been replaced with Mexican families and drunken tourists. I booked a boat ride with AirBnB and really did not know what to expect.

The photo above is the information booth, and the meeting point for many groups. When I got there, I could not see any signs with the the name or time of the group but I did see a group of obvious tourists kind of milling about. I thought maybe this could be my group, so I approached the most touristy looking guy in the group and asked him in English if they were waiting for a tour. He look at me really apprehensively and then said, loudly and slowly, "NO THANK YOU. WE ALREADY HAVE A TOUR BOOKED." Haha, some of you will never know this joy, but it happens from time to time, like when I am doing sprinkler work IN MY OWN FRONT YARD, etc. I found my tour guide in short order.

The boats are called "Trajineras" and there are hundreds of them. 95% are human-powered by a gondolier, the others have a small outboard motor. The canals are in Lake Xochimilco, the only native habitat of the Axlotl.

We loaded up and pushed off. There was a group of 4 in for a wedding from Chicago, a couple from Toronto, and three women from Dallas. Everyone was in their 30s. Turns out, each and every one of them was in finance. How random. And how potentially unintersting. Thankfully, there was a cure for that!

What followed was a boat ride, with drinking and two features. First, a boatload of Mariachi sidled up to us like a coast guard inspection and we paid them for a couple of songs.

We stopped and had two things to see. The first was the Axolotl, in a too-small tank. There are fewer than 5,000 in the wild (all in this lake) and could be as few as 50. Extinction in the wild is almost guaranteed. They are kept as pets all over the world but that has been weakening their genetics. Cute little things, wish they could make it.

There is a legend that there was a local woman who fell in love with a Spaniard and had three children with him. The Spaniard ditched her and his family to marry a Spanish woman and have kids and a life with her. Despondant, she went to this lake and drowned her children. Realizing what she had done she screamed out for them and then killed herself. Now, sometimes, you can hear her screaming across the lake at night. Someone erected a monument of sorts to her

After that stop, it was time to go back to the marina/pier. Our trusty gondolier (sorry I forgot the word, it's something like Trajinero) powered us back. Notice the spent Michelada - I did not partake. I am not a fan.

If I do this again - and I would if time allowed on another trip - I would either bring a group of my own friend and/or family, or just bring some food and drinks and music and go by myself. I enjoyed being out on the water - it was relaxing.

Wrapping up Sunday, I went to this new and trendy tapas place but the seat they offered me was insane so I walked. My second choice was closed due to a water pipe being replaced, but the owner walked me around the corner to a taquieria he said was simple but delicious. He was right, best tacos so far. So the tabletop is chipped, if the plastic plate were 1mm thinner it would be disposable, and it was my third choice of a place to eat. Despite all that, this was some good Alambre de Pastor and I made myself tacos that did not disappoint! Imagine freshly sliced al pastor meat, mixed with bacon, onions, pineapple, green peppers, all chopped up and fried up. I have to look for this back home.

Kilometro Zero - My tour of Mexico City's Centro

Today was tour day, and I had Rodrigo show me around the historic center of town. The Spanish were here, and then they weren't, but some of their buildings remain. There is opulence and craftsmanship everywhere. Remnants of the original temple the Aztecs built when they moved to the area was uncovered maybe 50 years ago and restored as an outdoor museum of sorts. Walls built from the skulls of human sacrifces were also unearthed. There is just so much to see it's a bit overwhelming, especially to a person coming from a country that isn't even 300 years old.

I'm going to share some pictures

Palacio de Bellas Artes - Italian marble, Italian architect, Neoclassical facade. Art museum now, will go in later to see the Diego Rivera murals (and other things). The president at the time, Porfirio Diaz, wanted to have something opulent and European. Although Art Nouveau was considered passé by Mexican tastes (haven given way to art deco), Porfirio insisted "The heart wants what it wants" and built it his way.

This is the post office - still in operation, although only a part of it is used for that purpose. The marble is Mexican, but the metalwork is from Italy. Construction was around 1907 and it bears some resemblence to the federal courthouse (and post office) I worked in SF.

Here's an interesting building that was once a private residence of someone very wealthy. After a time it was purchased by the Sanborn family, prominent transplants. and now bears the name of the company they once owned. There is a reasonable and pedestrian restaurant on the first two floors, and other nooks have a bar, a pharmacy, a gift shop etc. There are a few of these types of demi-palaces that have been preserved and repurposed. This one reminds me of a Moroccan lesser palace - once that might serve as a restaurant today.

I apologize for not remembering the name of this cathedral. What I do remember is that the original complex was much larger and after the aformentioned president enacted some reforms, much of the complex was apportined and sold. What remains, however, is worth a look!

Touring is hard work. Stopped for tacos.

The historic center has a plaza which reminds me of the same in any European capital, except that it is much larger! Too large, if you ask me, but clearly they did not! Here's a look around:

So it seems that nobody knows exactly from where the Aztecs came from..or so says my guide. When they arrived at what is now Mexico City, the locals at first denied them permission to move there. After some promises to labor in agriculture for them, they were given a plot of seemingly unusable marshland. Those Aztecs were smart, though, and were able to build a temple there, later aligning with some neighboring powers and overthrowing their one-time hosts. As such, so was born Mexico City and perhaps Mexico itself. The Spanish demoloshed the temple, but some remnants were discovered and, after some excavation, we have some history to take in. Look for the snakes!

Long day, headed back to the hotel, had a great time looking around the historic center.

Gettin' my learn on!

Didn't sleep well - the air is dry in Mexico City in February. I have since remedied that with a humidifier for the room. Should do better tonight. So...this morning was cooking class. I headed out to the "hip n' trendy" Roma district where the cooking school has set up. CDMX traffic can be brutal, but that wasn't so bad. Enjoy my taxi ride with me!

After arriving, I was greeted and went up two flights of a narrow spiral staircase to the teaching area. A couple from Austin, TX joined me and we were off!

Our chef-instructor Krys(tal) showed us the different types of corn grown around the country

They make 2 sizes of corn tortillas at the tortillaria: a small one for the taco restaurants, and a medium one for everything else. We went around the corner to see a tortilla making operation in action

The finished product goes for $0.90 per kilo (about 40 tortillas).

We turned another corner and had a made-to-order quesadilla with blue corn, cheese, and squash blossom. Delicious! Eating before cooking - not a bad idea at all

We went to the market and tried lots of things. The fruit was great - I will go to a better market and take pics. Also, I ate bugs. Crickets, flying ant bodies, grasshoppers, agave worms (mercifully salted). I ate em all.

I made tamales and they were different. No masa! Not steamed, but cooked on a comal (thin steel griddle). These had cactus, onion, tomato, cheese, chile, and no bugs.

We also made a white mole sauce and served it over chicken breast. Nuts, seeds, golden raisins, chicken broth, etc. We made salsas using a molcajete and now I want one - it's a mortar and pestle setup made out of volcanic rock. My favorite thing we made, though, was this corn cake. Thankfully I got the recipe.

So that was it for cooking class. I was stuffed and changed my 7:15pm dinner reservation to Monday, went back to the hotel and watched the NBA rising stars game, then headed out for tacos. The one place I wanted to go was about a 30 minute walk. I found a place that was much much closer and went there instead.

Well...

I'm going to call it a night. I've got a tour of his historic center tomorrow. I hope you're enjoying this even a little. Cheers!