November 23 – November 29, 2024
Chapter IIIB
This is the second (out of three) installments of what was originally a very long post. It was edited into three chapters: A Day in Coyoacan, Thankful and Grateful and Parques y Recreación. Thankful for the ability to edit (and to Andy, my editor).
Andy and I have enjoyed so much of Mexico City. It is huge and bustling and like New York, it doesn’t get much sleep. And the people, they are friendly and very happy to share their history, food and customs with us. And no one mocks my poor Spanish, although I am getting very good at ¿Baño por favor?
A few cuisine examples include food tours that featured (safe for our American digestive systems) family-run street vendors who set up each day and serve the best tacos. Our first tasting tour with our cousins Lana and Brandon who took a red-eye from San Francisco to be with us at the beginning of Lana’s Thanksgiving break from high school. Their visit was short and sweet but we managed to show them a taste of Mexico City, literally and figuratively. Since Lana does a lot of biking back home in California, we thought a street food tour by bicycle (thanks for the recommendation, Sheryl) would be fun. Andrea was our guide and Amistad, her associate, kept us safe by holding up traffic at busy intersections so our group could stay together. The food was delicious – we started with three kinds of breakfast tamales, worked our way to the Mercado Medellin’s best juice bar, street food tacos and finished with a mezcal tasting.
And our second food tour experience was with the Yibran, the guide we met on day two for our Intro to CDMX Bike Tour. This time, it included a terrific tamale and mescal tasting at Yibran’s apartment as well as street food and a few specialty restaurants, the perfect intro to Mexico City for George and Matthew, who had arrived that afternoon.
Of course the restaurants are fabulous, at all price-points, and we have had our share of tacos, mole, guacamole and cocktails (some of us have even tried crunchy grasshopper as a garnish). We have also shopped Mercado Medellin and a Sunday organic market. We actually cook in some nights but dining out is so reasonable that we have rationalized going out way more than necessary. Some restaurants in Roma-Condesa that we have enjoyed include Azul Condesa, Fónico, Huset, Marmota, Muxand, Nudo Negro, and Tres Tonalá.
Street food guidelines: It definitely makes sense to sample street food with a guide. So far, Montezuma has not taken revenge and our guides have guaranteed that their street food vendors are safe. For those planning a visit to Mexico City, here are recommendations from the tourism website: Mexico City.cdmx.gob.mx and click on Intro to Mexico City Food.
We have also found some delicious local cafes and panaderías for breakfasts and have sampled huevos rancheros and chilaquiles verdes and rojas from Manzo, which reminded me of matzo brei, but spicier and with tortillas. From the panaderías, we enjoy the guava rolls, concha, cardamom rolls and rosemary crisps, mostly from Gala, Lpan and Rosetta. And, we haven’t had a bad croissant or baguette here.
We are most thankful for Mexican cuisine.
Sometimes there are Glitches. Monday with Lana and Brandon; when we got detoured.
Mondays are tough tourist days in CDMX. Many attractions are closed but Lana was interested in art and what better place than the murals at the Secretary of Public Education Museum? It is one of the few museums open on Mondays. The plan was to visit the Zócalo and the Metropolitan Cathedral and then to the Soumaya Museum, also open. As we got to the Central Historic District, all the major public buildings were surrounded by tall metal barriers and we had no idea why. It turns out that Monday, November 25 is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. There were demonstrations worldwide, including many cities in Mexico. The police were expecting the march to reach this area and in case of violence, all the public buildings were protected. We were able to enjoy the murals in the SEP but Lana and I got stuck as we exited the Cathedral and had to do a long detour to find Brandon who must have thought we were doing a lot of praying in that church! Once we found Brandon, and tried to leave the area, we kept getting detoured and walked right past the all-female police force, outside the Palacio Nacional (home of the President and government offices). While these officers were there to protect, all of them were wearing orange ribbons, in solidarity with the protestors. It took us a while to get out of the area and we never made it to the Soumaya.
As we bid Lana and Brandon adieu, we welcomed George and Matthew who were able to get a few days off, including Thanksgiving. We whisked them off for a taste of Mexico with Yibran, a great kick-off to their time with us.
We had one full day to explore Mexico City with George and Matthew and we chose the area of Parque Chapultepec. We explored the Museo Nacional de Antropologia with a great lunch at the museum’s Sala Gastronómica, featuring regional cuisines from six regions of Mexico. We then explored the perimeter of Castillo de Chapultepec. Dinner at Azul, featured mole and I watched from the sidelines as the Frankle men added crunchy grasshoppers to their guacamole appetizer.
Thanksgiving in Mexico
We decided to make a special day out of Thanksgiving and do an outing to Teotihuacan, an ancient Mesoamerican city, and home to pyramids dating back to 1 to 500 CE. Our wonderful guide Yunuen filled us in on the history of this sacred place while we explored the Temple of Quetzalcoatl and then strolled down the Avenue of the Dead to the Pyramids of the Sun and the Moon.
We ushered in Thanksgiving dinner at the cocktail bar on the 38thfloor of the Ritz Carlton Hotel, overlooking Mexico City. Two days before Thanksgiving, we received a message from their restaurant, Samos, mentioning that there would be a special family-style Thanksgiving menu; that wasn’t what we expected but we went with it. The guest chef was Julian Medina, a Mexican chef and New York restaurateur (Tacuba Hell’s Kitchen, Toloache, La Chula at the Northend Food Hall, Coppela, El Fish Marisqueria and El Verano in Southampton). Chef Medina’s menu blended seasonal ingredients with Mexican flavors and we enjoyed a Thanksgiving dinner after all. Note to extended family: we missed you and look forward to Thanksgiving 2025!
Our time with George and Matthew was super and in the tradition of Thanksgiving thankfulness, Matthew shared that he was impressed with Mexican culture, and its cuisine; he loved the food tour, restaurants and everything in between. He enjoyed embracing Latin American history through the Museum of Anthropology and the pyramids. And in fact, when I wrote this, Matthew was back in Mexico, enjoying a short vacation with his buddies in Cancun! George gave Mexico City a ten out of ten with so much to do and explore; he will definitely be back!
I have so much more to report on our Mexico City experience and will get to that in future posts. Since this post includes things and experience of which I am thankful, I must share that I am thankful for Secret Room Yoga, the studio in our building’s courtyard.
I purchased a one-month unlimited plan for $1500 Mexican dollars ($74 US) and have taken many classes since arriving here. I am, without a doubt, more than twice the age of the average yogi here and taking class with these tall, fit and beautiful people (in Spanish) has given me a sense of humor about my yoga practice. Thankful for that and for the wonderful experience Andy and I are sharing in CDMX.
Stay tuned for Chapter IIIC, some more history and a little shopping!
Enjoy this festive season and hasta luego!
The Innocents Abroad, 21st Century Version 