A Quick Trip to Mexico City

The friend I was visiting in Mexico recommended this French restaurant on my first night in Mexico City. I was not expecting to find such delicious French cuisine in Mexico, but I was very pleasantly surprised. The scrumptious food had a slight Mexican flair to it.

We opted to sit outdoors in front of the restaurant on a fresh, comfortable evening. The restaurant is in a quiet, fairly residential neighborhood which allowed us a nice, relaxing meal. The tables were nicely adorned with white table cloths. We were quickly greeted by our server and brought a delightful mix of breads in all different shapes and colors, accompanied by a lovely herb butter.

We started our meal with some appetizers, all of which I highly recommend. These included La Sopa De Cebolla Gratinada (onion soup au gratin), La Bouillabaisse Spoon (a pastry-type concoction of seafood in an egg-based crust), Las Lentejas Con Pato Ahumado En Vinagreta de Kiwi (a duck salad that my fellow diners devoured), and Las Brochetas De Camaron Bacon and shrimp skewers. I ordered La Pechuga De Pollo Rellena De Camarones Al Curry De Bombay (curried chicken) as my entrée. While this tasty chicken satisfied, the best entrée at the table was El Mahi Mahi Spoon. This mahi mahi dish was succulent and melted in our mouths.

The owner of the restaurant came over to our table to greet us and make sure we were enjoying our dining experience. She was extremely warm and we were grateful for her efforts.

The restaurant was not full on the night that we visited, and my friend Ken, who has frequented Spoon, mentioned that it never seems. This is surprising as it exceeded all expectations and offers extremely reasonable prices.

I arrived at El Hidalguense, named for the state of Hidalgo from which this famed Barbacoa style food comes from, with the promise of a traditional Mexican Sunday brunch by my friend and his neighbors.

At the front of the restaurant we passed an employee making consommé from the drippings of barbecued meat. We were led to a table dressed with different salsas, lime, and rice. We ordered our food for the table to share. The consommé that they had been making in the front of the restaurant was extremely flavorful and satisfying. We were brought barbacoa (sheep meat steamed slowly to make it very juicy), a plate of napoles (chopped up cactus), and a plate of avocado and goat cheese. We made tacos out of these with tortillas. This was also served with fresh squeezed juice.

My friend’s Mexican neighbor told us that we had to try Mexico’s version of caviar, ant larvae. I must admit it was quite tasty and crunchy, but would have preferred it had I not realized what I was eating. We also tried some meat from a sheep's stomach. Hey, when in Rome. . .but I wouldn't recommend this meat very highly.

All in all, I would say the experience was very enjoyable. Overall the food was terrific, and if you are willing to experiment, you may be introduced to lots of new and interesting fare.

These grand pyramids, Pyramid de la Luna (Pyramid of the Moon) and the Pyramid del Sol (Pyramid of the Sun), are amazing reminders of a civilization long past. On either end of a long "street", Calzada de los Muertos (Street of the Dead), sits the two large pyramids. We were first led to La Ciudadela (the Citadel). We walked through the ruins, where our guide conveyed some of the history of the site. We were shown some paintings that were found in the excavations of the site.

We were then given free time to walk around, climb the pyramids if we so chose, and visit the museum. I opted to skip the smaller Pyramid of the Moon and to attack the Pyramid of the Sun, the third largest pyramid in the world. On the long walk down the Street of the Dead towards the pyramid, I was approached by many vendors trying to sell their wares. They are extremely persistent, so you may need to be a bit more forceful than a gracious, "No gracias."

The stairs to the pyramid were steep and the air thin due to the high altitude, so needless to say, I took my time getting up the steps. There is a railing to hold on to if needed. The climb was definitely worth it for the views of the site that can only be seen at the top.

After my descent, I decided to go take a peek into the museum on-site. The museum was informative and interesting, but after having spent a day at the Museo Nacional de Antropologia, I was a bit overloaded on historical information.

I had wanted to visit the pyramids at Teotihuacan, but traveling to the site is a bit difficult if you choose to go by yourself. As luck would have it, I stumbled upon a hotel, Hotel Estoril, that books tours for tourists. They had a one-day trip to the pyramids with a couple of other stops along the way. I paid my deposit and left, planning to embark on the tour the following day. The price of the tour was 330 pesos, which includes the price of tickets for the sites.

The following morning I was picked up by a van and brought to a holding area. This is where all of the tours meet up and are sorted into the correct group. At this point they asked for the rest of the money. There was a disagreement about how much the tour costs, and I ended up paying more for the tour than originally agreed upon. If you don't speak Spanish fluently, be ready for this type of occurrence. I decided to stop arguing and just enjoy the day as the difference was only $5US.

We met our tour guide and driver, Ramone, and set out. All of the tour guides are Spanish and English speaking. As we drove out of the city, Ramone would tell us historical tidbits about the statues and sites that we were passing. Our first major stop was at the la Basilica de Gaudaloupe, Mexico's religious center. For more information see my entry on Basilica de Gaudaloupe. Ramone then brought us to an obsidian factory where they demonstrate the use of indigenous plants for dyes and the art of obsidian sculpture by artisans on premises.

Beware before being herded into the store on site, as they will try and ply you with some liquor. They have samples of different tequilas, and then they will try and pressure you into buying a lot of their merchandise. I had the feeling of a stereotypical used car salesman when one of the sales women made her way over to me. You can end up spending a lot of money here if not careful. Most of the merchandise can be found in the city for less. The final stop is at the Teotihuacan. For more information, see my entry on Teotihuacan.

When the tour is over, you will be dropped back off at your accommodations.

I would recommend this tour as a means to get to the locations you want to visit, if you don't have a car. Otherwise, I would suggest just venturing out on your own.

This was the first true stop on the tour I took with Estur – Operadora Mexicana Highlights Tour Company (see separate tour entry). Guadaloupe is Mexico’s patron saint and as the story goes, she performed a miracle for a native man, Juan Diego, and emblazoned her image on the cloth that he was wearing. Ramone, our tour guide, first led us to the gift shop, where he explained the story of Juan Diego and Saint Gaudaloupe.

We then continued on to the central courtyard, where you can see the Old Basilica, the New Basilica, and other chapels. The New Basilica was built to replace the Old Basilica, which is sinking into the ground. The Old Basilica had just reopened after being closed for renovations, so we were lucky enough to get a peak inside. The New Basilica houses the cloak with Gaualoupe’s miracle. It is displayed behind the very ornate, huge pulpit. You can get a better look at the cloak by walking down a hall behind the pulpit that leads you one level down. There is a moving conveyer belt that you can stand on facing the cloak. Photography is allowed.

Behind the two Basilicas is a gorgeous garden that houses a statue of Juan Diego and the Saint Guadaloupe. There are many photo opportunities to be had here. This site is a fascinating stop for some of Mexico’s religious history and culture.

One of the things that everyone tells you to do when traveling to Mexico City is to catch the Ballet Foklorico. The Ballet Foklorico de Mexico performs twice a week at the famed Palacio de Bellas Artes. Buying tickets was a bit difficult to do from the United States. The tickets are sold on the Mexico Ticketmaster site, but in order to use a credit card, you need to have a Mexican billing address. So while in Mexico we walked to a local music store with a Ticketmaster booth and purchased our tickets for a Sunday night performance. If you want to pay with a credit card, make sure that you bring along your American Express card as that was the only foreign card that was accepted.

On Sunday evening, we entered the Palacio de Bellas Artes with its tiled floors and beautiful, ornate ceilings. Having purchased the least expensive tickets in the house, we kept walking up flights of stairs to reach our sky-high seats. When we finally reached our tier, we gave our tickets to the usher, who quickly made an offer to move our seats to the tier below ours for 100 pesos total (approximately $9US). Initially, we politely refused the offer and made our way to our seats, but while waiting for the performance to begin we realized just how high our seats were, and changed our minds. With the exchange of money we were moved to the front row of the tier below. My friend had been surprised by the usher's offer and said something of the sort. The usher responded by stating that this type of exchange was not at all unusual in Mexico.

The performances were a mix of pre-Hispanic and post-Hispanic dances. They are a flurry of vibrant color, music, and dance. The program included nine pieces with one intermission. Two of the dances that stand out in my memory are Fiesta de Tlacotalpan (Festivity in Tlacotalpan) and Danza del Venado (The Deer Dance). In the first, there are two wooden platforms on the front of the stage where different dances are performed for the "people of the village". This performance includes many different dances that are representative of characters and legends of Tlacotalpan. The Deer Dance invokes the ceremony of the hunt of the Yaqui people, an Aboriginal tribe that has resisted influences from other cultures. The agility of the dancer who portrays the deer is quite startling, and it's nearly impossible to take your eyes off him.

The final piece was a nice ending to the entire performance. It begins with Mariachis playing and includes many traditional and famous Mexican dances, including the Mexican Hat Dance. The end of the night is marked by the dancers throwing colored confetti streamers into the audience.

If you have kids, love dancing and music, or just want to experience a bit of Mexican culture, this is a performance not to be missed, despite the shows bit of touristy cheesiness.

One of the places I definitely wanted to visit while in Mexico City was Museo Frida Kahlo, the house where Frida Kahlo was born and later lived with Diego Rivera at. We arrived at the entrance of the museum and saw the bright blues and greens on the front wall. These colors are a good indication as to what one finds inside the walls of the grounds. You must check your bags before entering the grounds to the house. A 30 peso (approximately $3US) donation is "requested" for entry, as well.

The first few rooms of the museum are devoted to paintings by Kahlo, paintings that were owned by her, some letters she had written to Diego Rivera, pieces of her jewelry, and some of her clothing. After these rooms of art and artifacts, you enter the actual house that has been left as it had been in her life. The first floor houses a sitting room, bedroom, and kitchen. Each brightly colored room has paintings hanging on the walls, which conveys a vibrant, full of life feel. The kitchen also has a warm feeling to it with its high ceilings, pots and pans, and kitchen table and chairs in the center of the room.

Upstairs you will find her studio. The L-shaped room has much light from a wall of windows looking out on the courtyard. There are paints left in the room and unfinished paintings on easels. One wall is lined with book shelves with old copies of books by Stalin and many others. Around the corner is a bed decorated by Frida. Be careful not to lean too close to the bed--I had the misfortune of setting of one of the museum's alarms. However, if you do set off an alarm, don't feel too badly--while we were in the museum we must have heard it go off at least five times.

Stairs lead outside from the studio to a courtyard that houses many plants and sculptures. There are also bathrooms out here for those in need. We decided to sit on the grounds for a while, soaking up all the whole experience. There was a bench right in front of a tiered structure that had the look of an altar. We sat here and passed some time until the museum closed.

This is a wonderful place to visit if you are interested in Frida's life and art. However, if you are looking for a history lesson about this cultural icon, you will have a hard time finding it here.

There is no photography allowed on premises, but we did see some visitors sneaking photos in the courtyard. There is also a gift shop off of the courtyard, but it was closed when we were visiting.

On the way to Maximilian's Castillo from Museo Nacional de Antropologia, we walked through Bosque de Chapultepec (Chapultepec Park), which also houses a zoo and other museums. As we exited Museo Nacional de Antropologia, there was a crowd gathering near a thick, long pole jutting up from the ground. As I looked up I saw four men on a platform on the top of the pole. We sat with the crowd and watched as these four men, who turned out to be acrobats, started to descend from the top of the pole by means of a rope tied to each one. They were spinning and performing acrobatic feats as their descent continued. This performance apparently happens regularly and is worth the slight wait to catch one.

We continued our journey towards the Castillo and passed many food vendors and stalls selling trinkets. We stopped to buy some delicious, freshly cut fruit and bought a drink that consisted of soda in a ceramic cup with hot ground pepper in the bottom and lining the rim. I was not a huge fan of this drink, but when else can you try such a thing?

A street performer that we had stopped to watch decided to tease us. Luckily, my friend is fluent in Spanish and was able to converse with him for us. As we passed on, there were gorgeous views of boats sailing on a lake in the park.

Unfortunately, we didn't have a lot of time to spend roaming the park, which is enormous. But when in Mexico City, make time to come and roam for at least a little bit in this spectacular park.