Month: April 2016 (Page 1 of 2)

I knew it was a huge city but flying into this place makes you gasp at how enormous it really is. Circled by mountains, you fly over a huge valley that is just one entire city. With estimates that the city has about 21.2 million people, it is the largest metropolitan area in the western hemisphere. It was built on a lake and in the original Aztec times it was known as Tenochitlan. There are large ruins on the outskirts but also a more recently uncovered temple right next to the main cathedral in the zocalo. There is even an Aztec ruin in one of the metro stops that’s kind of neat to see. The name is in mid confusion right now with a change from the in-country name of DF (Distrito Federal) to the new acronym CDMX: Ciudad de México.

We arrived late at night but had pre-booked a large suburban taxi to take us to Coyoacan where we had booked cute two-bedroom apartment. This ended up being near the university and over looking a lovely little park. Sometimes you hit it just right with booking lodging and other times not. As I reclined on the purple chaise longue overlooking a park with a library of academic books around me, I thought this was a good one!

Coyoacan is one of DF’s 16 boroughs and was a separate village until early 1900s when the main city grew into it. Now it’s just one of the many areas but it still has a smaller charm to it with cobblestone streets and colonial buildings. It has a sweet town square with all kinds of restaurants surrounding it. Great coffee and pan/bread so it makes a good spot to people watch from. There were also loads of market stalls that popped up at the weekend but since we were there for Easter, I’m not sure if that is every weekend.

Getting around DF is no problem when you use the Metro. Really easy (one ticket costing 5 pesos (28 cents US) got you across the city. Taxis were about 200 pesos ($11) and Uber cost us a third of that – both for about a 30-minute drive. Since it’s so nice and cool there we did a lot of walking combined with Metro as that’s just more fun. We even found China town and ate bao (not that good sadly).

One day we reserved for the big Museum of Anthropology. It was very good and we sure learned a lot but some reviews said reserve a day or two – 3 to 4 hours did us just fine though. Perhaps this was because we had visited the wonderful new Mayan museum in Merida a few weeks prior. It was neat to learn more about the cultures and places we had already been to and I think that made the kids more engaged in learning – doing the museum after the real places.

We also found the Trotsky museum/house which was interesting. One thing that intrigued me was the picture of John Dewey at the house and so I had to research their link. Turns out he was the chair of the “The Commission of Inquiry into the Charges Made against Leon Trotsky in the Moscow Trials,” and travelled to Mexico to head this inquiry. I was possibly the only one interested in this but it’s that educator side of me!

http://www.publicseminar.org/2014/03/john-deweys-encounter-with-leon-trotsky/#.VvVHQGQrLL8

It’s hard to stop sharing pictures of Oaxaca because it was so colourful and vibrant.

Roof top dining

Mitla and markets. New built on top of old and yet “new” is still quite old!

Just outside of the city is what was the capital of the Zapotec civilization from 500 BC – Monte Alban. This was our favorite ruin to visit and was huge with incredible views all around. Not sure pictures do this justice but it was so quiet getting there in the morning with this amazing view. The air is crisp and clean and it was so quiet. Very easy to just sit and ponder history.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monte_Alb%C3%A1n

We also went to Mitla, which is another ruin about an hour away. Nice and located within a very traditional town. Glad we had a car and were heading that way because I don’t think paying for a tour just to see it would have been worth it; although there were some cool tombs to climb into. Stopping at Arbol Del Tule was a good addition when going that way. This is a huge and old tree reported to be anywhere from 1200 to 3000 years old.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%81rbol_del_Tule

The markets were amazing as well. We went to a couple of huge ones and found just about everything for sale including live animals. It was funny to see tiny old ladies in traditional dress wandering around with a shopping bag and a chicken or turkey tucked in with it’s head out (live for now). Great food and very friendly people.

The small towns surrounding the main city are each known for varying handicrafts. One for green pottery, another for black and others for carpet weaving or tapestry and clothing. We went to Teotitlan del Valle a couple of times and had a demonstration of how they gather the wool, card it, dye it and then weave it into carpets. The dying process was all natural using little bugs from cacti and plants.

We also went to a famous restaurant there called Tlamanalli. Run by three sisters who cook traditional Zapotecan food. It was “interesting” to eat. Not sure I’d race back but a lovely building!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teotitl%C3%A1n_del_Valle

The offerings in food within the main city though were very good. Throw out all you think you know about Mexican food as this is nothing like Tex-Mex in the US. We liked the tlayudas (bit like a big pizza) and the grilled meats hall in the markets.

Jicama, water melon, mango, and oranges are all available from the many street vendors selling bags as are grasshoppers – chapulines. Funny watching my kids play cards and snack away on a bag of these. Small ones are crunchiest and larger – well chewy! These are sold all over the place and on many menus so not just for tourist shock. They also grind up agave worms and mix it with chili which is served with mexcal. We tried it but can’t say have embraced it.

One thing we did embrace was the hot chocolate with milk or water coupled with a soft bun to dip is absolutely the best. I want some NOW. It’s drunk for breakfast or dinner but we broke tradition and had it whenever we could.

This site has the best pictures and descriptions of foods there. Really worth browsing:

From Tlayudas to Tamales (Eating Our Way Around Oaxaca)

We decided to spend a few weeks in Oaxaca City (pronounced wa-hah-kah), capital of the same-named state as it’s renowned for it’s food and art. It’s about 300 miles south of Mexico City and quite high up – about 5500 feet. The mountains surrounding it and bright blue skies, low humidity and warm days/cool nights reminded me of southern California. This is another city that is heavily populated with indigenous peoples (about 50%) and the mix of traditional clothing and foods is lovely.

The town is very colonial with the main zocalo (main square) and big cathedral. Buildings are form the 16^th Century and sport many bright colors. Walking is easy around the city but can get busy in the zocalo areas. Everywhere you turn in Oaxaca is colorful from art museums to street art and music plays everywhere. We saw multiple wedding processions with huge puppets and bands playing. Dancers with baskets on their heads encourage everyone to join in.

There were free ballet folklorico shows going on in outside temporary settings as well as other free dance shows in the multiple theatres around the city. It really is rich in culture.

Dancing and music and churches!

Colonial Buildings and Color and even Mayan breastfeeding art!

Merida turned out to be one of our favorite places in the southern area. It’s the capital city of the Yucatan and founded in 1542. It is about 60% Mayan and a big mix of cultures. We stayed in this amazing colonial house turned into a hotel. It was a little shabby and the bathroom perhaps Victorian in age but the ceilings and décor sure made up for it.

We were just around the corner from the wonderful theater and we got to see the symphony play one day.

There are loads of museums and city squares loaded with outdoor restaurants. Perfect places to spend the afternoon people watching and evenings dining slowly.

There is also a huge new Mayan museum in the more suburban north side of the city. It’s an impressive building and houses fantastic exhibits about the region including dinosaurs as it was apparently built on the site scientists estimate the meteor hit and wiped things out then. Much of the information is in Spanish but it’s easy to get the main ideas of things just by looking at the wonderful exhibits.

And in the main city there are weekly classical dance shows (every Thursday for the last 50 years or so) and even Mayan ball games set up. Music is always happening and we got to see a big police band playing on the main square. If you are to look closely behind the Mayan ball players there is a familiar face — Jake photo bombing!

This is a great city to just wander in and take in the architecture.

This city is fascinating place. All the downtown buildings for quite a long way are painted yellow. There is a huge cathedral/monastery in the main square that has an atrium second in size to the Vatican. Throughout the town there are multiple Mayan ruins just blended into the regular streets and easy to wander into. As with many of the other churches and cathedrals in the area, the huge main cathedral and downtown houses were actually built with stones from the Mayan ruins the Spanish knocked down.

http://www.tourbymexico.com/yucatan/izamal/izamal.htm

Touring the town by horse and carriage was our favorite transportation. Yes the horses wear sombreros.

I love windows and doors in Mexico. Details are important and they always seem to capture a more magical element than modern fibre glass inserts do!