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Published: December 26th 2011
After the brief stop in LA, when we arrived in Mexico DF it felt like the holiday proper had begun. It was a hot dusty ride through masses of traffic to reach our gorgeous B&B,
The Red Tree House . Greeted by Victor and introduced to our other "hosts" - Craig, Jorge (the two owners), Ernesto (the manager), and Alejandro, we quickly settled into our rooms and went off to explore a little of the city. As it was already nearly 4.00 pm we didn't venture too far away, to the Bosque de Chapultepec, about 20 minutes walk.
The Chapultepec is a massive park, providing the 'lungs' for Mexico City, and we were heading to the Castle, which sits on the outskirts of the park, where Craig had told us we could get a great view of the city. By the time we arrived the Castle had closed for the day, but we had fun exploring the park and a few of the walkways. Vendors line the main paths throughout the park and it was packed with people out enjoying the afternoon.
We wandered back through Condesa, which is the neighbourhood that we are staying in, famous for its bars and restaurants. Thinking
we shouldn't rely on second hand reviews we stopped at a bar to see if this reputation was warranted, and enjoyed a delicious mango margarita. Mmmm - very nice! Yes, Condesa's reputation is saved.
We headed back to The Red Tree House intending to get a small rest in our respective rooms before dinner, but were immediately invited in to join our hosts and other guests for some wine. Well it would be rude not to. It was such a lovely way to spend an evening and lovely to meet the other guests, all very interesting. The wine was complimentary and seemed to flow endlessly, in fact Craig saw my empty wine glass at one point and said, "I hope that's empty by choice, otherwise we'll have to fire Victor!". We then took one of their recommendations for dinner and headed to Lampuga, a lovely little seafood restaurant, a block or so away.
Next morning I enjoyed a decent sleep in, before meeting up with Lucy at breakfast. It was delicious - fresh fruit, croissant, cereal, and huevos rancheros - beans on tacos with a fried egg on top. I decided I needed to keep my strength up
so I didn't say no, and a good thing too, it was divine! Then it was off on the day's adventures, starting with the Metro.
We felt quite proud of ourselves, making it to the Zocalo very easily, but in reality the Metro is very easy to use. The Zocalo is the giant square at the heart of the city (Plaza de la Constitucion), surrounded by the Cathedral, the National Presidential Palace and various other official looking buildings. It's massive! And it was also packed with people - vendors selling everything and anything imaginable, and crammed full of people.
First up for us was the Catedral Metropolitana, which is the largest Cathedral in the Western Hemisphere. It took nearly 300 years to build, and includes a number of little chapels along the side, and ornate altars. My favourite is the Altar del Perdon, a huge gold altar just by the entrance way. About half way into the Cathedral I realised that I was walking uphill. I thought it was my imagination, but it turns out that the city is built on what was once a lake, and the Cathedral has been sinking for years. Right in the centre
they have suspended a pendulum to chart the progress of the tilt and record it on the floor. Apparently there has been extensive engineering underground to stablilise the building, which was reassuring to know. The long term plan is to get the Cathedral all to the same level again, but it's going to take a couple of hundred years as they have stopped the lowest part sinking and the highest part will eventually sink to meet up again. None of them will be around to defend their work, so we'll just have to take their word for it.
Next up was the Palacio Nacional, which takes up one entire side of the Zocalo. It's a very impressive building and was well worth the visit. Plus it was all free which was a pleasant surprise. In the main courtyard is a lovely fountain, and then just off that is the Staircase of the Empress, surrounded by some beautiful murals painted by Diego Rivera. It also included a tour of the presidential palace, which was really spectacular. We also checked out more murals by Diego Rivera at the Secretaria de Educacion Publica. He was commissioned in the 1920s to paint murals
at this public building, and there are more than 100 of them spread over three floors. It was incredible, because there was absolutely nobody there bar us and a cluster of cleaners. And again the entrance was free. Highly recommended if you are heading to Mexico and are interested in art.
We are getting into the local food as well, although a lot of the time I have no idea what I'm ordering. Tonight we went to a Taqueria and I ordered a gringa, fairly confident that this was not a female foreigner. It turned out to be a taco layered with various toppings - cheese, chicken, pineapple, coriander with a variety of salsas. It was absolutely delicious. For lunch we stopped at a hole in the wall place and had cheese quesadilla with salsa roja and something else - maybe chili? Whatever it was, simple but very flavoursome.
I am loving our little B&B, they are so friendly and helpful, plus I've some fascinating people who are other guests. It's a shame that we have to leave so soon. However, Cuba calls, so Habana here I come!
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