I said I wasn’t going to but but, just in my first few days here in Mexico City, I’ve seen so many interesting things that I want to share with you in case you’re interested.

I said I wasn’t going to but but, just in my first few days here in Mexico City, I’ve seen so many interesting things that I want to share with you in case you’re interested.

First impression upon coming out of the airport: it’s warm!! And the usual video game-like taxi ride through the clogged streets to Anys B&B where I was met by Alfonso, the owner and very gracious host. Parked my belongings and off for my first Mexican meal at a place recommended by Alfonso where I had tacos de Cochinita pibil, (puerco pibil or cochinita con achiote) a traditional slow roasted pork dish from the Yucatan Peninsula of Mayan origin, with a beer. Muy Rico!

My intention in coming to Mexico City (DF, short for Distrito Federal) this year was to use bicycle transportation as well as the metro, either rent a bike or use the EcoBici system. I even went so far as to bring my helmet. Learning that the public system was opened up to non-residents, I resolved to get a pass. As it turned out, Alfonso insisted that I use his pass so, on my first day here I tried it out and found it to be absolutely marvelous. It’s been greatly expanded and there are stations every couple of blocks within a wide radius around the Centro. A bike is yours for 45 minutes so it is meant to accommodate short term use, and it’s great for that. I used one to go to the local Mercado (public market) to buy veggies and it was very slick. There’s a station a block from Anys and another a block from the mercado.

Later I grabbed a bike to go and get wine at an upscale liquor store where I had one of those lovely encounters with Mexican generosity. The guy in line ahead of me noticed that I had a bottle of Mexican wine and asked if I liked Mexican wine. I said I didn’t know, I hadn’t had any. So he said there was a wine I just had to try and dragged me over to the shelf where it was. It was very pricy and I declined so he bought it for me, a $25 bottle! And he wasn’t gay or anything.

That was Wednesday. Yesterday I headed in to the Centro to browse museums. I used the metro (subway) for the first leg to a museum that supposedly had a photo display but the surly guard said there were no exhibits. So I went in search of the Diego Rivera mural museum. I could see there was a trolley bus line that went in that direction but hadn’t ridden one before. It looked simple enough but when I put my money in, nothing happened. It spit my money out. A man noticed my consternation and told me that you needed a card to use the system and he went ahead and used his card for me. More Mexican graciousness. And more again with my seat mate who I asked which stop I should take and engaged me in a conversation and shook my hand and wished me well.

This Diego mural museum has only one mural but it’s one of his most famous, Dream of a Sunday Afternoon on the Alameda. Almost all of the characters depicted have some historical significance in Mexican history.

Then to the Palacio de Iturbide where there was an exhibit of the National Geographic’s best 50 photos, not too Mexican but predictably great photos, and a show by a contemporary artist. Some strange stuff as you can see

Next a photography exhibit of a Mexican photographer, Neyes. Nice small street scenes and portraits in black and white from the 50s.

Time for a a coffee and a rest at a rooftop cafe on top of the library overlooking the Aztec ruins. Fortified, I braved the streets on a bike for the trip home. An exciting ride.

Yesterday a trip to Coyoacan for the yearly tamale festival. Coyoacan is a nice sort of upscale old neighborhood a fair ways south, the stomping grounds of Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo and Leon Trotsky.

Getting off the metro, I walked through the Viveros de Coyoacan, a huge urban park, a lovely oasis in this megalopolis.

Then through residential neighbourhoods into the heart of Coyoacan. There were huge tents set up in the plaza and after resting on a park bench for a bit I went to check out what they were about. Inside were probably 100 tamale vendors from all over South America with every imaginable spin on the tamale. For those uniniated, a tamale is corn dough with a filling steamed for a long time in corn husks or sometimes, banana leaves.

Fillings are numerous: beans, chicken, mole, cheese, chiles, pork, etc, etc. Along with the tamales most vendors also sold atole, a rice beverage, not to my taste, but with the drink you get the nice ceramic mug it comes in. I decided on one stall after wandering the aisles for some time and had what turned out to be a very good tamale verde in banana leaf with several toppings.

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And, of course, many of the Oaxacan stands also sold chapulines, fried grasshoppers, a specialty of that region.

From there to the Museo National de Art Populares, a folk art museum I visited last year. It features what can be termed folk art and this time there was an exhibit called Nacimiento. These were biblical scenes using small, carved figures, each display depicting a particular story, e.g. Adam and Eve being driven from Eden, Noah’s Ark, etc. Kind of bizarre, arte naïf.

Also at that museum was the actual formal tamale festival, I discovered, with more vendors. But I’d had my fill and was saving room for what are reputed to be the best tostadas around. Tostadas are a fried tortilla with toppings. So after doing my veggie shopping, I stopped for one at a stand in the big mercado in the neighbourhood. I had a ceviche one and it was indeed delicioso.

That’s it for now. Stay tuned.