Around town in DF

Chiles at the Condesa street market

Fresh squash blossoms; nopales and fungus in the background

more chiles

papayas

On the 27th, we walked around the Condesa street market, trying out various snacks and admiring the produce; then we all went to: the Bellas Artes Museo, where I had been early in the trip with Venus and her daughter; the Post Office; a walk through Chapultepec Park including the Botanical Garden; at the outlet I found a very nice bookstore/cafe. The Botanical Garden was nice and uncrowded but not unusual; the plants growing around the University and Teotihuacan were more interesting and unique, and impressive, to my eyes. I went to the Museo Antropologia, finally, but I was really too tired. It was . . . a museum. There was a courtyard with a square pond full, full, full of flatbacked turtles; lots of Aztec treasures, Toltec heads, and so on but I was just not up for it. We met at Tekla, a restaurant near Plaza de Madrid, which was very nice, and had squash blossoms, pozole, and other tasty treats. Qing was looking for the perfect souvenir, but didn't find it. I hope she had better luck later in the trip, maybe in Oaxaca. very nice bookstore/cafe.

Jacob and Qing outside Bellas Artes; where a popup fair had appeared.

 Mexico City is so huge, and has so many different characters, that it is impossible to know it in such a visit. Most of it I didn't even see from a train or bus. It is so full of all different kinds of people (but unlike other big cities, seemed to be almost all local people-- I did not spot an expat community or even many foreign tourists.) Many treelined streets and parks in the center where I mostly was, but also vast stretches of dusty, colorless and featureless squat apartments made of concrete, like any huge city. I found nothing but friendliness and helpfulness, but people were generally a bit more formal and reserved than other places I've been-- to the point of usually using the tu form. As ever, I wish I had ventured to some of the other, different places. It is always a balancing act in deciding whether to learn more about one place or cover more ground, more superficially. By the end, I was tired enough to just go back to my bnb and crash until leaving the next day. I was too tired even to manage speaking Spanish.

Lunchtime-- tacos and freshly-made juice