Tenochtitlan

Mexico
1/15/2010

Tenochtitlan, the old name for the city now know as Ciudad de Mexico. We woke up late this morning, spent some time with Bronson and then headed out into the city. The first thing i noticed was the extremely comfortable climate. It was about 74 in the sun and very crisp mountain air. I guess the city is extremely polluted, but to be honest with you, I almost couldn't tell. Our place is on the street, Insurgentes Sur, we headed a few blocks north and went into the Mercado Medellin. Much like many other markets we have traveled into, there were stacks with beautiful flowers, buckets filled with durazno(peach) branches with fresh blossoms, and other flower arrangements magnificently arranged at about 4 feet tall. further back in the market there are tons of fruit including my favorite Maracuja(passion fruit), and Cherimoya. We picked up some bananas, and then headed back to the house because we were overdressed. Now, after taking off my long underwear and down jacket, I really got to feel the nice comfortable air.
The subway here is dirt cheap. I want to say that they are cleaner and more comfortable then the subway in new york, but since i have not been there in some time, i think it may be unfair, but you get the point, they are very clean. Also, the subway station here is very nice, it is all marble floors, and sparkling clean. They also have mini domino's pizza stands where you can buy a personal pizza for MEX$17 or US$1.34, not bad. I bought a ball of tamarind pulp covered in chili powder and then doused in hot sauce. It was delicious, but my if you know anything about at least 2, if not all three of those last ingredients, you should know, that it is an all out assault on your mouth. We took Linea 9 to Chanbaco, and then transferred to Linea 2 and took that to Zocalo. Zocalo is the main center of town where the old Templo de Quetzalcoatl used to be. now there is a fantastic cathedral and a massive plaza doubling in size of the biggest we saw in South America. There is also a humongous Mexican flag in the middle, and placed against a blue sky, is absolutely beautiful.
We walked around the plaza, and headed down the way the turibus (open air tour bus) goes through this part of the city. During our trip we saw many beautiful building, a very crooked cathedral(it is sinking into the ground) and then the famous Parque Alamaeda. Inside the park we bought a small coin purse for a our money, and then head back to the main plaza. about 1/2 way back we stopped at a small restaurant like so may in Latin America, that poured out onto the sidewalk, tables umbrellas, chairs and food. On the other side of the street(a walking street) there was two kids playing music, one on saxophone, and one on bass guitar. we ordered cafe con leche, and started studying common phrases out of our Spanish dictionary. Pretty soon we ran out of coffee, and then 4 more musician joined the two kids, so we ordered some food. We shared the "Comida Corrida" loosely translated, "daily special" which consisted of three courses, vegetable soup, tortilla with lettuce and cheese, and then 3 enchiladas verde (with a green tomatillo sauce). Absolutely delicious. it also came with a tall glass of juice, and a coffee. The musicians really started to get going at this point, and it was fun because they were kid of goofing off and see what each other could play. there was now a xylophone played by two people, a guitar and some other percussion added to the mix. They were all smiling and laughing while they played, and it was quite amusing to watch them. about 1 1/2 hours later, and MEX$70 spent (about US$6, for all that coffee and food!?!) we let go of our table, and tarted walking around again. Even though this area seems to be very touristy, we were barely hassled and only saw about 4 or 5 groups of obvious tourists. In the shade it is starting to get cool, around 60, but in the sun it is nice. We head back to the main plaza, take a sit on the ground in front of the cathedral, under the giant flag, like so many other Mexicans around us, and warm up and make a plan. After a little we jump on the subway and head back to the couch surfing house. Getting back onto their side of town, we decide to pick up a bottle of wine and maybe some food to make for dinner. We somehow get lost in the block behind Insurgentes Sur, and find a street named Amsterdam, which is so unbelievable beautiful we can't believe our eyes. Calle Amsterdam is an old horse race track, but you would never guess that from the looks of it now. Similar to Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro, the street is loaded with tropical trees, standing 30 feet tall, and many vines and other tropical underbrush. Behind all this vegetation, you will see bright orange, start white and other colorful houses of Spanish architecture (flat roofs, stucco paint, and other very cool looking features). We eventually gave up looking for a grocery, and headed back to the house. Once back we got proper instructions, headed out got food wine, and even a kilo of delicious mandarins from a street vendor for US$1.
Back at the place we make up a delicious dinner of salad, macaroni and cheese, wine, bread, and good company. After all the food and drink is gone, all of our old couch surfing stories start to come out, from both parties. the clock ticks by the hours, and eventually Ahmed brings out his bottle of Cachaca (do you remember from the old Brasil posts?) and a glass of quartered key limes. The stories continue over the sugary rum-like spirit, while the general atmosphere starts to peter down to sleepiness(sueno). Another great day in the Ciudad De MExico! Tomorrow we hope to check out Spanish school and see more of the city!