Today was our last day in Mexico City. We actually spent half of the day in Mexico City, before taking a bus, the Pullman Express, to Cuernavaca, where we met up with Tatiana and Rubén. We will spend the next few days with them.
But first things first. As usual, we got up at around 8am, and were out the door by 9am. We'd heard much about Chapultepec park, the largest urban park in the world, if I'm not mistaken. This seems fitting to me: the largest urban park, in the largest city in the world!
We'd had a quick breakfast at Ruth and Marty's, but as usual, we also wanted to go to a local restaurant for a "2nd breakfast", to check out more culinary delights of the city. So based on Marty's advice, we went to the Museum of Anthropology. Apparently the food's good there.
Upon our arrival at the Museum, I was immediately disappointed. Not only would we be unable to visit the main exhibits of the Museum - our time was limited, and we'd decided to spend the day at the park, we were all tired from so much walking around the past few days - but there was a special exhibit on Russian Tsars, that we were also going to miss. Based on a few promotional displays, I could see that the Russian exhibit would include a decent amount of religious art and icons, and I was disappointed to miss this.
Below is the Museo Nacional de Antropología.
But first things first. As usual, we got up at around 8am, and were out the door by 9am. We'd heard much about Chapultepec park, the largest urban park in the world, if I'm not mistaken. This seems fitting to me: the largest urban park, in the largest city in the world!
We'd had a quick breakfast at Ruth and Marty's, but as usual, we also wanted to go to a local restaurant for a "2nd breakfast", to check out more culinary delights of the city. So based on Marty's advice, we went to the Museum of Anthropology. Apparently the food's good there.
Upon our arrival at the Museum, I was immediately disappointed. Not only would we be unable to visit the main exhibits of the Museum - our time was limited, and we'd decided to spend the day at the park, we were all tired from so much walking around the past few days - but there was a special exhibit on Russian Tsars, that we were also going to miss. Based on a few promotional displays, I could see that the Russian exhibit would include a decent amount of religious art and icons, and I was disappointed to miss this.
Below is the Museo Nacional de Antropología.
This "waterfall" is behind the Museum, just to the side of the restaurant. Jennifer took this great picture.
The restaurant was outdoors, which was nice. We got to enjoy the fantastic combination of sun, coffee, and flowers.
I wasn't going to post this next picture, but Jennifer likes it, because of the contrast between the waitress on the left and the one on the right. Both were dressed in beautiful traditional Mexican outfits, but that doesn't really come out in the picture.
I was actually in a hurry to get out of the restaurant. There was a mall "nearby" (there's no such thing as geographical proximity in a city of 25+ million!) that I wanted to check out. Yes, I hadn't given up on hitting a Benetton store! But alas, my attempt failed again, the second time in a week. It turns out that the mall I was led to believe had a Benetton store didn't have one after all.
So 1.5 hours after my failed attempt, I returned to Chapultepec, to relax and take a few pictures.
So 1.5 hours after my failed attempt, I returned to Chapultepec, to relax and take a few pictures.
The best part of my day turned out to be a "hammock park", right in the middle of Chapultepec! I took full advantage, and parked myself in a hammock for about 45 minutes.
By around 2pm it was time to return to Ruth and Marty's, to say good bye to them and make our way towards the bust station.
Marty and Cub.
Sanjit and Jennifer, while waiting for a taxi to take us to the bus station.
The bus descent from the high altitude of Mexico City to the valley of Cuernavaca was short, about 1 hour and 15 minutes long. Once in Cuernavaca, Rubén picked us up at the bus station and took us right to their place, where Tatiana was already waiting for us. Our time of arrival was after 6pm. Unfortunately I didn't take pictures of their place.
After sitting around, catching up on our exciting stories, and eating some delicious tamales, we made our way to the restaurant La Tortuga Cucufata, where we ate a fantastic Mexican dinner. I had chicken tacos. It was my best dinner in Mexico yet.
After sitting around, catching up on our exciting stories, and eating some delicious tamales, we made our way to the restaurant La Tortuga Cucufata, where we ate a fantastic Mexican dinner. I had chicken tacos. It was my best dinner in Mexico yet.
Impression of the Day: Mexican food is yummy. After almost a week's stay here, I am "sold" on the food here. It is greasy and spicy, both of which take some adjusting to, but it's also very, very tasty. The tamales and the tacos I had today were excellent.
It's interesting that even though the food is greasy, meat-based, and restaurant portions are huge, the people here are generally speaking not overweight. According to Ruth, it's because people here are generally more active than in North America. I think when she says "active", she means that a typical day here is more physically demanding than what we're used to. For example, for a good percentage of the population, washing laundry here is a manual, physically engaging exercise, because not everyone has a washing machine. To use another example, public transit entails walking several blocks to the bus stop, or better yet, taking the Metro implies going up and down a plethora of stairs!
Of course, the hot weather plays its part too in helping sweat off all the food....
On that note, un tamale mas, por favor!
It's interesting that even though the food is greasy, meat-based, and restaurant portions are huge, the people here are generally speaking not overweight. According to Ruth, it's because people here are generally more active than in North America. I think when she says "active", she means that a typical day here is more physically demanding than what we're used to. For example, for a good percentage of the population, washing laundry here is a manual, physically engaging exercise, because not everyone has a washing machine. To use another example, public transit entails walking several blocks to the bus stop, or better yet, taking the Metro implies going up and down a plethora of stairs!
Of course, the hot weather plays its part too in helping sweat off all the food....
On that note, un tamale mas, por favor!
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