Today was a great day, we travelled by bus, two Ubers and by over 20,500 steps!
After a bit of a slow start this morning we took one of the very slick rapid transit, bus-only lane buses that had platforms in the middle of the road – very efficient. We had a little bit of trouble with the machine trying to get a transit card, but I find that is often par for the course in the first day in a new city.
It took around an hour by bus and foot to go to the San ángel area around the Bazar Sábado. “Sábado”means “Saturday” so this collection of artisans have their “stores” in this 18th century home/building, and it is only open on Saturday. There is a bit of everything – so many beautiful handmade artisanal items. Michelle returned to a sculptor whom she had seen two years ago, and always regretted not buying a piece from him. She found something beautiful to bring home this time from his shop. I bought a beautiful piece of clothing from twin sisters who design clothes and jewelry. Their names are Paulina and Malinali Fosado. Check them out on instagram: @paulina_malinali
The area around this Bazar was fantastic – so many artists who worked in different media! I was in heaven!
Michelle brought us to a great cafe for lunch called El Comal de mis amores which she had gone to before. Food was delicious, and there were incredible musicians playing traditional live music. Also noteworthy was a special coffee they served there called cafe de ollo. It was good Mexican coffee with a mixture of spices. I can’t believe it, but as a life-long coffee hater, I can honestly say that I actually liked it!
After briefly stopping at the apartment to drop off our purchases and change our clothes, our next stop was Chapultepec Park. Chapultepec (meaning Grasshopper Hill in the indigenous language of Nahuatl) Park is the oldest and largest urban Park in Latin America and one of the oldest urban parks in the world. It contains 9 museums, a variety of green recreational spaces, and a multitude of vendors selling snacks and souvenirs which give it a bit of a festival atmosphere – all year round. We checked out the vendors that were on the way to the Castle at the top of the hill.
One thing about Mexico City I have noticed is the sheer volume of snacks available. The vendors in this park were bringing their A-game when it came to snacks.
Another interesting phenomenon of this park is the Changuitos – monkey dolls complete with water squinting capacity that we saw many people wearing on their heads. They have monkeys wearing hats, wearing tiaras, wearing the Mexican wrestling masks, even monkeys wearing hats who are wearing tiny monkey dolls on top of their hats!
We looked up the symbolism of this tradition of wearing colourful monkeys on your heads, and found that there really isn’t any profound reason, it is just to have fun! While in the park- it adds to the festive vibe…
In spite of trying multiple times, we were not able to buy tickets to the ballet through ticketmaster, so we headed to the Castle to try and secure some tickets from the box office. Michelle had been to the castle recently, so Leslie-Anne and I went to try and get an hour-long tour of the castle. When we arrived , we found out there was a policy to let anyone in who wanted to see the castle for the last 45 minutes for free – the tours were finished for the day. In line we met a lovely family from Brazil, but we went our separate ways once we climbed the hill to maximize our time. We exchanged information as they are thinking of planning a trip to Canada.
The Castle was originally built in 1785 by Viceroy Bernardo de Gálvez of the Spain as a summer residence but he died just a year after construction started. This building has a long history, being used for many purposes over the years not limited to, but including a military training academy, another royal residence, the president’s residence, and now is the National Museum of History.
Leslie-Anne and I had to speed through the museum, but it was still worth going. I would love to go another time when I can really take it in. One hilarious fact is that the changuitos were not permitted to be worn in the Castle, but there was however a place to check them in while you were in the castle and pick them up as you were leaving. This just made me laugh so much…
Here are some highlights:
After our whirlwind tour, we met back up with Michelle, and found a spot in the park to have a low key picnic of a whole grain baguette, peanut butter, a red pepper and apples. When we were finished eating we headed back up the hill for the Folkloric Ballet of Mexico production on the Castle Grounds which was so SPECTACULAR, it merits its very own post. I am also exhausted so I will compose that post in the morning 🙂 I apologize for any run-on sentences or typos as I do not have the energy for proper proofreading tonight. Buenos Noches!