Mexico - The City
It's nice to have friends, who have friends (or relatives), who don't mind trying you in the role of friends who stay over. Especially for as long as a week. The Gombergs (kon_ka,gomberg, and little Masia) have returned from their ten month long sabbatical in Spain the same day we rolled into Mexico City, and in two days were already ready to receive guests! My hat is off to them. Also was my backpack and the rest of our stuff now washed and resting outside the cramped space of our packing-cubes.
If I didn't know better, I'd say Frida Kahlo to Mexico City is like Tango to Buenos Aires - it's everywhere. You cannot escape it. Our few first days in Mexico City that is all we saw. Even on our first night we managed to grab the twenty last minutes of her exhibition in the Fine Arts Museum, and, I bet, this is just as much as sereshka could handle of her work. His vacation time was ending, and in few days we waved goodbye as he went back to his life in Canada, and we continued to explore Mexico City. It was such a shame he couldn't stay longer! The Gombergs were not only ready to host, but to take us on the town. We spent day after day chasing Andrey down the streets, multitasking between snapping pictures and listening to his vast knowledge of architecture, politics, and economy.
It's all a big mess in my head now, but I will not be waiting till the dust settles (places to go, people to see, as you know) and try to at least jot down a photo report of the architecture, crafts, and food we've experienced in the past week. One particular segment should be really interesting as it is an excursion to a small local food market where we ate quesadilla with everything from Calabaza Flowers to Corn Mold. Yum.
Though full of skeletons and works of an artist who prefers to show her insides better then her outsides, Mexico city can hardly be called grim. It's all that Mexico is. It's its heart and soul - with colors and people that please the eye with their vibrancy. As any capital, it's not the safest of places, and we were told time after time how dangerous unlicensed cabs can be, but it still didn't stop us (together with our courteous local friends) to explore almost every interesting crevice of this city, still leaving loads to uncover on our next visit.
To all residents and visitors of Mexico City the Museum of Anthropology is a must! I've read about it in travel books and it didn't disappoint. Its only problem - it's enormous. The cultures and legends passing through this land seem endless and you just might need to move here in order to see and absorb it all.
Art of the past and the present. The one thing common in all of them - they're huge.
Walking around all day made Sergey hungry.
The Food Market!
I'll start with something not that surprising. In fact, to Israelis this is quite generic. This is the fruit of a cactus which is called Tuna in Spanish and Prickly Pear in English. It's sweet and watery, and has loads of tiny seeds that get stuck in your teeth. But what's even better is that they also eat that flat part these fruit sit on. Just cut and fry. The perfect ingredient for your next fajita!
Bet getting those can be a problem and sometimes end up looking something like this:
Chayote are distant relatives of Squash and Zucchini. Although they look "constipated", they are actually very good for you and cooking them, in a pan with some vegetable oil, takes minutes.
Calabaza Flowers are edible pumpkin flowers. Here we asked them to be put in a blue tortilla (blue - as it was made from corn of that color) and topped with string cheese.
From the unkosher menu - Chicharron. Fried pig skin. Chips anyone?
Huitlacoche is Corn Mold. The mold attacks the already enormous corn kernels and their size triples. Eating it is possible in a variety of ways but I don't recommend mixing it with Tequila, Mezcal, Vodka and Beer. I've made that experiment for the mankind the last time we were in Mexico City and ended up regretting it all night.
Mixiote look like they are wrapped in a simple plastic film, but the truth is much more appetizing - the film is all natural, peeled from the leaves of the Agave plant.
Making a blue tortilla.
Guacamole and its maker (who insisted on being in the picture since she just came back from the hair salon)
And for desert...
Mexicans love their chili powder! Even on their sweets! In the middle is candy that little Masia gobbled up with pleasure - A dipped in chili powder mango seed on a stick.
Top left with a rose are Marzipans
Bottom right with an angel - little bags of lime juice mixed with sugar and chili powder
I love crafts, and Mexico is the land of crafts. We are a perfect match.
First to the Museum of Folk Art, and then to market.
Just keep walking. In Mexico City you will always bump into something interesting.
I love the story of this cross. Nadya(kon_ka) has told us, that in the times of the Spanish missioners, the whole idea of a dead god was extremely amusing to the natives, and they all but laughed at the sight of those who pray to a god which due to its passed-on status cannot help or do anything for them. The missioners saw that, and keeping the big picture in mind sort off eliminated the whole Crucifixion issue from their campaign. Hence Jesus, the cross, but no nails or blood in sight. In my opinion, it looks more like a totem-pole.
In the courtyard of the above shown 16th century church where the cross was, we found this lovely fifteen-year-old taking pictures with an entourage of teenage boys with whom she was to dance on her birthday.
The poor girl looked so tired, and we are too. The elections in Oaxaca will be over soon, and then we will be moving further South and East to Yukatan. In the meantime there is still plenty to see around here.
*All pictures are links to different parts of the same gallery.
If I didn't know better, I'd say Frida Kahlo to Mexico City is like Tango to Buenos Aires - it's everywhere. You cannot escape it. Our few first days in Mexico City that is all we saw. Even on our first night we managed to grab the twenty last minutes of her exhibition in the Fine Arts Museum, and, I bet, this is just as much as sereshka could handle of her work. His vacation time was ending, and in few days we waved goodbye as he went back to his life in Canada, and we continued to explore Mexico City. It was such a shame he couldn't stay longer! The Gombergs were not only ready to host, but to take us on the town. We spent day after day chasing Andrey down the streets, multitasking between snapping pictures and listening to his vast knowledge of architecture, politics, and economy.
It's all a big mess in my head now, but I will not be waiting till the dust settles (places to go, people to see, as you know) and try to at least jot down a photo report of the architecture, crafts, and food we've experienced in the past week. One particular segment should be really interesting as it is an excursion to a small local food market where we ate quesadilla with everything from Calabaza Flowers to Corn Mold. Yum.
Though full of skeletons and works of an artist who prefers to show her insides better then her outsides, Mexico city can hardly be called grim. It's all that Mexico is. It's its heart and soul - with colors and people that please the eye with their vibrancy. As any capital, it's not the safest of places, and we were told time after time how dangerous unlicensed cabs can be, but it still didn't stop us (together with our courteous local friends) to explore almost every interesting crevice of this city, still leaving loads to uncover on our next visit.
To all residents and visitors of Mexico City the Museum of Anthropology is a must! I've read about it in travel books and it didn't disappoint. Its only problem - it's enormous. The cultures and legends passing through this land seem endless and you just might need to move here in order to see and absorb it all.
Art of the past and the present. The one thing common in all of them - they're huge.
Walking around all day made Sergey hungry.
The Food Market!
I'll start with something not that surprising. In fact, to Israelis this is quite generic. This is the fruit of a cactus which is called Tuna in Spanish and Prickly Pear in English. It's sweet and watery, and has loads of tiny seeds that get stuck in your teeth. But what's even better is that they also eat that flat part these fruit sit on. Just cut and fry. The perfect ingredient for your next fajita!
Bet getting those can be a problem and sometimes end up looking something like this:
Chayote are distant relatives of Squash and Zucchini. Although they look "constipated", they are actually very good for you and cooking them, in a pan with some vegetable oil, takes minutes.
Calabaza Flowers are edible pumpkin flowers. Here we asked them to be put in a blue tortilla (blue - as it was made from corn of that color) and topped with string cheese.
From the unkosher menu - Chicharron. Fried pig skin. Chips anyone?
Huitlacoche is Corn Mold. The mold attacks the already enormous corn kernels and their size triples. Eating it is possible in a variety of ways but I don't recommend mixing it with Tequila, Mezcal, Vodka and Beer. I've made that experiment for the mankind the last time we were in Mexico City and ended up regretting it all night.
Mixiote look like they are wrapped in a simple plastic film, but the truth is much more appetizing - the film is all natural, peeled from the leaves of the Agave plant.
Making a blue tortilla.
Guacamole and its maker (who insisted on being in the picture since she just came back from the hair salon)
And for desert...
Mexicans love their chili powder! Even on their sweets! In the middle is candy that little Masia gobbled up with pleasure - A dipped in chili powder mango seed on a stick.
Top left with a rose are Marzipans
Bottom right with an angel - little bags of lime juice mixed with sugar and chili powder
I love crafts, and Mexico is the land of crafts. We are a perfect match.
First to the Museum of Folk Art, and then to market.
Just keep walking. In Mexico City you will always bump into something interesting.
I love the story of this cross. Nadya(kon_ka) has told us, that in the times of the Spanish missioners, the whole idea of a dead god was extremely amusing to the natives, and they all but laughed at the sight of those who pray to a god which due to its passed-on status cannot help or do anything for them. The missioners saw that, and keeping the big picture in mind sort off eliminated the whole Crucifixion issue from their campaign. Hence Jesus, the cross, but no nails or blood in sight. In my opinion, it looks more like a totem-pole.
In the courtyard of the above shown 16th century church where the cross was, we found this lovely fifteen-year-old taking pictures with an entourage of teenage boys with whom she was to dance on her birthday.
The poor girl looked so tired, and we are too. The elections in Oaxaca will be over soon, and then we will be moving further South and East to Yukatan. In the meantime there is still plenty to see around here.
*All pictures are links to different parts of the same gallery.