It was cool Christmas morning when we woke up. I think the temperature was around 60 or 65 degrees during the day most of the time we were in Mexico City, and short sleeves were okay for the most part, especially after the morning chill had worn off. We ate our breakfast of yogurt, fruit and some sweet bread-like rolls David found at a place which was still open the evening before. I think the rolls were called 'pan dulce' or sweet bread. I have an illustrated cookbook which shows similar rolls, so I will have to make them to see if they are similar. (As I post this journal, I have made these rolls, and they are pretty much identical to the ones we ate that Christmas morning in Mexico City.) The rolls were shaped somewhat like hamburger buns, but were coated with a striped cinnamon-sugar topping, or with a cocoa-sugar topping. Very good!
From the rooftop of our hotel you could see the 'round-a-bout' on Av. Insurgentes, and you can see smog-shrouded mountains in the background. Notice how very large Mexico City seems...millions of buildings all around...housing millions of people.
This view from our hotel rooftop shows where SW Av. Liverpool and Av. Chapultepec converge. The day was cloudy and there was plenty of smog, even though the traffic was pretty light. It was Christmas morning, 1990 in Mexico City.
After getting dressed, we walked to the Insurgentes metro station. It was just a few blocks from our hotel. On the way there, we found out where the beggars live. They had clothes hung out on bushes and benches in a park-like area right above the busy street - on an overpass. It is hard to figure out how street people conduct the basics of life, but at least it is relatively warm in Mexico City most of the time. We did have to watch where we stepped, as we noticed human excrement on the steps of the overpass, which must be as close to a bathroom as they can find living outside in a city.
We took the metro (it costs 300 pesos or about 10 cents), and found that it was nearly empty of people because of the holiday. Sometimes, I have read, there are so many people riding the metro that they have separate cars for women and children to ride in so they don't get crushed in the mob! Most travel guides I had read warned you to not to try to ride the metro during rush hours from 4 to 7 p.m. But, we found it quite comfortable on Christmas morning. The Insurgentes station is decorated with a lot of gold-colored marble and concrete walls and pillars covered with pre-Hispanic glyphs. It was quite beautiful, and like being in another world underground. Some stations have nice stores along the walk-ways - sort of an underground mall - really quite interesting for folks from Iowa...where there are no subways at all. When you enter the metro station, you go to a booth, purchase your tickets, and pass through turnstiles where you deposit your tickets. Then you simply wait on the proper platform for the train to arrive. (You've seen the television programs with similar settings in city subways here in the U.S.) The trains are usually only about five minutes apart. Each station has a chart of pictorial symbols indicating the various stations served by that line. You find the name of the station where you wish to go, look at the symbol, and note the number of stops between your departure area and your destination. As you whisk along, the name and symbol of each station comes into view as you approach the platform for that station. When your destination is reached, you elbow your way through the crowd and exit when the door opens. We made sure that if there were a lot of riders, we stood near the door, so as not to miss our station. You don't have a lot of time to disembark.
Here's our daughter beside one of the lovely stele sculptures in the subway station. I was impressed by the continual artistic reference to the country's native cultures in public places. The creativity of those early peoples is wonderful to behold.
We had decided to spend part of the day at Bosque de Chapultepec (Chapultepec Park). This huge, tree-filled park must be something like Central Park in New York. It has three lakes, a zoo, a modern art museum, several ampi-theatres used for various presentations, one or two restaurants, and a castle which was once home of Maximilian of Austria when he was emperor of Mexico in the 19th century. The park is surrounded by a tall wrought-iron fence, with lion statues guarding the gate. As you walk up the long sidewalk into the park, you are immediately impressed by a series of six white marble columns topped by eagle-like figures. The monument also has a fountain and a huge statue in the semi-circle formation bounded by the columns. This is the tribute to De los Ninos Heroes, or the boy heroes. The monument is situated at the base of Chapultepec Castle, which was at one time a military academy. The story is told that in 1847, when the U.S. Marines were storming Mexico City, six cadets at the academy wrapped themselves in Mexican flags and jumped from the castle to their deaths on the rocks below rather than give themselves up to the American invaders. At the conclusion of this war, Mexico lost about one-third of its territory to the United States. This war cost Mexico the area which is now Texas, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, and parts of Colorado. Various sources conflict on the exact area involved in this transfer, but the above is close. In any case, I felt uncomfortable standing there surrounded by so many Mexican people, and understanding the political and economic ramifications of that action.
Los Ninos Heroes monuments - commemorating the U.S. Marine attack on Mexico City.
David and our daughter, heading toward the six statues commemorating the lives of De los Ninos Heroes.
In Chapultepec Park on Christmas morning, people were already beginning to set up all kinds of stands along the streets into and within the park. Everything was for sale along the way - hats, cold drinks, fried squares of some kind of pastry which would be topped with lettuce, tomatoes, shredded root of some kind, and other condiments. Some stands sold slices of palm heart - an entire segment of palm tree trunk was peeled and stood upright, and slices were cut off and eaten fresh. Other vendors sold tacos, hot dogs, papayas, toys of all kinds, lots of mylar balloons, pinwheels, spinning noise-makers, and marionettes. One stand had baby food jars filled with pastel-colored liquids. We wondered if it was some kind of juice, until we saw some boys blowing bubbles with it, and realized it was home-made bubble soap! Many stands sold licuados (li-cwados), which are juices made from fresh fruits. These juices were displayed in huge glass jugs and were made from watermelon, strawberries, coconuts, and other delicious-looking concoctions. We were sorely tempted, but resisted because we did not want to drink local water (which was most likely the base for these drinks) and possibly become ill. Cholera was becoming a problem in Mexico, and one can see why with the insufficient sanitary sewage treatment for the large numbers of people emigrating into the city. I think the thing which impacted most on my normal life-style while on this vacation was the need to carry my own drinking water all the time. You can get very thirsty when you don't have a suitable beverage to drink.
Some stands had candies for sale. There were peeled oranges rolled in chili powder as well as some kind of dark mysterious goopy stuff served with limes.
One man attracted quite a crowd with a small snake he carried in a sack. He had a regular spiel, but of course - all in Spanish - so we couldn't translate fast enough to understand him. But, he drew a crowd as he allowed the snake to slither around on the ground - sometimes toward children, who squealed and backed away. He did some kind of bandana-folding, all the while talking a-mile-a-minute, and since it seemed he would go on and on, we decided to leave and continue exploring the park. Of course, he would have expected a donation from everyone who watched the performance.
'Snake performer' waiting for people to gather...
The man with the snake...
Lago Mayor in Chapultepec Park
The lakes had rowboats for hire, and ducks were everywhere. Kids in every country seem to enjoy feeding ducks! Children, especially little girls, were dressed in their nice clothes. Even the poorer children had bows in their hair and fancy dresses, though sometimes the dresses were too long and a bit shabby-looking.
Castle in the background at Chapultepec Park
Chapultepec Castle made more mysterious by smog...
There was an iron fence around the perimeter of the whole park, too.
As we walked along, we saw four older boys climb over the fence into the zoo which was closed for the holiday. One of them found a wheelbarrow, which he immediately began pushing - I suppose so that it would look like they worked there, and no one would kick them out.
Young children manned their own stalls or helped their parents sell their wares. We saw a boy about the age of our daughter pushing an ice-cream cart and ringing the bell to attract customers. There were lots of young couples in the park, walking arm in arm, or reclining on the grass, enjoying each other's company, and pretty much oblivious to other passers-by. Women were seen carrying their infants in their shawls tied across their backs. (Most children in Mexico seemed to be quite happy...very few were crying or acting rudely.)
There were horses and ponies for hire to ride - even wooden horses nearly full-size, and 'charro' (rodeo cowboy) outfits available to dress the children in so that they could have their photos taken riding a 'horse.'
Women carrying large trays and baskets of bolillos to be sold from a cart or other vendor.
We drank only bottled pop and ate our own candies, even though we would have enjoyed trying the unusual foods. But we wanted to be well for our entire trip, and it just isn't worth it to take chances when the time is so short!
The park contains a Museum of Modern Art and the lawn surrounding the building was filled with sculptures, but the fence around the area was locked and the museum was closed for the holiday.
We enjoyed watching the people as they had their day off, but after awhile we decided it was time to head back to the hotel.
A plaque commemorating the building of Line 1 of the Metro under the leadership of Presidente Constitucional C. Lic. Gustavo Diaz Ordaz, began in June of 1967 and completed in September of 1969
After riding the metro back to the Insurgentes exit, we headed back to the hotel, ate lunch in the cafe, and rested for awhile in our room. Our lunch was the 'comida corrida' (fixed-price lunch - often a buffet in Mexico City.) We had our choice of chicken in a red spicy sauce, spaghetti and sauce with cheese, potato patties, pork with sauce, 'bolillos' (bol-ee-yohs or rolls), rice with vegetables, salad (both fruit and tossed), milk and cake or flan. I passed on the salad and the flan, but David ate some of the fruit salad with no dire consequences. I am pretty sure that restaurants in that part of the city take particular care to serve food that has been washed and prepared with sterile water.
After resting for awhile, and looking at WGN and Cinemax on TV, we went out for supper. We found the Hotel Geneve (heh-neh-vah), where we had reservations for some of our time in Mexico City. It was located just around the corner and down a couple of blocks from the Century. The Geneve is a more traditional hotel and is older, and it has a more 'Mexican' flavor.
We ate supper at the Hotel Geneve cafe. It was quite a bit better than the Century, in my estimation, and less expensive as well. David had tortilla soup with chicken, and some ice cream with nice butter cookies. Our daughter had a ham and cheese sandwich - she was starting to really miss our usual menu. I wasn't very hungry, so I didn't order anything. I found that eating the big meal in the afternoon made me less hungry at night. I think I could adjust to that schedule quite well - and maybe lose some weight!
On our way back to the hotel, we admired some shops through the windows. When we got to our room, we all were ready for bed. Our bed was a king-size, so our daughter joined us as we watched 'My Left Foot' on Cinemax - in English. After the movie was over, she got into her bed (the hide-a-bed), and we all went to sleep and slept very well.
More to come...Christmas Day is over, and shops will be open...more to explore! Come back and find out what we did the rest of our stay in Mexico!
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