I didn't sleep well tonight.
So I made a game (sort of) called "The Hunt". I was trying to hunt down all the mosquitoes in my room. There wasn't many, so it was a challenging activity.
It's all because I have my window open 24/7. It's hot during the day, so when the evening brings some fresh chilly weather, all I want is to freshen my room.
But then I have to fight the mosquitoes. Imagine me standing on a bed in the middle of the night with a towel in my hand. There's a "zzzzz....ZZ!" by my ear and I swing the towel!! Miss. I'm trying to spot that lonely enemy of mine so I'm really focused. I see it. But it's on the ceiling, which is way higher than I can reach (it's lovely to have high ceiling in the old house, by the way). And then IT disappears in the darkness.... zzzzz.....
Boy, that's annoying.
So I couldn't sleep. So I played a hunter. So I gave up. So I have mosquito bites on my hands now. So it itches.
I need to gain some patience. Or to gain a power of ignoring itchiness.
So far it's 1:0. Mosquitoes won.
Friday, October 5, 2012
Day 21: Breakfast
As I was at the market on Sunday, I've got some amazing fruit salad for breakfast. It contains guava, tuna (cactus fruit), mini banana ("platano Dominicano"), pomegranates and strawberries (just because I love them so much and it's not the season in Europe). I eat it with so much joy and I remember how the vendor asked me "do you want apples? Or plums?"
Ha!! I've got those at home. I want some Mexican fruit salad.
And you know what? They're absolutely fantastic! :)
Ha!! I've got those at home. I want some Mexican fruit salad.
And you know what? They're absolutely fantastic! :)
Day 20: Food tour
So my great food tour didn't stop at tacos. I was taken to the best ice cream place for dessert.
Run to Avenida Mazatlan 80 in Condesa for some great ice cream. The place is called Roxy and was opened in 1946, and I really think it hasn't changed since. Well, maybe it was renovated around 1960s, but that's it.
Don't be an idiot and do not try strawberry, mango or apple ice cream. You can get those anywhere in the world. Go for something Mexican. That includes Mamey (I had this one), guayaba, guanabana (anona), chico zapote (tastes like pear) or zapote negro (sweeter and darker than chico zapote). If you can't choose (like I couldn't), you may ask for a try an they are very happy to help you with that.
Plus, lots of ice cream has a fruit-only and milky-fruit possibilities, so just give it a try. And come back again for some more!! I know I will.
And it's not just about the taste of ice cream (which is completely super duper absolutely fantastic), but it's also the spirit of the place. They still use vintage ice cream tools and windowless in-table refrigerators. So go go go!!! Or be a little jealous for me : )
Run to Avenida Mazatlan 80 in Condesa for some great ice cream. The place is called Roxy and was opened in 1946, and I really think it hasn't changed since. Well, maybe it was renovated around 1960s, but that's it.
Don't be an idiot and do not try strawberry, mango or apple ice cream. You can get those anywhere in the world. Go for something Mexican. That includes Mamey (I had this one), guayaba, guanabana (anona), chico zapote (tastes like pear) or zapote negro (sweeter and darker than chico zapote). If you can't choose (like I couldn't), you may ask for a try an they are very happy to help you with that.
Plus, lots of ice cream has a fruit-only and milky-fruit possibilities, so just give it a try. And come back again for some more!! I know I will.
 |
| Pictures are form various websites, because I don't always (or rarely) have my camera with me. Sorry for that. |
And it's not just about the taste of ice cream (which is completely super duper absolutely fantastic), but it's also the spirit of the place. They still use vintage ice cream tools and windowless in-table refrigerators. So go go go!!! Or be a little jealous for me : )
Day 20: Praise the Tacos!!
Finally I've had nice Mexican food. My constant complaining about not having nice food reached the ears of my co-worker and he took me out for some amazing treats.
Although the "cafe" looked just like other ones, it had the best Tacos... I could say in a city, but I'm not so sure. Anyway, they were AMAZING. I've had Shepard Volcano taco ("Volcan de Pastor" - pork with cheese and pineapple), Alambre de pollo (Grilled: green paprika + onions + chicken) and a classic Shepard ("Pastor" - meat + onions + some kind of green grass). And, of course, it was all topped with lime juice (as it always is here in Mexico).
So if you want to have these great tacos, you should:
1. Fly to Mexico city
2. Come to the corner of Baja California and Monterrey in Condesa
3. Enjoy, cos it's simply great
And you know what? This great place I told you about is called "Los Parados" and apparently there are 3 places called like that in Mexico city. But the other two are... let's use the word "bad". So you must go to this one.
The sad thing about Mexican food is that it's really hard to know which place makes nice food and which one is just worthless. Because they all look the same. You just have to have some trustworthy Mexican friends.
Although the "cafe" looked just like other ones, it had the best Tacos... I could say in a city, but I'm not so sure. Anyway, they were AMAZING. I've had Shepard Volcano taco ("Volcan de Pastor" - pork with cheese and pineapple), Alambre de pollo (Grilled: green paprika + onions + chicken) and a classic Shepard ("Pastor" - meat + onions + some kind of green grass). And, of course, it was all topped with lime juice (as it always is here in Mexico).
So if you want to have these great tacos, you should:
1. Fly to Mexico city
2. Come to the corner of Baja California and Monterrey in Condesa
3. Enjoy, cos it's simply great
And you know what? This great place I told you about is called "Los Parados" and apparently there are 3 places called like that in Mexico city. But the other two are... let's use the word "bad". So you must go to this one.
The sad thing about Mexican food is that it's really hard to know which place makes nice food and which one is just worthless. Because they all look the same. You just have to have some trustworthy Mexican friends.
Day 19: Nopal
I had a cactus fr lunch. It's very much liked by (half of) Mexicans. You either love it or you hate it. Nopal (cooked paddle cactus) is quite slimy so not everyone likes it.
I really liked the first few bites. But not so much the rest of a stake-sized-catus-thing. And other foreigners told me their experience was the same.
I think Nopal would be great as a one-bite-sandwitch, but as a steak it was just too much.
But it is worth a try, because it definitely doesn't "taste like chicken". Nopal's taste is incomparable, so if you happen to have an opportunity to try it, you definitely should.
I really liked the first few bites. But not so much the rest of a stake-sized-catus-thing. And other foreigners told me their experience was the same.
I think Nopal would be great as a one-bite-sandwitch, but as a steak it was just too much.
But it is worth a try, because it definitely doesn't "taste like chicken". Nopal's taste is incomparable, so if you happen to have an opportunity to try it, you definitely should.
Day 18: Failure
On Sundays museums are free to enter here in Mexico. So me and my house mate decided to visit Castillo de Chapultepec. It's more like a palace than a castle (as the name suggests), but that's not that important. The palace (castle?) is on the Chapultepec hill in Chapultepec park in Mexico city. And the metro station is also called Chapultepec, so you shouldn't be lost if you decide to go there.
The park looked really nice at the first glance, but we were more interested in visiting the palace, so we went straight for it. And, of course, we only found THIS out when we went through the security (had to get rid of all our water) and climbed the hill. And THIS is that we have to pay for the entrance. That's because we don't have a Mexican ID. I mean, it's not expensive - just $5, but there was so many people that we decided that if we have to pay, we'd better come back the other Saturday, when it's for money (to all) and there's less people. So me and my house mate went happily downhill with an idea of seeing the park, which I just found out is the largest city park in Latin America.
Well, we were walking fr just a few minutes when the storm broke. So fr the next 40-ish minutes we were hiding from thunder and lightning under the roof of a walk-pass-well-timed-shelter. And after the storm everything was wet and it was still "raining" off the trees, so the best decision we had was to go home.
Anyway, we plan to come back there and I hope it's gonna work out much better.
The park looked really nice at the first glance, but we were more interested in visiting the palace, so we went straight for it. And, of course, we only found THIS out when we went through the security (had to get rid of all our water) and climbed the hill. And THIS is that we have to pay for the entrance. That's because we don't have a Mexican ID. I mean, it's not expensive - just $5, but there was so many people that we decided that if we have to pay, we'd better come back the other Saturday, when it's for money (to all) and there's less people. So me and my house mate went happily downhill with an idea of seeing the park, which I just found out is the largest city park in Latin America.
Well, we were walking fr just a few minutes when the storm broke. So fr the next 40-ish minutes we were hiding from thunder and lightning under the roof of a walk-pass-well-timed-shelter. And after the storm everything was wet and it was still "raining" off the trees, so the best decision we had was to go home.
Anyway, we plan to come back there and I hope it's gonna work out much better.
Day 17: Post
Yes, Saturday was a busy day.
I went to the Central Post Office, because I've heard it was extremely beautiful and I wasn't fooled.
It looks amazing!! The Post Office was built in 1766 and it is still open. I thought I just must send a post card from there, but while I was writing it, the postmark window closed, so I have to come back some other day. It might take another week for me to find time to go there, but it will be worth it. It's just so beautiful.
I went to the Central Post Office, because I've heard it was extremely beautiful and I wasn't fooled.
It looks amazing!! The Post Office was built in 1766 and it is still open. I thought I just must send a post card from there, but while I was writing it, the postmark window closed, so I have to come back some other day. It might take another week for me to find time to go there, but it will be worth it. It's just so beautiful.
Day 17: El Sombrero
One of the stalls in the Mercado de la Ciudadela was a hat stand. I really wanted to get a Mexican hat. Not the really big one and shiny, but just a very nice one. And it worked. The hats-only stand is right on your left, just as you enter the market. A very nice man is running it. I think I've spent there about 40 minutes, choosing the best hat. He has leather ones, palm-weaved ones and velvet ones too. And so many different types of hats! Basically, all hats are called "sombrero", because it literally means "hat", so if you're thinking about a Marriachi's hat - it's "Sombrero de Charro" - a bullfighter's hat. Or a "Sombrero de Charra" if it's for a woman. I've tried the Sombrero de Charra on and, oh boy, was that heavy! I think it weights a kilogram or so. So it takes time to get used to it. I've got myself an amazing Sombrero Borsalino for (as I've wrote before) only $10.
A great deal for a great look!
And the man had a few extra moves to make the hat nice to wear: he softened the crown by hand and bent the inside for more comfortability.
Day 17: The craft
Another great thing in Mercado de la Ciudadela - lots of the crafts are actually made in the
market. So you can see the making of it all. And in the back of the
market there are quite a number of small workshops. I took out my camera to
make a photo, so a man invited me inside to see how guitars are made.
Fantastic! I've never seen that before. It's just lots of accurate
handwork and some nice Mexican music in the background.
And in another shop-workshop one man was making a guitar while another one was testing a freshly made one. It's simply wonderful...
Day 17: Craft market
I've planned to go to the market of Coyoacan for some nice Mexican stuff, but my landlady told me a much nicer and cheaper market is Mercado de la Ciudadela. So I went there. And it was a great choice.
All Mexican crafts are there - from jewellery to textiles to toys and musical instruments. And it's all really cheap. For example, a leather belt cost me 12 Eur and a hand-made shirt - only 6 Eur.
I've also got a suede hat that's gonna last me 10 years for only 7.82 Eur!! (10 USD)
It's really a great place to see things and people are very nice. And there's not so many people, so it was a really interesting and relaxing Saturday. Have in mind, that although the market is open from "early morning", when I went there at 11.00 some stalls were not open yet. So the best time would be to be there at 12h.
All Mexican crafts are there - from jewellery to textiles to toys and musical instruments. And it's all really cheap. For example, a leather belt cost me 12 Eur and a hand-made shirt - only 6 Eur.
I've also got a suede hat that's gonna last me 10 years for only 7.82 Eur!! (10 USD)
It's really a great place to see things and people are very nice. And there's not so many people, so it was a really interesting and relaxing Saturday. Have in mind, that although the market is open from "early morning", when I went there at 11.00 some stalls were not open yet. So the best time would be to be there at 12h.
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