Thursday, 3 March 2022: Mexico City

 

Bill was on his way long before we were moving this morning.

I was ecstatic to learn that there was a Morimoto restaurant in our hotel.  We were set to go there for lunch but I was oh, so disappointed in the menu.  I love Japanese ramen, sushi, etc.  If, given the opportunity to go to a Morimoto restaurant, I wanted something that was transformed...something that was phenomenal and Japanese, not regular, good Japanese.  We had a seaweed, cucumber salad and then left.  

Justin had a hair brained idea that we should try LingLing again.  I thought the endeavor was fruitless, but we were on our way up the elevators to the 56th floor and sure enough, we got in!  We didn’t have reservations and I didn’t feel we were really dressed appropriately, but we were seated and sipping on a beverage within mere moments.  Our repast began with grilled avocado; next course was tuna tacos followed by duck fried rice.  Of course, our mille-layered chocolate cake with oozing chocolate ganache was scrumptious. 

We moved to our new hotel today.  This time we are in old centro of Mexico City and easily within walking distance of everything needed to keep us occupied for then next few days.  Unfortunately, we were on the noisy side of the hotel.  We were out all afternoon and most of the evening so we didn’t even know this was an issue until later in the evening.  We were trying to wind down and decided to escape for late night stroll. We will move tomorrow but for tonight we stumbled on Zinca for Latin Jazz. Great!  Interesting, original and damn good. Yanko, our server and part owner of the club, might just be my new best friend… He grew up in LA, was super personable and, as an added bonus, he introduced me to Sangingo. Not sangria and reminiscent of a clericot, this is my new favorite beverage. And did I mention that the Jazz was great?!?!

Wednesday, 2 March 2022: Mexico City

 Bill had his COVID Test this morning.  He was quite happy to have them come to his hotel room.  Yes, they were also testing in one of the conference rooms in the hotel.  

First on the agenda for today was the castle of Maximilian and Carlotta.  After a quick cab ride we had a lovely walk through Chapultepec Park to climb up to the castle.  Justin and I took way too long (again) and Bill was probably jumping out of his skin. We thought it was fabulous.

Second stop, the Bellas Artes Building.  The Art Deco building alone was fabulous.  Then you add the murals that were inside.  Wow!

Lunch at Sanborn’s.  We had some of the enchiladas suiza they are famous for inventing.  Delicious chicken enchiladas with a creamy and slightly green sauce.  Yummy!

A bit of a respite in our hotel and then off for drinks at the Ritz Carlton where we were treated to a fabulous view of the city.  We couldn’t get in to Lingling, a new Asian Fusion Cuisine hotspot on the 56th floor of the building.

Bill was bummed as he’d wanted to take us there for his last evening in the city.  Instead, we settled for tacos and they were great.

Tuesday, 1 March 2022: Mexico City

Today is Fat Tuesday for the Christian world.  Justin and I started our day with pineapple from a street vendor. Bill did not approve. “I don’t eat anything from the street.  No one I know eats anything from the street.”  It was sweet and delicious...running down my chin.

Several museums were closed because of COVID.  Thankfully, the anthropology museum was open.  We could have spent so much more time there, but I hit the wall.  Bill was disappointed that we didn’t even get to the Aztec portion of the museum because we spent too much time in the Maya wing.  We certainly enjoyed that time.  

    

    

Switzerland has taken a stand and changed their long-lasting stance of neutrality.  The Russian ruble has plummeted.  In an unspeakably risky move, three members of the Russian parliament have spoken out against Putin.  Finland, Sweden, Switzerland, and Germany are all sending arms to Ukraine. Escalation is scary.

Monday, 28 February 2022: Mexico City — The Big Enchillada

Today was go!  Justin and I had been talking about coming to Mexico City for years and today we were there.  With Bill as our tour guide, we were welcomed to the city after our flight out of Merida was delayed thankfully only 40 minutes.  

Easy check in ...early check in...at Hotel Camino Real in Palanco then off to explore. 

Bill had our entire stay planned out so first stop, Soumaya Museum.  The private collection boast to have works of art from 30 centuries including sculptures from Pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica.    It was quite an eclectic collection started by the wife of Carlos Slim.  As expected, I particularly enjoyed the Rodin's; the Dali’s made me wonder; and the Japanese pieces made me reminisce —fondly.

Loma Linda Restaurant —  At Bill’s recommendation Justin and I had a filet mignon but we also tried their grilled artichoke and Caesar salad.  Yummy!!!  Back to our hotel for a pit stop and then back out for more of this magnificent city.  We took the subway downtown.  Bill felt the need to explain how travel by subway works.  Justin and I tried to be patient while we recalled Tokyo, London, Seoul, Chicago, BART, and so many more.  We explored the downtown area.  Particular highlights were the Best Western Hotel all made of tile from the 1930’s, the Belles Artes Building, and the ....  and ...   there’s just too much to try to fit it in.  When we switch hotels this will be our hood so we were happy to call it a day.  

Two memories from the day ... not expected and maybe not welcomed... offer of a wheelchair ...is this the equivalent of being carded in a bar?

And, second, navigating stairs, uneven pavement, etc in the subway.  It wasn’t navigation to find my way, but a mobility question. Gone are the days of running down the stairs to catch a train in Shinjuku.  This was a wakeup call for me.  Plus, I needed to touch too many surfaces...handrails especially.  Thankfully I had hand sanitizer in my purse.  

What a great first day in the Big Enchilada!

Sunday, 27 February 2021: Hacienda Peón and Merida

The open last night on Saturday Night Live was a Ukrainian choir.  The whole world is taking a stance against the Russian aggression.  Trump still thinks Putin is a good guy.  Oh my!

Our outing today was to a hacienda where they once made henequen — Hacienda Sosuta dePeón.  It was a bit over an hour drive from our house.  

Built in the mid-nineteenth century, this hacienda began operating in 1858 and saw the hay-days of the “green gold”, henequen.  After maybe 100 years of prosperity, and 30 years of abandonment, the buildings and grounds have now been restored.  We were able to see the plants growing and the steps of the process to produce sisal in the traditional manner.  We were also able to visit a cenote but we didn’t choose to jump in.  We did visit the restaurant and were quite pleased with their take on traditional Maya foods. 

  

After checking in at the Hacienda Inn, chosen because of proximity to the airport and because Gemma wasn’t with us, I called Luis to turn in our rental car.  He came just as we were sitting down to dinner, oh well.  I handed over fistfuls of pesos with not much of a receipt coming back... sure do hope he’s honest.

Somewhere around 9:30, bill knocked on our door to let us know he couldn’t find his passport.  We looked through everything...twice.  Justin and Bill took a taxi back to Bill’s hotel in Merida thinking he might have left items there.  Finding no success, they came back to the hotel where I was trying to contact Abraham or Jona to look in Bill’s room at our house.  Abraham was home from Tetiz but he was a wreck, still dealing from his dads death.  

Jonathan sent a note ...he said Abraham was back in the house, he was already asleep, he was a little bit sad and a little bit drunk.  Jona went back to the house and found not only Bills passport but also a swim suit, a shirt and about $500.  Bill got a cab to go to Celestún. Yes, all the way back.  Better that he found out about it now, right?  He said the cab took about an hour and a half to get there and just over an hour to get back.  Admittedly, I was snoozing while he made this run.