The Palacio de Bellas Artes is a must see in Mexico city. Situated next to the Alameda park in the Centro, it is a beautiful building inside and out.
The second and third floors are ringed with huge murals, painted by the likes of Diego Rivera, David Siqueros, Rufino Tamayo and Jose Orosco.
If you visit on Sunday, access to the murals is free of charge.
One of the things we love about Mexico is the ubiquitous availability of fresh juice. It is truly wonderful to be able to have an inexpensive, freshly squeezed orange juice any time and place that you want.
But there is a world of juice out there beyond the simple orange. All flavors of fruit, alone or in combination, and vegetable juice as well. Pictured above is one of the more interesting combos - the Vampiro. It is a blend of (I think) beet, carrot, celery and orange. The reason for the name should be obvious from the picture. Not something I'd drink every day, but an interesting alternative.
This past Saturday, February 2nd was the celebration of Candelaria, which is the local name for the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple, which marks the end of the Epiphany season in the Roman Catholic Church.
Likely symbolizing the presentation of Jesus, one of the local traditions on Candelaria is the "Niño Diós". Dolls varying in size from very tiny to "life" sized are dressed up and carried in baskets to local churches.
We spent part of the day in the neighborhood of San Angel, and Niño Diós was *everywhere*. In the churches - Niño Diós. In the streets - Niño Diós. On the Metro, Niño Diós. At this time of year, there are rows of stalls in certain parts of the city that sell nothing but the clothes for the dolls. It's a pretty big deal.
The second tradition is to get together and eat tamales. The tamales are supposed to be brought by the person who, on a previous celebration on January 6th, received the special piece of the Rosca de Reyes cake with a little -you guessed it - Niño Diós inside.
Neither of us being on either side of a Tamal debt, we purchased a few from a local seller and enjoyed them for dinner.
While wandering around the center of Mexico City, we happened upon something we weren't expecting - the local "China Town". Not much to see, really - just a single block of one street dutifully decorated for Chinese New Year.
We did manage, however, to catch a dragon dance being performed down a side alley.
So, Happy Chinese New Year from here in Mexico City!
So, when is it ok to drink Corona? I'm not a huge fan of Mexican beers in general, and when selecting 0ne, Corona generally would not be my choice. But it is hard to argue with the Salón Corona, a place that has been serving up draft beer (which is extremely rare in Mexico) since 1928.
This place was a great recommendation from Good Food In Mexico City. They have a decent-sized room in the back, but both times we've gone we sat the bar in the small front area.
They have a nice selection of tacos de guisado (we particularly liked the mole verde). Our favorite food item, though, was the ceviche de pulpo. Large, perfectly textured chunks of octopus mixed with avocado and tomato. Piled up on a cracker and washed down with a caña (a 300ml glass) of cerveza clara - perfect.
Salón Corona
Bolívar, 24
Mexico City
Small review collage this month, as we haven't been cooking much in Mexico thus far (although the first picture in the collage is of a dish we made here).
We've been in Mexico City for a week now, and so far it has been a blur. A blur of fruits, vegetables, tacos, tamales, tortillas, calles, plazas, dogs, cars, and people - lots and lots of people.
Frenetic? Yes. Noisy? Very. Intimidating? Sure. Fantastic? Absolutely.
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