the heart of mexico city
(i'm going to back post a lot of things, because my life has been a bit hectic these last few weeks and then i was away on vacation (complete disconnect....no cell phones, no computers, nuffin), so i have all this stuff backlogged in my brain and haven't posted it. the date you'll see is an approximation of when this happened...i can't remember the exact one.)
the heart of mexico city:
jerry and i went venturing into the zócalo early on a saturday in august (and by early i mean 8 a.m., much to jerry's frustration...but i digress) desperately wanting to see the frida kahlo exhibit at bellas artes, but not desperately enough to wait in a five hour, round the block line to get in. you wouldn't believe that there were that many people so keen on getting into a museum, but i was proven wrong as evidenced by the line that was still there at 6 p.m.
in light of the eternal line, we opted to trade the museum for a delicious breakfast at the sanborn's azulejos (one of the oldest and most beautiful buildings in the city center) and though now it's become a glorified cafeteria, it is still a spectacular space with murals by orozco and a central patio (now covered) that is gorgeous. taking advantage of the fact that we were nearby, i suggested we take a look at the museo de arte popular (MAP) as i've heard so many great things about it. the museum's cheerleaders are not wrong.
the MAP is my new favorite museum for all things mexican. it is a repository of some of the most beautiful and unique items of mexican arts and crafts. though it has some telling omissions (like a tehuana outfit in the typical dress section) and is still light on the displays of others, i really think that one would be hard put to find such a well-done and dignified homage to the crafts of mexico. the museum is housed in what used to be a fire and police station in the 1920's (don't quote me on that), a very art deco building, painted stark white in stunning contrast to the myriad colors on the inside of each gallery. it is still in it's early stages as a museum i feel, (a bit over a year old), and i think it still has much more to show from mexico's artisans, but i highly recommend it as a compilation of what makes art in mexico so unique.
and now we come to the actual topic of this post (i told you i had a million things backlogged). after visiting the museum, in true rodriguez-gomez fashion, we were hungry, very hungry. we had read about a place called el andaluz in a coffee table book on traditional/classic eateries in mexico, and this one was included as a bastion of middle eastern cuisine. since we were already downtown, we figured we'd venture out (we had tried once before and failed) and try again to find this highly recommended spot.
i called information and got the phone number, and after getting specific instructions that we should NOT travel by car to the restaurant, we decided we'd take the metro and hoof it from there. sure enough, we got into the metro station at bellas artes, packed to the gills, and bought our tickets. we knew we had to get out at pino suarez and walk from there. now if you know the city center at all, you know that the streets around that area (behind palacio nacional) are nothing if not chaotic, and are definitely worth a visit if you're looking for something specific - there's a street for just textiles, another only for electronic devices and repairs, another sells lamps and lighting fixtures...you get the idea. we exited at pino suarez and followed the directions given over the phone - walk three blocks, turn left, and el andaluz between jose maría and las cruces. (little did we know that josé maría and las cruces never actually intersect...they're parallel. but more on that in a minute.)
we walked three blocks, turned left and entered what i can only describe as a sensory assault. imagine street vendors who are packed so closely together that they share tables to expose their wares, but yet each one plays a different kind of music at way too many decibels to be healthy, all the way down a main avenue where drivers are not being good about hiding road rage. tarps in a million different colors shed red/blue/green/yellow/pink, etc shadows in a psychedelic frenzy on the sidewalk (which by the way is so uneven that to look up while walking is a sure way to break an ankle). where cars are effectively second-class citizens compared to the swarms of people trying to get from one spot to another. men, women and children, totally at ease amongst the tumult, completely ignoring the concert that had just finished in a little plaza between to streets - gigantic speakers still blaring out some sponsor's slogans, in the hopes of giving away free CDs. giant rolls of purply plastic, sheets and sheets of cardboard, maps of mexico and dozens of coloring books and posters lined the stalls. we had entered the paper goods, stationary and school supply streets two days before the start of school.
and no one seemed put upon by the assault. i must say that it was a bit overwhelming at first. it certainly isn't my first time in crowded streets, but this one seemed bursting at the seems with activity, smells, sounds, and colors. did i mention jerry and i were starving? (for those of you who know me when i'm hungry, you know i'm not the most patient.)
so we walked looking for jose maría and las cruces...remember how i said those were parallel? we didn't find that out until we hit a dead end and realized we were lost. a quick call to the restaurant and a tiny bit of frustration on my end (sorry jerry!) and we headed back down another street until we finally reached the right road and dove in to get to the restaurant.
i don't know how el andaluz actually makes any money on the weekends. their entrance is completely covered by stalls in the roadway, closing off all vehicular and almost all the pedestrian traffic as well. we finally found it and thought we'd reached nirvana. the coffee table book was right...a veritable middle eastern gourmet heaven.
11 or 17 plates (memory fails me) of the equivalent of tapas (mezee) and very full bellies later, and the view out the window to the vendors, stalls, families and animals below seemed like a distant echo of days gone past....until we had to go back home.
taxi!!!!
the heart of mexico city:
jerry and i went venturing into the zócalo early on a saturday in august (and by early i mean 8 a.m., much to jerry's frustration...but i digress) desperately wanting to see the frida kahlo exhibit at bellas artes, but not desperately enough to wait in a five hour, round the block line to get in. you wouldn't believe that there were that many people so keen on getting into a museum, but i was proven wrong as evidenced by the line that was still there at 6 p.m.
in light of the eternal line, we opted to trade the museum for a delicious breakfast at the sanborn's azulejos (one of the oldest and most beautiful buildings in the city center) and though now it's become a glorified cafeteria, it is still a spectacular space with murals by orozco and a central patio (now covered) that is gorgeous. taking advantage of the fact that we were nearby, i suggested we take a look at the museo de arte popular (MAP) as i've heard so many great things about it. the museum's cheerleaders are not wrong.
the MAP is my new favorite museum for all things mexican. it is a repository of some of the most beautiful and unique items of mexican arts and crafts. though it has some telling omissions (like a tehuana outfit in the typical dress section) and is still light on the displays of others, i really think that one would be hard put to find such a well-done and dignified homage to the crafts of mexico. the museum is housed in what used to be a fire and police station in the 1920's (don't quote me on that), a very art deco building, painted stark white in stunning contrast to the myriad colors on the inside of each gallery. it is still in it's early stages as a museum i feel, (a bit over a year old), and i think it still has much more to show from mexico's artisans, but i highly recommend it as a compilation of what makes art in mexico so unique.
and now we come to the actual topic of this post (i told you i had a million things backlogged). after visiting the museum, in true rodriguez-gomez fashion, we were hungry, very hungry. we had read about a place called el andaluz in a coffee table book on traditional/classic eateries in mexico, and this one was included as a bastion of middle eastern cuisine. since we were already downtown, we figured we'd venture out (we had tried once before and failed) and try again to find this highly recommended spot.
i called information and got the phone number, and after getting specific instructions that we should NOT travel by car to the restaurant, we decided we'd take the metro and hoof it from there. sure enough, we got into the metro station at bellas artes, packed to the gills, and bought our tickets. we knew we had to get out at pino suarez and walk from there. now if you know the city center at all, you know that the streets around that area (behind palacio nacional) are nothing if not chaotic, and are definitely worth a visit if you're looking for something specific - there's a street for just textiles, another only for electronic devices and repairs, another sells lamps and lighting fixtures...you get the idea. we exited at pino suarez and followed the directions given over the phone - walk three blocks, turn left, and el andaluz between jose maría and las cruces. (little did we know that josé maría and las cruces never actually intersect...they're parallel. but more on that in a minute.)
we walked three blocks, turned left and entered what i can only describe as a sensory assault. imagine street vendors who are packed so closely together that they share tables to expose their wares, but yet each one plays a different kind of music at way too many decibels to be healthy, all the way down a main avenue where drivers are not being good about hiding road rage. tarps in a million different colors shed red/blue/green/yellow/pink, etc shadows in a psychedelic frenzy on the sidewalk (which by the way is so uneven that to look up while walking is a sure way to break an ankle). where cars are effectively second-class citizens compared to the swarms of people trying to get from one spot to another. men, women and children, totally at ease amongst the tumult, completely ignoring the concert that had just finished in a little plaza between to streets - gigantic speakers still blaring out some sponsor's slogans, in the hopes of giving away free CDs. giant rolls of purply plastic, sheets and sheets of cardboard, maps of mexico and dozens of coloring books and posters lined the stalls. we had entered the paper goods, stationary and school supply streets two days before the start of school.
and no one seemed put upon by the assault. i must say that it was a bit overwhelming at first. it certainly isn't my first time in crowded streets, but this one seemed bursting at the seems with activity, smells, sounds, and colors. did i mention jerry and i were starving? (for those of you who know me when i'm hungry, you know i'm not the most patient.)
so we walked looking for jose maría and las cruces...remember how i said those were parallel? we didn't find that out until we hit a dead end and realized we were lost. a quick call to the restaurant and a tiny bit of frustration on my end (sorry jerry!) and we headed back down another street until we finally reached the right road and dove in to get to the restaurant.
i don't know how el andaluz actually makes any money on the weekends. their entrance is completely covered by stalls in the roadway, closing off all vehicular and almost all the pedestrian traffic as well. we finally found it and thought we'd reached nirvana. the coffee table book was right...a veritable middle eastern gourmet heaven.
11 or 17 plates (memory fails me) of the equivalent of tapas (mezee) and very full bellies later, and the view out the window to the vendors, stalls, families and animals below seemed like a distant echo of days gone past....until we had to go back home.
taxi!!!!
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