Tuesday, February 19, 2019
I wake up to my legs burning with every step. Scaling the Pyramid of the Moon may not have been a wise idea. My thigh muscles that have taken up the slack for my left knee are now screaming.
We know that the Frida Kahlo museum requires timed tickets and we ask our concierge to book us a time slot. My credit cards are in the hotel safe and Art passes the women his business credit card which is declined. She graciously tells us that it is certainly because we have neglected to tell our credit card company that we are traveling in Mexico. Our bill is paid and I believe this to be the case but she handles our embarrassment in the same manner that I handle declined credit cards from customers at shows. I tell my customers whose payments are declined that it is probably because they have purchased other items at the Art Show and the various artists are from all over the country. The credit card company sees charges from various cities and states and blocks the card for their own protection. She offers to use her credit card if we pay her the cash and we accept her kind offer and leave with printed tickets for Thursday at 11:30 A.M. Although Art is unconcerned about the credit card, I am worried since many of our automatic business expenses are tied to it and I don’t want there to be issues back at home. I call Alisha and tell her to test our two business credit cards by purchasing Endicia shipping. She texts back that all is good and Art and I walk several blocks to find an Scocia Bank ATM. A week ago, I gave Alisha a check to deposit into Art’s account so that we would have access to cash on this trip. Art makes a withdrawal and tells me there is no record of the deposit. This is not a good money morning and I call Alisha again. She sorts it out and discovers that the teller who made the deposit put the money back into our personal account, not into Art’s account. The bank manager remembers me mentioning our trip to Mexico and transfers the missing deposit into Art’s account. (I’m pretty sure that her doing so was not really acceptable on just a hearsay from Alisha, but we are grateful.)
We hope to join a FREE 10:30 A.M. walking tour of the city center and I fast limp to the meeting place in front of the Cathedral. It is not a great tour but we need some structure to our morning and to take our minds off the finance glitches. The free walking tour takes us to the Templo Mayor, at the far side of the Zocalo. This was the site of the Aztec City, the heart of Tenochtitlan and is partially excavated and restored. Our small group visits the sinking cathedral before walking along Cinco de Mayo Avenue and listening to our guide point out spots of interest. It’s not a great walking trip and at 12:30, we are relieved to be set free. At our guides suggestion we have an inexpensive lunch at a Taqueria with a young, Dutch/German man who arrived this morning and will be in Mexico for 2 months writing his Master’s thesis. His company is interesting enough but we part ways after lunch and retrace our steps to the Palacio de Bella Arts to see the museum.
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| Palacio Bella Arts |
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| Palacio Bella Arts |
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| Siqueiros |
The Art Deco interior of the building is fabulous but unfortunately all the galleries are closed or possibly being renovated (this is not entirely clear.) We glide along the polished marble floors, our necks craned to admire the soaring Art Deco architecture. Murals by Diego Rivera, David Siqueiros and Jorge Gonzalez Camarena decorate the first floor balcony walls. Seeing the Diego Rivera murals feels like visiting a familiar friend but it is exciting to see the work of Siqueiros and Camarena.
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| Man, Controller of the Universe or Man in the Time Machine, Diego Rivera |
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| Camarena |
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| Camarena signature |
Downstairs, there is a retrospective of Ricardo Martinez work, an artist I had not heard of and Art and I thoroughly enjoyed the show.
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| Ricardo Martinez de Hoyos |
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| Ricardo Martinez de Hoyos |
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| Ricardo Martinez de Hoyos |
Before leaving, we have a drink in the Art Deco museum dining room. Well-heeled patrons sit savoring beautiful meals and I wish that we had chosen here for lunch instead of the taqueria. We walk back along the shopping promenade to our hotel and rest until 6:00 P.M. Our meals over that past few days have been awful and I read the guidebook carefully. Our restaurant of choice tonight will be the Hosteria de Santa Domingo, an upscale old world Mexican restaurant a few blocks away from the tourist and shopping area.
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| Hosteria de Santa Dominga Restaurant |
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| Chiles en Nogada |
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| The Prawn speciality |
I order their specialty; Chiles en Nogada, stuffed peppers with minced fruit and meat filling that are smothered in a sweet walnut based white cream sauce and topped with pomegranate. This interesting dish is traditionally served at room temperature. Art orders House prawns wrapped in Bacon and stuffed with Manchego cheese. Both meals are excellent although I doubt if I will ever choose to order Chiles en Nogada again. A mediocre pianist and vocalist provide background entertainment and get little applause. The service in this old world restaurant is a mixture of arrogant and accommodating and we pay the rather expensive bill (over 1000 pesos with tip) and return to our hotel overly full. I’m glad we had the experience but I don’t need to repeat it.
Wednesday, February 20th,
In spite of the dramatic terrace view of the Zocolo, our hotel breakfast is starting to get old. I am not complaining because I can’t imagine wanting more than what they offer and I repeat the past several mornings self serve plate of fresh papaya and pineapple, two pieces of bacon, steamed cauliflower and broccoli and a tiny fresh baked croissant. We seat ourselves and the waiter takes our coffee order; a cappuccino for me and a double espresso for Art. Our waiter asks if we would like something from the kitchen and I order a one egg omelet with mushrooms and cheese. I am more than sated when we leave, looking forward to another full day of museums.
We start with the museums within the National Palace, just steps away from our hotel. We arrive at 9:30 A.M. but the Diego Rivera mural isn’t open until 10:00 A.M. so we enjoy poking into several other adjoining venues. A political cartoon exhibition is both interesting and amusing with satirical cartoons of Donald Trump, Kim John-un and Netanyahu. When we exit the line for the Diego Rivera mural is long so we head to the art gallery across the narrow street. We have this free museum to ourselves and motion lights switch on as we enter each gallery. There is a guard within each gallery and Art comments that it must be a government work program to keep people employed. Again when we exit the line for the Diego Rivera mural is still long so we walk in the direction of the Palacio Bella Arts in search the Franz Meyer Decorative Arts museum. It is tucked down in an unimpressive courtyard but the temporary Neo-Baroque exhibit is excellent and leaves us wanting more. Most of the national museums are free and as seniors, the private museums offer discounted admission for seniors. I feel like a senior today with my legs still sore from pyramid climbing and my injured knee. Art steps into the men’s restroom and I rest on a bench nearby to wait. Suddenly two pretty young women wearing dark museum uniforms with knee length skirts and high heels approach me and motion me to come with them quickly. I recognize the word “drill” and “not to worry” but they are insistent that I follow them outside to a breezeway and into a covered parking garage. I fumble for the word “esposo” and point to the restroom worried that Art will think that I have been abducted. A large dot with 4 arrows is painted on the garage pavement and they position me on the center dot as two dozen others are escorted to the “safety zone.” Gratefully, Art is among the others being corralled and within a few minutes the drill is over and we return to the museum.
Since our taxi driver to the Condessa passed us counterfeit money, we have been enjoying the magic of Uber. Art enters our next destination as the Museo Tamayo and within minutes our Uber magically arrives to transport us to the park bordering the museum. We head straight for the museum café and Art orders the salmon and I order succulently marinated duck tacos. As usual, we share. The modern architecture of the museum is striking and the main exhibit is work by German Venegas. I try to find merit in his work but it’s a struggle. This is the Tamayo Museum but there are only a few paintings by him. The modern art museum is across the park and it is excellent and we spend two hours wandering the four wings. Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, David Siqueiros, Ricardo Martinez are just a few of the artists represented here.
We decide to give the Opera Café a second chance for dinner tonight. The interior could be out of a movie set and their claim to fame seems to be that Poncho Villa rode into it on horseback and shot bullet holes in the ceiling. We watch nearly every customer crane their necks scanning for bullet holes on the baroque ceiling. The ornate carved wood and mirrored antique bar stretches the length of one wall. We enjoy tonight’s dinner but much might be attributed to the liter of fruit filled Sangrias that Art orders expecting me to share it. It tastes like fruit punch poured over fruit cocktail and I order red wine. We linger some time listening to the mariachi music and enjoying the old world ambience and each other’s company. Although the food is good, we are getting tired of Mexican fare and take two of my four Chile Verde enchiladas to go with the intention of passing them to one of the many less fortunate who ask for a few pesos. We are less than a block away when a man approaches indicating that he is hungry and we hand him the well wrapped to go box and then worry that we have forgotten to ask the restaurant for silverware.