A Day in the Park
Today we returned to the big public park to the west of the city called Bosque de Chapultapec. It's bigger than Central Park, and contains a Zoo, a lake with paddle boats to rent, a history museum and the National Museum of Anthropology. Plus approximately 10,000 vendors selling toys, food and drinks from their carts.
We got a cab to the park and headed for the paddle boats. The lake is pretty small and is in a big circle with an island in the middle. Lots of families were already paddling around when we got our boat and joined them. It was harder work than we thought it would be, but we went all the way around. We managed not to crash into another boat or capsize. The cool morning air felt good with all the exertion.
Next we ran a gauntlet of vendors and found the Zoo a little further inside the park. Admission is free, but they do a cursory check of your belongings (so you don't shoot a penguin, I guess). There was the usual assortment of zoo denizens, with a few more varieties of those from Mexico, Central and South America. There is a Herpetarium with scary snakes. There was a giant panda, but he was sleeping and not visible while we were there. (It was the middle of the night in China, after all). The zoo wasn't as well kept as the American zoos we've visited, but interesting nonetheless.
hippos
We grabbed a quick lunch at the zoo food court, forgoing the MacDonald's, Domino's and a corporate taco chain
f
for a mom and pop sandwich shop. We had very large ham sandwiches and drinks. $10 total!
Next we passed back by more vendors
on our way to the Anthropology museum. One had toasted cochilla insects for sale (a delicacy we have yet to try), while others had a scary type of beef jerky. Every other vendor has corn puffs with cheese powder (the original Fritos) and all manner and flavor of fruit drinks, bottled water, juices, and cups of fresh fruit. We don't know how they all make any money, selling the same things at the same place, but the competition makes for very low prices.
We got to the Museum and another check of our bags. Sarah's selfie-stick (an extendable arm to take pics of herself in front of things) was specifically prohibited, and the attendant said to put it in a locker. No one enforced this, though, so she just put it back in her pack and we moved on.
The museum website says teachers and students are admitted free with ID, but the ticket guy said this was only for Mexican nationals, so we got stuck paying the exorbitant $1.40 fee each for me, Amy and Sarah. Sam was free as a "jovene"(youth). Going broke here!
The museum is fascinating, with great displays of the time periods in Mexican history and the various civilizations that have lived here. A lot of it related to our pyramid trip yesterday. The kids made a lot of connections between the places at Teotihuacan and the displays at the museum. It was a lot to process for all of us.
fat rabbit
(interior courtyard of the museum has a gigantic roof suspended with "rain" flowing down, and a pond with fish in it too.)
Sarah the Aztec princess
(hear no evil)
(I have a hole in my belly!)
(world's first soccer ball)
(actual cave painting)
(rendering of a Pueblo settlement)
(S and S holding up the Aztec calendar wheel)
We bought some drinks (they use a giant block of ice to keep them cold)
and tried some of the various vendor's wares after that. Plantain chips and peanuts in a sweet sesame coating. Yum! No fried bugs.
We got a cab back to the hotel and had a rest. It was soon pouring rain, so we considered the options and then got dinner at a Chinese buffet restaurant close by on our street. Vegetables, noodles and seafood were a nice change from tortillas beans and cheese. We did a little souvenir shopping on the way back to the hotel.
We are still amazed at how inexpensive everything here is. Today, a cab ride of about 2 city miles, a one hour boat ride, museum admission, snacks, a cab ride back 2 miles, dinner, some nice and authentic souvenirs, a six-pack of good Mexican beer, and generous gratuities for our maid and breakfast waiter came to a grand total of $92! Ah, Mexico!
More tomorrow...
We got a cab to the park and headed for the paddle boats. The lake is pretty small and is in a big circle with an island in the middle. Lots of families were already paddling around when we got our boat and joined them. It was harder work than we thought it would be, but we went all the way around. We managed not to crash into another boat or capsize. The cool morning air felt good with all the exertion.
Next we ran a gauntlet of vendors and found the Zoo a little further inside the park. Admission is free, but they do a cursory check of your belongings (so you don't shoot a penguin, I guess). There was the usual assortment of zoo denizens, with a few more varieties of those from Mexico, Central and South America. There is a Herpetarium with scary snakes. There was a giant panda, but he was sleeping and not visible while we were there. (It was the middle of the night in China, after all). The zoo wasn't as well kept as the American zoos we've visited, but interesting nonetheless.
hippos
We grabbed a quick lunch at the zoo food court, forgoing the MacDonald's, Domino's and a corporate taco chain
ffor a mom and pop sandwich shop. We had very large ham sandwiches and drinks. $10 total!
Next we passed back by more vendors
on our way to the Anthropology museum. One had toasted cochilla insects for sale (a delicacy we have yet to try), while others had a scary type of beef jerky. Every other vendor has corn puffs with cheese powder (the original Fritos) and all manner and flavor of fruit drinks, bottled water, juices, and cups of fresh fruit. We don't know how they all make any money, selling the same things at the same place, but the competition makes for very low prices.
We got to the Museum and another check of our bags. Sarah's selfie-stick (an extendable arm to take pics of herself in front of things) was specifically prohibited, and the attendant said to put it in a locker. No one enforced this, though, so she just put it back in her pack and we moved on.
The museum website says teachers and students are admitted free with ID, but the ticket guy said this was only for Mexican nationals, so we got stuck paying the exorbitant $1.40 fee each for me, Amy and Sarah. Sam was free as a "jovene"(youth). Going broke here!
The museum is fascinating, with great displays of the time periods in Mexican history and the various civilizations that have lived here. A lot of it related to our pyramid trip yesterday. The kids made a lot of connections between the places at Teotihuacan and the displays at the museum. It was a lot to process for all of us.
fat rabbit
(interior courtyard of the museum has a gigantic roof suspended with "rain" flowing down, and a pond with fish in it too.)
Sarah the Aztec princess
(hear no evil)
(I have a hole in my belly!)
(world's first soccer ball)
(actual cave painting)
(rendering of a Pueblo settlement)
(S and S holding up the Aztec calendar wheel)
We bought some drinks (they use a giant block of ice to keep them cold)
and tried some of the various vendor's wares after that. Plantain chips and peanuts in a sweet sesame coating. Yum! No fried bugs.
We got a cab back to the hotel and had a rest. It was soon pouring rain, so we considered the options and then got dinner at a Chinese buffet restaurant close by on our street. Vegetables, noodles and seafood were a nice change from tortillas beans and cheese. We did a little souvenir shopping on the way back to the hotel.
We are still amazed at how inexpensive everything here is. Today, a cab ride of about 2 city miles, a one hour boat ride, museum admission, snacks, a cab ride back 2 miles, dinner, some nice and authentic souvenirs, a six-pack of good Mexican beer, and generous gratuities for our maid and breakfast waiter came to a grand total of $92! Ah, Mexico!
More tomorrow...
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