Mexico City, Day Three

We had a serious day.  We ordered up coffee and a fruit plate for the room before starting off on the day. It is truly fantastic when you call for the coffee and they say "uno momento" and it literally is. 

We are going decadent and had a drive take us over to Merced Market.  The first thing the driver says to us when we get in the car and I tell him where we are going he says "oh no, that is very dangerous for you."  My friend was not thrilled with that one. I told the driver, that is where we are going and it is fine….and it was.  Just driving there was amazing.  This huge street filled with tons of vendors selling goods galore.  We finally got to the market place and found out way through the Market Flore.  Flowers everywhere.  These ones are fake but bright.

We went in deep finally finding the vegetables and fruits.  Wow.  Just wall to wall vegetable and fruit stands.  Not sure what this fruit is but it is certainly beautiful.

Check out these chilis.  I bought some dried chilis and a dried mixture of verde mole.  Smells amazing.

Luscious herbs.

They were so nice at this stand.  One of the guys spoke English and was happy to help.  He had me taste the black mole paste.  It was sweet, spicy and just amazing.  I wish I could figure how to get that home.  Unbelievable.

Potatoes?

I loved pinatas when I was a kid and definitely had them at our kids bday parties when they were young.  Loved how HUGE these were.

Then we stumbled upon the cooked food area.  This big soup was everywhere. 

Every stall had an oversized grill.  They were making us a squash blossom quesadilla with salsa verde for us.  Delicious.

All the tables are set with a table cloth and fixings.  Communal dining going on everywhere.  It almost feels like a long tailgate party.

I saw a lot of these round stuffed savory pastries.  I had this one.  They split it in half and then fill it with fillings.  I went for mushrooms.  Really good.

Then we stumbled into the candy area.  It makes Economy Candy in NYC look like a lightweight.  All the fillings for the pinatas!

There were plastics bags filled with cheetos, chips and even fruit loops that were almost 5 feet tall.  Blows Cosco away.

This isn't a great pic but to give you an idea of the stalls.  This random food stall where they were making food had the table stuck in the middle and people were just hanging out eating.  You can get lost in this place.

Next stop was Frido Kahlo museum.  Such a gorgeous spot.  The blue walls.  Inside there are a bunch of pieces by Kahlo and family pics and of course her history.  A must go.

These little statues were hanging out in a corner.

We went around the neighborhood over to the Leon Trotsky house which is still in its original state.  Trotsky came to Mexico City after being pursued by Stalins crew.  He hung out with Kahlo and Rivera.  This was his kitchen.  He grew catcus and raised chickens on the premises too. 

In the Trotsky museum there was a small gallery.  I really liked these statues. 

This is the main area of the Coyoacan neighborhood where the Kahlo and Trotsky museums are located.  We poked our head in the church where a sermon was going on.

The squares in this area are just beautiful.  We strolled around.

This corner restaurant just looked good.  Lots of locals eating here.  We took a look and took a seat.  It appeared to be a family restaurant.  Also felt like something back in time.  Some people brought tupperware to fill up on the days wares to bring home for the family. 

We had cheese stuffed tamale baked in a light crust and then served in red black bean sauce.  Beautifully prepared.  Really good.

This dish was meatballs with a red sauce and a chopped kale salad.  Like home cooking.  Total cost $5 for both.  We loved this place.

Made our way over to the OMR gallery.  They took us in the back to look at all of the Mexican artists that they represented.  Nothing really grabbed us but this is a gallery worth seeing.  Most of their artists are well along in their careers.

We checked out the Garash Galeria.  The show was the artist Xavier Rodriguez.  He is young and funny.  I thought this was hilarious just didn't know where I'd put it.

This was another piece.  I did think about bringing this home too.  Lots of golf references in this show.

Downstairs from the gallery is a store called Chic by Accident.  Gotta love the name.  A mixture of everything for the home from fabrics to vases to chairs to lighting.  A real eclectic store.  These were from 1960.  Not sure how I would get them home.

Came back to our neighborhood and stopped in Tane out of sheer curiosity.  They make silver objects and jewelry. Wandered a little bit around and stopped in a leather store and a tart store.  Beautiful tarte tartin.  Stopped in the grocery store to see if we could find the tequila that I drank last night.  Instead we picked up a huge papaya split in half for a snack.  $1.

Back to the hotel for a little rest before dins.  This was in our room when we got there.  Nice touch.