The glorious and very clean DF metro takes you to the outer reaches of the city
There is much to see in the center of DF, but even more possibilities exist in the outer neighborhoods. Thankfully, the excellent public transport system made it possible to make it out to these areas without too much trouble. From the variety of choices, we narrowed our sights to two ‘hoods: Coyoacan and Xochimilco.
Coyoacan (coyote) main plaza
The cobblestone streets of Coyoacan feel worlds away from the broad boulevards just north of the neighborhood. Once its own village, Coyoacan was eventually swallowed up by the urban sprawl of DF. Cozy boutiques line Avenida Francisco Sosa which eventually opens up to the small, cozy plaza that forms the heart of the area.
Nathan at Frida’s
The major draw to Coyacan for most people is Frida Khalo. She and her on-again / off-again husband Diego Rivera lived in a bright blue house not far from the plaza. I admire Frida for being strong, independent and eccentric at a time when these traits were not valued in women. Apparently, I’m not the only one since the museum was packed. Something new I learned while there is that the couple were passionate socialists. They even welcomed Leon Trotsky and his wife in their home when they were exiled from the Soviet Union. Trotsky eventually settled in a house down the street where shortly thereafter he was dramatically assassinated by a USSR sympathizer.
Posole
We didn’t have long to soak in the tranquil atmosphere of Coyoacan before the weather turned and rain came pouring down in sheets. Seeking shelter, we ducked into a covered market lined with posole (pork stew) stalls. Posole is in the upper echelons of comfort food. Pork is slow cooked over many hours then spiced with garlic, cumin and chiles to provide a rich, deeply flavorful broth. Traditional accompaniments include hominy, fresh radishes, chopped onion, cilantro and lime. Our stall gave us the choice of pork shoulder or head meat to mix into our broth and we just knew this was going to be good. That first bite was magical with the slow cooked meat and sweet hominy contrasting with the crisp fresh toppings. We journeyed back to the city center soaking from the rain but warmed from within by posole.
Busy boats in the canals of Xochimilco
On a sunnier day, we debated making another journey from the center of DF. I was heavily undecided about whether to go to Xochimilco (pronounced sho-chi-MEEL-ko). On the one hand, the lively collection of boats gliding down an ancient canal seemed like a fun party. On the other hand, it could easily turn into a tourist free for all where everywhere we turn we are being pressured to make a purchase or tip for something. Armed with directions from our hostel owner (the gracious Alfonso from Anys Hostal) we hoped for the best and headed into DF’s deep south to find Xochimilco.
Xochimilco is now a neighborhood of DF but at one time it was a separate village, a satellite of the Aztec city of Teotitlán. When the Spanish arrived, the entire Mexico City basin was a lake so the only way to live in it was by building up canals and small islands (think Venice). While the rest of DF has largely lost the canals (which has lead to water problems and the spongy soil issues I’d mentioned in earlier posts), these centuries old waterways can still be found in Xochimilco. Each weekend, hundreds of people descend on this sleepy section of town to hop on a lancha (gondola-like boat). The owners have gussied up their lachas to attract business such that each has become a riot of colors. Floating services have popped up – some serve food or drinks while others contain mariachi bands to entertain you.
Colorful boats!
We made it to Xochimilco on a Sunday since we heard the weekdays were pretty tame. I’m glad we did because I feel like we were able to blend in with the crowds more and observe the fun. This also meant that many markets were in full swing so we took our time to explore them. We snacked on coctel de camarón (shrimp cocktail), admired the chicharrones (fried pork skin) and ate and long-stewed pork tacos.
Chicharrones in the market
Market stalls of Xochimilco
There are many different embarcaderos (docks) from which one can depart on a privately rented boat but we were hoping to get to the lancha colectiva (ferry) that we could share. After a moderately long walk from the light rail station to Embarcadero Nativitas, we found a our ferry which charged us M$30 each for an hour ride along the canals. (As a sidenote, if you are interested in getting a private rental the lanchas seemed to be going for M$300 per boat for 2 hours, plus tip.)
Michelada time
To kill some time before our ferry’s departure we celebrated our successful navigating skills with micheladas. A michelada is typically a beer with lime squeezed in it served with a salted rim glass. The place we went skipped the salt and instead added a sticky, sweet and salty chayote paste to the rim. It was messy but somehow that matched the scene. As we alternated sipping our beer and licking the slowly dripping red paste off our cups we watched the jumble of colorful lanchas narrowly missing collisions interspersed with the vendor boats racing each other for sales.
The craziness continued as our lancha launched into the thick of it. The bands played songs, people sang, people danced, people fell off the boats. It was a great party to celebrate our arrival to Mexico.
Filed under: Latin America, Mexico Tagged: Big Cities, Mexico City (DF)
