Una Navidad Mexicana - Christmas in Mexico City

Jeremy and I were blessed to celebrate Christmas in Mexico City.  We would describe it in Spanish as "tranquillo"...very low-key.  On Christmas Eve day, we returned from Puebla, and were happy to stay home with our gato, Guille. That night, Jeremy and I played Scrabble. (I always win when I use Spanish words! ha ha). Christmas morning, we slept in. That evening we went to the city square, the Zocolo, to see the lights.  We were surprised to see an ice rink, games, and food stands offering tamales, pizza, tortas (sandwiches), tacos, coffee...etc.  We made a yummy traditional Italian dish for dinner, Frutti di Mare...pasta with seafood...camarones (shrimp), calamari (squid), mejillones (mussels), and of course homemade tomato sauce. Local chilangos have been complaining about the cold weather and getting sick from the Cold...but to us it's perfect.  high of 70 and lows in the 50s.  Feliz Navidad a Todos!

Visit to Puebla

Just a 2-hour bus ride away is the gorgeous city of Puebla...filled with Spanish colonial arquitecture, cobblestone streets, and a street dedicated to candy...Calle de los dulces!  We stayed at an amazing hotel, Casa Reyna, (that we never could have afforded otherwise) thanks to my amiga, Ana Laura, who lives in Puebla. To celebrate Christmas, we saw a local community-organized production of A Christmas Carol. It was great- Mexican style with Spanish names...little Timmy was Tomasito...and at the dinner, the nephew's famiy drank "ponche" - traditional fruit cider - out of Mexican clay pottery. They sang and dance to Mexican music.  It was a performance to remember.