A Visit from Allison Goldberg! The Sites of Xochimilco

We thoroughly enjoyed having Jeremy's sister, Allison, stay with us for a week.  (Oh, how having an extra bedroom makes all the difference when hosting guests!)  We had one expecially fun day in Xochimilco (pronounced So-chee-meel-co), to the south of the city, where we took a boat ride on a trajinera down the canals with new friends, ate "pre-hispanic" Mexican food, including chapulines (grasshoppers) and pulque (made from the Maguey or Agave plant), and visited the Dolores Olmedo Patino museum.  The musem boasts the largest collection of Diego Rivera paintings and sketches, and was infact her home (she is deceased now), which is an old hacienda with lush gardens and pre-hispanic furless grey dogs and peacocks. 

View of the Cathedral downtown from Las Sirenas (awesome resto-bar with gorgeous patio and view)

Sculpture at the Dolores Olmedo Patino Museum in Xochimilco

Vanessa and Jeremy with Diego Rivera Bust at Dolores Olmedo Museum

Allison (Jeremy's sister) and me at the Museum

Pre-hispanic dog statue with real dogs! do you know which one is which?

Gardens at the Dolores Olmedo Patino Museum in Xochimilco

Vanessa excited for her chapulines...fried grasshoppers with butter and onion

Fried Chapulines (grassoppers), a typical Oaxacan dish

Trajineras (boats) at the canals in Xochimilco

Canal boat ride with our new friends, Luis (from DF) and Olivia (from Australia)

Around our neighborhood...Tizapan and San Angel

The life style here in San Angel Tizapan in the southern part of Mexico City is great.  We adore our 2-bed, 2-bath apartment and the building (where we only have 4 neighbors) and our busy street.  Just outside our front door, is a fresh OJ stand (one cup is only 10 pesos = 80 cents).  To the other side, is an HSBC and a coffee shop. Across the street is a taxi stand (critical to traveling efficiently and safely through out the city) and fresh pastry and bread shop. Also less than 2 minutes away walking is our gym and the Tizapan Market which offers fresh flowers, fruits, veggies, poultry and other staples. A 5 minute walk up Frontera and we are at our favorite local Italian restaurant, owned by Enrique, whose grandparents were from Italy. At Di Buccardo,we always eat 2x1 homemade wood-fired pizzas (which costs us 90-130 pesos or roughly $8-10).  Sorry Sorriso, we have a new fav!

A short 15-20 minute walk away is the San Jacinto Market, where each Saturday you can find local artists selling their paintings and sculptures, as well as a multitude of handcrafts from all over Mexico. There are many great brunch places here overlooking the plaza.

Golf in an Ex-hacienda? Visiting the Arboledas Rotary Club

How gracious was the Club Rotario Arboledas on January 13th that they allowed me to bring my husband, Jeremy, and my sister-in-law, Allison (visiting from NYC)....so nice.  Rotary meetings in Mexico City are no joke - they go all out with buttoned up waiters serving several courses...this morning, we dined on delicious fresh pastries, coffee, freshly squeezed OJ (the norm in Mexico), fresh papaya and melon, and croquettes of ham and cheese with frijoles (beans).  The Arboledas Club meets at the Club de Golf La Hacienda en Atizapan in the State of Mexico (just north of Mexico City, but still part of District 4170). (see photo below of the gorgeous grounds). We were warmly welcomed by Adriana and Claudia Salum and 10 other Rotarians, mostly women (not the norm). They were especially interested to learn about the process of being nominated for an Ambassadorial Scholarship and the role once chosen.

Rotary Club Arboledas north of Mexico City meets at an old hacienda golf club.

Vanessa on the agenda

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Vanessa with Claudia Salum, former club president

Club Rotario Arboledas de Atizapan, January 13, 2011