Mexico: Cabo

Just like Mexico City, I had some preconceived notions about Cabo, the Mexican resort and tourist town at the Southern tip of the Baja Peninsula. My ideas about Cabo weren't really preconceived, rather I put no thought into what Cabo would be like since I had no part in planning our Mexico trip. The boy's parents pretty much handled everything. Thanks H and E!.

In my mind, resort town + warm climate + ocean = tropical paradise. Um . . . nope. Cabo is a hilly dessert landscape filled with sand, cacti, and dead scrub trees. You know, the Baja dessert. The irrigated resorts are tropical looking, though. I clearly put no thought into the vacation, but instead succumbed to the flow. It's what you have to do when traveling as a pack of nine.The ocean currents are too strong to swim on the Pacific side of the peninsula, which is where our resort was. And even on the Sea of Cortez side of the peninsula, the undertow and waves are pretty brutal. Step in above the ankle and your ass is going down. And mine did!

So, what you do in Cabo besides be an annoying American tourist mainlining alcohol and UV rays is go deep sea fishing. Supposedly Cabo is one of the best places to sport fish. So, we did it. And it was pretty awesome. Thanks, Uncle S for the experience!
Six of us loaded into a boat similar to the ones you see here docked at the marina around 7am and headed out to, fortunately, a calm and kind sea that day. It was about 6 or 7 hours of trolling around the seas waiting for a fish to bite. I felt really lame for falling asleep for most of the trip (everyone on our boat did), but, dang, fishing is the most boring sport EVAR! Except for when the fish are biting. Then it's crazy exciting!About one or two hours into our trip with no bites at all, the captain got a report of a school of Yellowfin Tuna, so we hightailed over to the happening location. Once there, the fish were biting non-stop, one fish right after the other. Even though we didn't catch any prize winners, those little guys are nothing but muscle, and take a bit of work to reel in.

Well, after an hour, we had caught the legal limit of tuna (3 per person, so, in our case, 18), then we switched up bait for Marlin and trolled for the next 3 hours or so without a single bite. I was feeling pretty lame about our luck, until we go back into the marina and found out that only 2 of the 7 boats from the outfitter we went out with caught any fish at all.
Back at the marina the fish get thrown straight off the boat into a bucket to be hauled off to an outdoor cleaning area right around the corner. Everyone comes to take a peak at your catch.
This was our haul of 18 Yellowfin Tuna. A couple of guys expertly cut four fillets out of each tuna at lightening speed. Seriously, in about 10 minutes they were done and we were ready to take our bags of tuna away with us.
There was a lot of wasted meat that we didn't get (guess they figure tourists only want fillets), but I didn't feel too bad about the waste because the locals took our remains and cut quite a bit of good meat off the fish.
We took four fillets (one fish) with us to a restaurant where they prepared a large plate of sashimi (pictured above) and a plate of carpaccio.
They grilled the rest and presented us with two huge platters — more than enough to feed eight people.

The rest of the fish was vacuum packed and frozen by the fishing outfitters, democratically divided amongst our group (I didn't get any because I don't eat fish), and came home with us in coolers. I say I didn't get any, but the boy got some because he does eat fish, so we have more than enough über-fresh, hand-caught tuna in our freezer as I write this.

In case it comes up as a question in comments as to how I could fish and not eat fish, the answer is that I have no problem with hunting and fishing as long as the animal is eaten and put to good use. After all that, how about some soy fajitas? Thanks to all the American tourists and their crazy demands, such a thing can be found in Cabo.
And don't forget to pick up a Day of the Dead Michael Jackson figurine to take back to the States!

Mexico: Mexico City

Hi ya! It's been about a week, but I'm back from Mexico where the women are strongly discouraged from throwing Saltine Crackers in the toilet.

Our main order of business in Mexico was to attend a wedding of one of the boy's relatives that lives in Mexico City, and, of course, explore the city. Then it was off to chill and do nothing in Cabo.
With a population of 21.2 million people in the metropolitan area, Mexico City is one of the largest cities in the world. I had some preconceived notions of Mexico City — mostly that it would be dirty and super crowded — but I came away very impressed with Mexico City, exclaiming that it was "pretty" every time a native asked me what I thought of the city. The city is filled with trees and well manicured parks and green areas. And, overall, the city was clean and largely devoid of litter (litter is a huge pet peeve of mine), embarrassingly making Philly's streets in comparison look like third world squalor.
Mural viewing was in order, since we were in a city where one of the greatest painters and muralists, Diego Rivera, lived and worked.
Works from various famous Mexican muralists were visited in the gorgeous Palacio de Bellas Artes building, including New Democracy by David Alfaro Siqueiros.
Another Diego Rivera mural, this time a depiction of Mexican history at the National Palace in the heart of Mexico City's historic Zocalo district.
Mexico played a couple of World Cup soccer games while we were in Mexico, and everyone watched the game when Mexico played. Everyone. Every restaurant, bar, shoe repair shop, you name it wheeled in a TV to show the game when Mexico played. Here, the huge plaza in downtown was outfitted with a jumbo TV for the event.Thanks to the keen eye of the boy's father, we ducked into an alley to get a closer glimpse of this beautiful living wall composed of a tapestry of various plants creating a dragon or serpent-type animal. See, I told you Mexico City was surprisingly pretty and green.Doned my first ever evening gown (never did prom or — knock on wood — had to be a bridesmaid) to hit up a Mexican wedding. Mexican weddings are kinda crazy. Crazy because they start at 10pm. Well, 10:30 in Mexican time. Reception and dinner didn't even start until midnight. And the party rolls on until breakfast is served. Even with a double shot of espresso downed while getting dressed in the evening, this morning person could only make it to 3am . . . and that was just when they rolled out the table of after-dinner party snacks.
When in Rome Mexico City, we had to stop by Frida Kahlo's house. What a beautiful pad she had! In a really beautiful and relaxing neighborhood. I liked the neighborhood (Coyoacán) so much that I looked into real estate prices. It's doable!
Oh, this is a food blog, you say. Alright.

Stopped in a huge market and picked up some mole powders. Was temped by the mole pastes in the background, but didn't know how the TSA would react.For lunch in Coyoacán, we ducked into a store front filled with dozens of different vendors.
Got me a mushroom quesadilla that was super hot from coming straight out of the oil and into my hands. Had to pry it open so it could cool down before digging in.
What I really wanted were some vegetables (lots of fried bread, beans, and cheese in Mexico if you're veg), so hopped over to the guy selling corn.
Got a cup of warm esquite, which is corn topped with mayonnaise, lime juice and cheese. Yumalicious!
I absolutely adore the panaderias (bakeries) in Mexico. The selection is always massive, and the system of grabbing your own tray and tongs, perusing the goods, and grabbing what you fancy is pure joy. Normally, food stuff open to the public and their germs skeeves me a bit, but you're just so giddy to be around so many pastries that all is forgiven.
Ate at Bajío, a traditional Mexican restaurant in the upscale Polanco area of Mexico City, and they had this awesome tortilla-making machine that rolls the dough and cuts the dough.
Bajío's black bean and plantain empanada (to the left) was amazing. The plantain wasn't in the filling, but in the dough, creating a subtly sweet envelope for the savory black beans. Bajío also had the best flan of the trip. It was beyond rich and creamy.
Stopped into Lynis for breakfast, a restaurant also in the Polanco area that the boy's Mother used to eat at when she was younger. I particularly like the picture paper menu taking the guess work out of what you're ordering, although I was in company of fluent Spanish speakers and my Spanish food vocab is decent enough to get by. I still had the boy order for me, though. It's just easier. Breakfast burrito minus the pork, please!Before departing Mexico City we decided to just pop down to the hotel restaurant to make life easy. My quesadillas topped with bean sauce turned out to be topped with a fancy-dancy, rich, bean and cream sauce like nothing I've ever had before. Fabulous indeed, but I'm a simple girl that really was just craving some basic, fiber-rich beans not infused with fat.

I ate more, but, really, how many taco and quesadilla pictures do you need?

Next up, Cabo!

Mexico - But Avocado Is A Good Fat

When asked where I’ve traveled, I’m always a little embarrassed that Mexico does not appear on the list. How could I have never been to Mexico? It’s so close!

Traveling across the country in a car with my dog (I don’t have a dog), and dropping below the Texas border into Mexico on whim is how I always imagined I’d get to Mexico…but this never happened.

What did happen was my boyfriend’s parents gave us (me, the boy, his brother and his wife) their time share!!! When someone gives you a vacation, you take it! (Thanks H. and E.)

We went to Acapulco, Mexico – glamorous beach town of the Hollywood jetset in the 50's; large resort city for tourists and locals today. It's that place in Mexico you win trips to if you play The Price Is Right. So many unfulfilled dreams!

Don't judge. Everyone does it, including the locals. We went to Walmart to stock up on groceries for the week since we had a kitchen in our room. Produce was so cheap. And a stack of 50 or so tortillas was 50 cents. That's just pennies apiece, if you're counting!

Walmart has a huge, self-serve pastry section where you walk around the aisles of sweets (yep, aisles!) with tongs and a tray, grabbing everything you want. The boy found me all giddy-like in the aisles and proceeded to put some of the pastries on my platter back on the shelves. I pleaded that it was unsanitary and against the rules (there are no rules). I'd buy a lot more pastries at home if I didn't have to ask someone behind a counter to get what I wanted. Maybe it's better we keep the system we have of keeping pastries behind glass.Our first meal out was at a corner taqueria in Zocalo, the central, older section of Acapulco. My vegetarian tacos where a pile of cheese studded with mushrooms, peppers, tomatoes, corn, and jicama. The open air venue with views out to the busy and noisy street was the best part.

I'm particularly fond of the complimentary bowls of spicy pickled vegetables many restaurants set down on the table along with the various salsas and condiments.

The boy loves ceviche (Peruvian ceviche with its strong lime flavors, to be exact), and gave the ceviche in Acapulco a couple of tries. The ceviche in Acapulco is a tomato-based, gazpacho-like ceviche. Great in hot weather.

Wanna know where all the VW Bugs have gone? They're in Mexico serving out the rest of their long lives as taxis. Five people crammed in a taxi is fun! There are larger taxis, too. There are actually tons of taxis. Do not fear; you will never be stranded anywhere in Mexico.There are also a ton of independently run buses painted, decorated, and lit-up per the driver's fancy (cartoon characters and neon lights are popular) that will also take you places. Our taxi adventures ranged from $25 (airport rip-off and shortest trip we took) to $10 (toe-curling, speeding taxi). The bus cost us 45 cents per person and took us on our longest ride of the vacation out to Pie de La Cuesta.Pie de la Cuesta is a small, uncrowded beach town just outside of Acapulco, bordered by the ocean on one side of the street and a lake on the other side of the street. Pie de la Cuesta has no high-rise resorts – only tiny hotels and bungalows. If I were to return for vacation to the Acapulco area, I'd stay in Pie de la Cuesta.

The sun also sets over the ocean at Pie de la Cuesta (the Acapulco bay does not face west). Above is our Mexican spread eaten on the beach at sunset in Pie de la Cuesta.

See the dish in the lower left corner? Those are sopes – a round, thick, fried dough topped with refried beans and cheese. They remind me of little Mexican pizzas. I've never had them before, and they turned out to be one of my favorite foods of the trip!

And, really, how could I not order that drink to enjoy the sunset?

I really wanted to take home this beach dog! He's the perfect size for me. And he looks like Maisy Mouse!

Lots of homeless dogs in Mexico! But they're so well behaved and so much wiser than American dogs. No begging whatsoever. They can navigate traffic, and interact with the world peacefully. I just imagine letting a psycho, hyperactive, pampered American dog loose in Mexico and watching the Mexican dogs laugh on the inside and calmly walk away from the immaturity.

Another Mexican spread. Vegetarian options at most places serving Mexican food mean cheese – cheese tacos, cheese enchiladas, cheese quesadillas, chile rellenos stuffed with cheese, bean and cheese sopes, etc. Mexican food also means fried. All good and delicious, but not every day! The fruit for breakfast did not negate the unhealthy diet I ate this past week. There's a reason why the Mexican diet is not on the list cultural diets proven to boost longevity and health.

Just like many trips abroad where cheese must be relied on to sustain my vegetarian diet, I'm calling a moratorium on cheese consumption. For a few days, at least!

Nice vacation. Nice to be back.