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!