palace to palace

Wedesnday, Tay opted to get a little more sleep while I went in to work. Later, he took the metrobus to the middle of town, and hiked over to the national art musuem in the centro historico before coming back over to meet me for lunch.

This trip, I've had a very miserly habit of metioning the relative cost of things, usually related back to the cost of my typical lunch at the comida corrida hole in the wall. So I decided to take Tay there. The food is good, I've never gotten sick eating there, and its an example of what the common people of the city and country eat all the time. Home style Mexican cooking, basically.

So I got us seats at the tiny tables and ordered Tay and I calabasa squash salad and shredded chicken mole. He liked it- he said that it was the first type of squash he actually enjoyed. I need to see if its in the Rick Bayless book.

Anyway, that's a fast lunch, so we wandered back over to Zona Rosa to a Cafe Pendulo (a restaurant cafe bar with all the seating in the books) for a cup of coffee overlooking Calle Hamburgo. It was really nice, just enjoying talking over coffee.

I'd made a reservation at Azul Historico, a relatively new restaurant in one of the courtyards of the Downtown Hotel, a very cool hotel in one of the old palaces of the Centro Historico. The chef had two other restaurants in other parts of the city, and apparently, this one was much more focused on preparing authenic and traditional Mexican food. Rave reviews and not horrifically expensive either.

We had our reservation at 9, and so I'd planned to get off work at 7 and meet Tay at the apartment, but my work load at the office made me late, and instead I asked Tay to meet me at the Insurgentes metrobus station. I got there and waited for Tay before realzing that the metrobus stop was closed. Tay'd mentioned that his phone was dying in one of his last texts to me, and so I got a little worried, imaging Tay wandering around an area unfamiliar, at night, with no cell service. We were able to text, so I just raced over to the next stop where Tay was waiting for me, and we caught the metro to downtown.

The centro historico is beautiful at night especially, with the tourist hordes gone, and the ancient buildings lit up.

The courtyard we ate in was beautiful and kind of magical in the "pueblo magico" sense. The courtyard was filled with trees whose canopies covered the entire couryard, and from the canopy were suspended all kind of glowing pendants which lit the wood tables in the courtyard below.

We started off with Caiperhinas since Mexico is somewhat close to Brazil, and then for appetizers, Tay ordered cochinita pibl tacos and I got a flor de calabasa (squash flower) soup. They were both amazing. The best cochinita pibil I've had actually.

For the mains, we ordered fish. Tay's was red snapper on a bed of fried plantains, covered with tortilla strips, an avocado, and tomato salsa. Mine was also a red snapper, but in a sea of tomato sause apparently Veracruz style. The fish was good but kind of lost in the sauce.

We each got a dessert, which were good, but not as remarkable as the appetizers and entrees. The total damage including tip came to about 500 pesos each. This is the most expensive meal I've ever had in Mexico, but really, a drink, appetizer, main, desert and tip for less than $40 is still a steal. A meal here would easily be twice that in the US.

We wandered through the hotel, got a view from the roof deck, and then walked back along one my favorite places to walk at night, along the Alameda to the giant monument to the revolution. Tay waved a goodnight to the final resting place of Pancho Villa as we walked by.

In the morning, I said goodbye to Tay, gave him a big hug, and went off to work. Tay spent the morning packing and sorting and then he let himself out and caught a cab to the airport from the secure taxi stand near our apartment.

It was so good to see him, it really made me happy that he came here and braved Mexico City. I made him walk everywhere and how much we ran around and the altitude, he was looking a little tired by the end of the trip.

I was also happy that our culinary trip started with the Mexican Denny's and ended with one of the better restaurants in town, and actually very pleased by the symmetry of the first and last meals in palace courtyards in the old center.

Tay starts back to his final year of law school soon, and I'll be thinking about him.

Tay's visit also marks the endgame of Mexico for me. My last day is officially the end of September, which leaves me about a month left. I've already started applying in Boston and Germany, but now it feels like the late sunday afternoon of my Mexico City weekend, and it's time to start wrapping things up and writing my exit.

In about two weeks I'll be 29. In two months, I don't know where I'll be, although I'm hoping it's Germany.