The Christmas Fair

Earlier in the week I wrote about the preparations for the Christmas fair on the Zócalo.  On Thursday I went back to see what it looks like.  Although Alejandro and I are going downtown later today, I wanted to check the fair out on a weekday when it would be less crowded and easier to take photos.

The event is actually called a "Verbena Navideña".  A "verbena" in Spanish is a street party or festival held to celebrate a holy day.  This year's "verbena" is very similar to last year's.

The same as last year, there are three Christmas trees formed with live poinsettias.  More than 7000 plants were used to create the trees.

A large piñata with a Nativity scene in the center

A giant Holy Family with a very oversized Baby Jesus

There are numerous stands selling food and drink.

Many of them (but not the pizza) are traditional for this time of year.

For example "ponche" is a typical Christmas punch, and "romeritos y bacalao" is a common holiday dish.  "Bacalao" is cod fish and "romeritos" are a kind of green plant that tastes similar to spinach or Swiss chard.

Hanging over the south side of the Zócalo are two hundred piñatas.

Another feature from last year is a handicrafts market housed in a large tent.

There is a variety of handicrafts for sale.

Large examples of embroidery work done by the women of the Otomí tribe.

Decorative items woven from palm fronds

Beautiful hand-embroidered clothing

An entire table is filled with clay figures of jaguars from the town of Amatenango del Valle in the state of Chiapas. (No, I did not buy any for my collection... at least not yet.)

In front of the Cathedral is a stage for musical performances.  While I was wandering around there was a group playing jazz and another group playing tropical music.

In an upcoming post, I will have some pictures of the fair and the Christmas lights at night.

 

All Wrapped Up

As you can see from the photo, I have all my Christmas packages wrapped and ready to give to Alejandro's family on Christmas Eve.

In Mexico, the traditional day for giving gifts is January 6th, when the Three Kings deliver presents.  However, as gringo traditions such as Christmas trees and Santa Claus and the general commercialization of the holiday, made their way south of the border, gift-giving on Christmas became common for many families here.  Often, they are opened after returning from midnight mass on Christmas Eve.  However, Alejandro's father is not likely to stay awake until midnight, so we will probably open gifts after our Christmas Eve dinner.

I told you about my quest for gift boxes in an earlier post.  Well, after buying still MORE presents at the street market last weekend, I had to buy more boxes.  I also needed to buy ribbons and bows.  After buying the boxes, I was planning on dropping them off at the apartment, and then making another trip to a different part of town to buy the ribbons and bows at a fabric store called "Parisina".  However, as I was walking back to the Metrobus, I passed a craft store called "Fantasías Miguel".   My readers from the Cleveland area, may remember a chain of arts and crafts stores that we used to have called "Pat Catans".  This is similar but MUCH bigger.  I went inside and asked if they had ribbons and bows.  The employee told me they were upstairs.  There I found two long aisles with nothing but ribbons sorted by colors, and another aisle with bows.

I returned to the apartment with my supplies, and over the next two days, I finished the wrapping of the gifts.  Now, I just hope that they all fit into Alejandro's car!

A Different Place for Breakfast

On the weekends Alejandro and I usually go to a nearby branch a Toks, a restaurant chain that, unlike the Sanborns or VIPS, has not gone downhill since the pandemic.  The breakfasts are good, and the waitresses all know us.  However, I was in the mood to go somewhere different, so last Saturday, I suggested that we go to a place even closer to the apartment, a tea house called "Te Cuento".  The name is a place on words.  It means "I Tell You", but if one were speaking mangled Spanish, it could mean "Tea Story".  The restaurant is located in a charming older house, probably one of those that were built in the 1940s before the neighborhood was dominated by apartment buildings.

I had been there by myself once before for breakfast and I thought it was quite good.  Since then, it seems that they have expanded the menu.  Alejandro ordered a maple bacon breakfast sandwich, and I had a "croque madame", the French version of a toasted ham and cheese sandwich with a fried egg on top.

Our breakfasts were exceptionally tasty.  Since it is bills itself as a tea house, and they have a wide variety of teas, we both ordered tea instead of coffee.  I had a pot of Rooibos, a very nice herbal tea.  (They also have coffee for those who require a morning cup of joe.)

They are open until 10 PM and also serve light lunches and dinners.  Although Toks will remain our usual breakfast place, we will definitely return to "Te Cuento"... maybe even for dinner sometime.

Baby in the Bread

 When I go downtown to Mexico City's  "Centro Histórico" I often stop at a branch of "La Parroquia de Veracruz", a chain of a well known cafés.  As the name implies, the original is in the Gulf port city of Veracruz.  The food there is nothing special, but, even though I am not a big coffee drinker, I like their "café lechero", coffee served with steamed milk.  Besides, its location, just a couple blocks from the Zócalo, makes it a convenient spot for a restroom break.  That was the case last week when I was downtown.

"Café lechero" is the coffee specialty for which they are most famous, but as I entered I saw a sign advertising "café de olla" along with "Rosca de Reyes".

"Café de olla" (literally "pot coffee") is brewed in an earthenware pot with cinnamon and "piloncillo", a kind of Mexican brown sugar.  It is traditionally served in a clay mug.  I generally take a ton of sugar (or sugar substitute) in my coffee, but I usually don't have to add sugar to "café de olla".  "Rosca de Reyes" (Ring of the Kings) is a sweet bread that is served on January 6th, the Day of the Magi Kings.  In the past I have described how a little figure representing the Baby Jesus is baked in the bread.  Whoever gets the Baby Jesus in their slice is supposed to make tamales for everyone on February 2nd, the Feast Day of Candelaria.

I went inside and decided to order a slice of "Rosca" and a "café de olla".

The "Rosca" is decorated with candied fruit and "ate", a sweet made from fruit pulp and sugar.  Frankly, the bread was very dry, but the coffee was good.  The waitress was fun.  When she served me the "Rosca", she said that if I had the figure in my slice, I would have to bring tamales.  I said, "But that's not until February 2nd."  She responded, "You'll have plenty of time to make the tamales."

Well, as it turned out, I had the Baby Jesus in my slice.

I guess I should start looking up recipes for tamales.  😉

Preparing the Plaza

Last week I went downtown and checked out the Christmas preparations on the Zócalo once again.

The Christmas lights were all up, including the decorations that they were putting in place the previous week over 20 de Noviembre Avenue where is ends at the plaza.

Workers were busy setting up structures on the Zócalo.

I asked a policeman if they were going to have a Christmas fair similar to what they had last year.  He said yes, and that it would be open to the public beginning on December 17th (today).

From what I observed, it looked as if the fair was going to be identical to last year's.  There was a stage for musical events in front of the Cathedral.  The metal framework for large Christmas trees had been erected.  Last year the trees were been covered in live poinsettia plants.  I supposed they will do the same this year.

There were metal archways that were strung with lights.

To one side was a large tent.  Last year they had a tent with a large handicrafts market.  Perhaps they will do the same again this year.

Since then, I have been checking the webcam of the Zócalo on the internet.  I had my doubts as to whether or not everything would be ready by today.  Looking at the webcam this morning, perhaps they will be ready to open the Christmas fair by this evening.

 

Wrapping Up

Many years ago I would always wrap all the Christmas presents that I bought, and I took pride in making them look nice with ribbons and bows.  Then, at some point I became lazy and simply put them in gift bags.  Last week, when I was grocery shopping, I saw rolls of wrapping paper.  I guess a wave of nostalgia came over me, and I decided that I was going to wrap presents again.  Some of the gifts were easily wrapped, but other items, such as clothing, needed gift boxes.

Where was I going to find gift boxes?  I went to the little "papelería" (stationery store) around the corner, but they didn't have any.  Then I thought of "Lumen"... a chain of office supplies / art supplies / stationery store that I have mentioned before.  I found one on Google Maps that was not too far from the apartment.  I called and asked if they had gift boxes, and the lady on the phone said, "Yes".   So I headed off to "Lumen" with the big bag that I use when I go grocery shopping.  They did have boxes, although I wiped them out of the largest size.  I also added more rolls of wrapping paper, a package of gift tags, and a couple packages of tissue paper to the shopping cart.  However, they did not have ribbons or bows.

I went to the check out, and unfortunately some of the boxes did not have bar codes for the price.  Another employee had to go search for the prices.  I was embarrassed because there was a line of people behind me.  "Lo siento," (I'm sorry) I said to the lady behind me, and she smiled and said "No se preocupe." (Don't worry about it.)  The guy behind her, who had looked sort of impatient, kindly helped me fit all the stuff into my shopping bag after I had paid.  We joked about the fact that I needed a bigger shopping bag.

I made it back to the apartment with all of my supplies.

The boxes are now filled and wrapped.  However, after all the things Alejandro and I bought at the market along Paseo de la Reforma this weekend, I now need MORE boxes!  I guess I will have to go back to "Lumen", and hopefully they have restocked their shelf.  I also need to find a place that sells ribbons and bows.  Maybe "Parisina", the fabric store where I bought the green felt for my Nativity scene, will have them.

  

Market on the Boulevard

In addition to the Poinsettia Festival, a long stretch of Paseo de la Reforma, about a mile on both sides of the boulevard, was lined with market tents where vendors were selling a wide variety of wares.  It really wasn't a Christmas market, although there were certainly plenty ideas for gift-giving.

There were a few stalls selling holiday decorations such as these wreaths.

Even in Mexico you can find ugly Christmas sweaters (probably made in China).

Many vendors were selling artisanal food and beverage products.  This lady was serving tortas (Mexican sandwiches) of chicken, turkey or cod with "mole".

This cornbread (pan de elote) is not like what is served in the U.S.  In addition to corn, it is baked with cheese.

Artisanal "mole" pastes in different flavors...  red fruits, apple, special "mole" and pine nuts

Tablets of sweet or semi-bitter chocolate for making hot chocolate... 50 U.S. cents per piece.

Let's see.  Here we have spicy or natural French fries.  Good.  Spanish peanuts.  Good.  And grasshoppers with habanero chile.  No thank you!

A variety of liquors, including mezcal from Oaxaca

"Molcajetes", volcanic stone mortars for grinding up salsa.

There were quite a few handicrafts for sale.  These "sombreros" were cool, but I don't know if they had any to fit my fat head.

Wooden masks from the state of Guerrero.  Do I see some jaguars that I could add to my collection?

Handicrafts from the state of Chiapas, including more jaguars!

"Lucha libre" masks

Variations on the traditional "María" doll

This gentleman from Oaxaca set up his loom and was weaving fabric.  He had hand-woven clothing for sale.

More jaguars... these are intricately decorated with the beadwork of the Huichol tribe.

As would be expected from the laborious work that they entail, they were quite expensive.

There were a lot of things that I was interested in buying either as gifts or for myself.  However, I did not have very much money on me.  So, yesterday I dragged Alejandro to Reforma. We arrived around noon and spent the entire afternoon there.  We literally shopped 'til we dropped. I really thought that I was done with my Christmas shopping but we found more things to give to the family. And for myself, I bought some more jaguar heads to add to my collection.

You may recall that I collect jaguar figures and that I have a group of jaguar heads hanging on the wall in my apartment.

One of the vendors at the market was this young lady from the Mayan town of Amatenango del Valle in the state of Chiapas.  

The main economic activity there is the creation of figurines, modeled from clay and baked in the sun.  Many of these figurines are of the jaguars which used to live in the forests around the town.  I purchased this little head to add to my collection.

When I had visited the market a couple days before, I had not even been to the other side of Reforma.  Alejandro and I crossed the boulevard, and almost the last stand that we saw was of this talented artisan from the town of San Martín Tilcajete in the state of Oaxaca.

San Martín Tilcajete is the center for the creation of wooden "alebrijes".  He had some exquisite, and expensive, large pieces, but he also had several intricately painted jaguar heads.  I picked out one, but he was just finishing one in shades of gray that I really liked.  The paint was still wet, and we had to kill some time and wander around the market for another half hour.  We returned and purchased the two beautiful pieces that will be added to the wall.

   

By the time we were done at the market, night had fallen.  Alejandro took this photo of the full moon over Paseo de la Reforma.