Guacamole

Frequently I make a very simple version of guacamole by simply mashing an avocado with some salt and pepper, the juice of half a lime, and some salsa or ground chipotle pepper.  However, my salsa cookbook has an entire chapter of guacamole recipes.  (Technically, guacamole is a salsa... "mole" comes from the Aztec word "molli", meaning sauce.)

I decided to make a recipe for guacamole with cooked "tomatillos", the Mexican fruit which looks like a green tomato covered with a husk.  They are used to make "salsa verde" (green sauce).

The recipe calls for 2 ripe Hass avocados, one serrano pepper, 6 husked "tomatillos", 1/4 cup of chopped onion, and salt.  I did not put in chopped cilantro leaves, not because I dislike cilantro, but because it seems a waste to buy a bunch of cilantro when the recipe only calls for 2 tablespoons.

The flesh of the avocados is coarsely mashed with some salt.

The "tomatillos" and the Serrano pepper (which has been stemmed, seeded and deveined) are cooked in water.

The "tomatillos", pepper and chopped onion are ground into a paste in a "molcajete" (a volcanic stone mortar).

The mashed avocados are then combined with the "tomatillo" paste.

If I were ever to make this recipe again, I would use half the "tomatillos" and perhaps more avocado.  The tartness of the "tomatillos" overwhelmed the avocados, and it tasted more like green sauce than guacamole.  I will just stick to my quick and simple version of guacamole.

Auf Wiedersehen

Sunday was Christoph and Sabrina's last day in Mexico City.  After breakfast, Alejandro and I took them to see some of the sights in the "Historic Center".

We went in the Metropolitan Cathedral, but unfortunately the most impressive of the church's altarpieces, the Altar of the Kings, was covered with scaffolding.  As with many places in the city, it would appear that it too is being spruced up in anticipation of the crowds of tourists that will arrive for the World Cup this summer.

Next to the Cathedral is the archaeological site where the foundations of the main Aztec temple were uncovered.  Christoph was keen to see that, so we wandered through the excavations and visited the adjoining museum that contains the thousands of artifacts discovered on the site.

That evening we invited them to a farewell dinner at Bellini, the revolving restaurant on the 45th floor of the World Trade Center.  It is the largest revolving restaurant in the world, and in the course of 1 hour, 45 minutes, makes a complete revolution, offering a 360 degree view of the city.

We were joined by our friend Andrés who was visiting the city for the weekend.  We arrived  around 6 PM hoping to get a good view of the sunset.  Unfortunately, the sky was overcast, and we only had a brief glimpse of the setting sun.  However, we were able to see the vast city below us by day and by night.

Early the next morning, our visitors left on the next leg of their journey through Mexico, a bus ride to Oaxaca.  It was a pleasure to host our Swiss guests and to show them some of the sights.  In three days they only scratched the surface of what there is to see here.  We hope that they enjoyed their stay as much as we enjoyed hosting them and that they will return in the future to see more of this great city.

Auf wiedersehen!

 

A Night at the Ballet

Last Saturday, our guests from Switzerland had a day on their own.  They had booked a sunrise flight in a hot air balloon over the pyramids of Teotihuacan.  They had to leave the apartment in the wee hours of the morning to be taken to the archaeological site located 25 miles to the north of Mexico City.  They booked with the same company that Alejandro and I used last year, except that they booked an entire package.  After the balloon ride, they had breakfast, and then time to explore the ruins.  They returned in the afternoon and said that it was a wonderful experience.

Alejandro and I had our own plans on Saturday.  Long before we knew that Christoph and Sabrina were going to visit, I had bought tickets for a performance of Swan Lake at the historic  Metropolitan Theater in downtown Mexico City.  The building opened in 1943 as a movie theater, and is one of the few opulent movie houses from the era to survive.  It was abandoned in the 1990s, but in 1996 it was bought by a production company and refurbished.  It is now the venue for all sorts of musical performances, usually concerts by Mexican and international pop stars.

(image taken from the internet)

When we saw that Tchaikovsky's ballet "Swan Lake" was going to be performed at the theater, I went ahead and purchased tickets.  I must say that I am not really a fan of classical ballet... prima ballerinas in tutus dancing on tiptoes.   The only ballet that I have ever seen is "The Nutcracker".  However, I do love the music of Tchaikovsky, and I figured that the Kiev Ballet must be a top-notch troupe.

(image taken from the internet)

As it turned out, the music was recorded and not performed by a live orchestra.  The volume of the recording was a bit to loud.  Furthermore, the "Kiev Ballet" is a touring group that was founded in 2017... not a dance company of long-standing tradition.  Since I am not a ballet buff, I really cannot fairly judge the quality of the performance.  However, it seemed to me that the dancers did a competent, but not spectacular job.  Both Alejandro and I nodded of a couple of times.  All in all, the evening did not inspire us to rush out and see more ballet (except, of course, for the Ballet Folklórico de México, which is an entirely different kind of experience).

(photo taken by Alejandro)

 

Playing Tour Guide

On Friday, I spent the day with my Swiss visitors, Christoph and Sabrina.  They are vegans, so I thought that they would have a difficult time in carnivorous Mexico to find places to eat.  Surprisingly, Sabrina found a number of vegan restaurants online.  So we headed by Metrobus to the Condesa neighborhood for breakfast at a place called "Mora Mora". 

Both Christoph and I ordered vegan chilaquiles.  They were not like traditional chilaquiles, but I must say they were quite tasty.  And the salsa that they used was excellent.

We then walked through the leafy Condesa neighborhood, including the lovely "Parque México".  We got back on the Metrobus to go to our destination for the day... the National Museum of Anthropology.

We arrived just in time to see the "Voladores" (Flyers) performing a ceremony which dates back to pre-Hispanic times.

As I had written in an earlier post, I had prepared a highlights tour of the enormous museum that I hoped would take about two hours.  They both seemed to enjoy their tour and were impressed with the museum.

The impressive fountain in the museum courtyard

We had to laugh at the policeman who was frequently blowing his whistle when people would stand under the cascading water.

The famous Aztec Sun Stone, perhaps the most famous piece in the museum.

Our tour ended up lasting more than two hours, and by the time we were done our jet-lagged travelers were growing weary.  I didn't get a lot of sleep the night before, so I also was also tired.  We agreed to return to the apartment rather than seeing the special exhibit at the nearby Museum of Modern Art.

After resting awhile, Sabrina found a "taquería" nearby that had a number of vegan taco options.  So they were able to stick to their vegan diet, while I had regular tacos with meat.

It was a great but tiring day!

Get Me to the Airport

Yesterday I wanted to go to the airport to meet my Swiss cousin's son and his girlfriend upon their arrival in Mexico City.  I was coming from the apartment.  Alejandro was at the family house and was going to drive to the airport, which is not too far away.  Then Alejandro would be able to drive us all back to the apartment.

It was going to be rush hour, and I really didn't want to take a taxi or Uber in the traffic.  I decided to use public transportation.  There used to be a Metrobus that went directly from the old Buenavista Train Station to the terminals.  However, the powers that be decided to change that route, and now you have to transfer buses at the San Lázaro stop.  It is no longer a convenient option.  I studied the Metrobus and Metro maps and discovered that I could take Line 1 of the Metrobus (the route that passes close to the apartment) and travel north along Insurgentes Avenue to La Raza stop.  There I could transfer to a subway line that would take me to the airport.

I was a little hesitant since I have never done this route before.  Also, being rush hour, I was afraid that the bus and subway would be uncomfortably crowded.  Nevertheless, I left the apartment and allowed plenty of time to arrive.

Surprisingly the Metrobus was not too crowded, and after a couple of stops I actually had a seat.  I got off at La Raza, a busy, chaotic transport hub in a neighborhood that is not the greatest. Nevertheless, I found the entrance to the subway without any trouble.  I did have to walk some distance through a tunnel to reach Line 5 of the subway.  It's an interesting walk because it is lined with astronomical photos dealing with the universe, the solar system, the moon and the formation of planet Earth.  

Line 5 is quite short, so there were not many people on the subway.  In spite of the hour, I had a seat for my brief journey.  I got off at the "Terminal Aérea" station.  From a review I had read on Google Maps, I thought that it was going to be a rather complicated walk to get to the airport, including a pedestrian bridge to cross a highway.  I don't know if changes have been made, or if the reviewer had left the station through the wrong exit.  It was a piece of cake.  After leaving the station, the sidewalk went directly to airport Terminal 1, which is where the Lufthansa flight was arriving.  I was there with plenty of time to spare and no problems at all.  It is definitely a route that I will use again if I need to meet someone at the airport.

The airport right now is a mess.  Both terminals are undergoing renovations in time for the World Cup this summer.  

     

As I got nearer to the international arrivals area, the terminal appeared to be closer to completion.  It looked fresh and brightly illuminated.

I sat down at in a seat at the arrivals area.  (Previously, there had been no seats there for people to wait.)  I watched the sliding doors from which people were passing after clearing customs.  However, Christoph and Sabrina must have come through a different set of doors, and I did not see them.  Fortunately Alejandro arrived at the moment that they were coming out, and he recognized them from a photo I had shown him.  He called me.  "Where are you?" he asked.  I looked around and saw the three of them perhaps thirty feet away.

They were very tired after their long journey, but happy to see us and know that we would take them under their wing.

Flying the Circle

In between getting ready for the arrival of my cousin and his girlfriend, I have been checking the progress of their flight on a website called "FlightAware".  Earlier when I took this photo of my laptop screen, their flight was approaching the coast of Greenland.

When looking at a flat map, it would seem that the shortest route between two points would be a straight line.  This circular route looks as if it would be going far out of the way.  But in fact, when dealing with a three dimensional globe, the shortest distance is an arc.  Most trans-Atlantic flights circle far to the north into Arctic regions.  On several flights home from Europe I have looked out the window and viewed Greenland with its glaciers and coastline indented with fjords.

The Tour Guide Returns

If you have read my blog over a period of time, you know that I enjoy playing "tour guide" to friends and relatives that visit Mexico.  At the end of last month, I received a message that Christoph, the son of one of my Swiss cousins*, and his girlfriend are coming to Mexico City.  Since they had not yet made hotel reservations, I invited them to stay here at the apartment, and I offered to show them around.  They will arrive this evening after flying on Swiss International Airlines from Zurich to Frankfurt and then taking the direct Lufthansa flight to Mexico City.

Obviously, I am very excited and thrilled to show them the kind of hospitality that my Swiss family has shown me on my visits there.  I have been busy preparing the guest bedroom and preparing a light supper for them after their long flight.

Yesterday, I read that the Lufthansa pilots were going on strike for two days over a breakdown of negotiations on pensions.  I feared that their arrival would be delayed by two days.  Then I read that, in spite of the strike, the airline planned to run 50% of their flights, 60% of their long-haul flights.  I had hope that they might arrive today as scheduled.  Christoph said yesterday afternoon that he had not received any notification that the flight had been cancelled.  This morning I woke up at 5:00 AM (noon, Frankfurt time).  I sent a message to Christoph and asked if the flight was on schedule.  He immediately replied that everything looked good.  As I write this, according to the Lufthansa website, the cabin doors were closed, and the plane was leaving the runway.  They are on their way to Mexico!

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One of the places that they have said that they want to visit is the National Museum of Anthropology, one of the great museums of the world.  It is impossible to see everything in this vast museum, so I will give them a highlights tour of about two hours.  Although I have guided other visitors through the museum in the past, I wanted to refresh my memory.  So last week I went to the museum, reviewed the items I want to show them, and even took some notes.

Out of the enormous museum collection, I am going to concentrate on just four galleries...

The Olmecs... Mexico's oldest civilization

Colossal stone head carved by the Olmecs

The Mayas... one of the most advanced of Mexico's pre-Hispanic civilizations

Jade funerary mask of Pakal, king of the Mayan city of Palenque

Teotihuacan... the mysterious civilization that built the largest city in pre-Hispanic America

Reproduction of the Temple of Quetzalcoatl at Teotihuacan

The Aztecs... the great empire which fell to the Spanish conquerors

The monolithic Aztec Sun Stone

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* In genealogical terms, the child of a cousin is a cousin once-removed.  However, according to Alejandro, in Mexico the son or daughter of a cousin is considered a nephew or a niece.