Eating Russian

When we returned from our excursion to see the new airport, we were at Buenavista Station.  Just on the other side of Insurgentes Avenue is the neighborhood of Santa María la Ribera.  We had not eaten since breakfast, and Alejandro asked me if I knew of any good restaurants there.  I said that I had eaten at a couple places there, so we crossed the avenue and walked to the plaza in the center of the neighborhood.

One of the restaurants that I know is called Oaxacaquí.  It is a tiny hole-in-wall place that serves excellent Oaxacan food.  Unfortunately, there was a line waiting for a table.  

The other place, just down the street, is a Russian restaurant called Kolobok.  

I had eaten there once before and liked it.  However, they opened a branch not far from the apartment, and I was not as impressed.  There were tables available so we decided to see if this branch, the original restaurant, was still as good as it was before.

We both began with borscht, a traditional Russian beet soup.  It was quite good.  For the main course, Alejandro ordered the beef Stroganoff with mashed potatoes.

I ordered something called "pelmeni" which the menu described as raviolis stuffed with beef and pork and served with sour cream.  They turned out to be a Russian variation of Polish pierogis.

When I saw the little bowl, I thought that it was a rather small serving.  However, by the time I finished them, I was full.

We finished by sharing a piece of honey cake, one of their specialties.

The service was slow, but the food was good and something quite different than normal.  

The White Elephant Airport

I wrote in the last post that we took the new train to the Felipe Angeles International Airport (known as AIFA) last weekend.

It was a short walk from the train station to the airport terminal.

 The terminal is attractive, bright, shiny and clean.  But there is none of the hustle and bustle you associate with airports.  Heck, it makes the airport at Cleveland, Ohio, look hectic.  Some areas are eerily empty.

Why are there so few people?  There are not that many flights, and most people simply do not want to put up with the inconvenience of traveling so far to get to the airport.

Here is the departures board.  Most of the flights are operated by Viva, a Mexican budget airline.  It's called an "international airport", but there were only two flights to Bogotá, Colombia listed.  None of the airlines from the United States, Canada, Europe or Asia wish to move their operations to this remote airport.

And here is the arrivals board...

Even though Viva is the main airline here, there was no one lined up at the counter, and no employees present.

There are supposedly flights to Caracas on a Venezuelan carrier called Conviasa (not surprising since the government was buddy-buddy with the Maduro regime).  Maybe the flight to Caracas had left earlier that day, but that counter was also devoid of life.

From the upper floor there is a walkway leading to the roof terrace of the building which houses the ground transportation terminal and parking garage.

The terrace is decorated with fiberglass figures of cactuses, each one painted by a different artist.  These have appeared along Paseo de la Reforma and on the Zócalo.  Perhaps this will be their permanent home.

 

In my opinion the airport is a white elephant, a vanity project of former President López Obrador.  He supposedly terminated construction of the planned Texcoco airport (which would have been much closer to the city) due to environmental concerns and corruption.  I suspect that López Obrador also wanted to deny his predecessor, Peña Nieto, the glory of having initiated what would have been the world's largest airport.  AIFA was extremely costly when you factor in the money that had already been spent on the Texcoco airport and the billions paid out for suspended contracts.

   

The Train to the Airport

For a number of years Alejandro and I have been talking about driving north of Mexico City to see the facilities of the controversial new international airport.

By the early 2000s, even with the addition of a second terminal, it was clear that Mexico City's Benito Juárez International Airport was reaching its capacity.  In 2014 President Peña Nieto announced plans to build a new airport located on the dry bed of Lake Texcoco just three miles to the east of the existing airport.  It would replace Benito Juárez.  With six runways, two main terminals and two satellite terminals it was going to be the largest airport in the world.

Construction was underway when the new President López Obrador claimed that the planned airport was fraught with corruption and environmental concerns.  Construction ceased, and plans were made to build a second airport at the site of a Mexican air force base located 22 miles north of the city limits.  The cancellation of the Texcoco airport cost the government billions of dollars.

Lopez Obrador's airport was named Felipe Angeles International Airport (or AIFA for short), and it opened in March of 2022.  It was immediately criticized for being far from the city, and lacking convenient transportation connections.  Almost all international airlines have snubbed AIFA and continue to use Benito Juárez Airport.  A train to the airport was supposed to be completed by the end of 2023, but there were constant delays.  The trainline was not inaugurated until April of 2026.

Now that the train was running, we decided to check out AIFA.  We took the Metrobus up Insurgentes Avenue to the Buenavista Station.

Back in the day when Mexico had an extensive network of passenger trains, this was the capital's main train station.  Today it is a large shopping mall.  However, the train tracks are still under the mall.  In 2008 a suburban commuter line was opened, and now there is the line to go to AIFA.

We didn't have to wait long for a train.  

The trains are shiny and clean.  However, this long-awaited trainline really is not an efficient means of transport to the airport.  It is an not express train.  There are 10 stops along the route, and it took 50 minutes to reach the airport.  Since we got on at the beginning of the line, we had seats, but as more people got on at other stops, there was standing room only.

We finally arrived at the airport station.

We spent over an hour checking out the AIFA terminal (my next post will be about that), and then we headed back to the city.

We had window seats, so I was able to take some videos on the return trip.

The north side of the metropolitan area is not especially attractive.  It is not a scenic train ride.

All in all, I would say that the Buenavista - AIFA train works better as a commuter train serving the northern reaches of the metropolitan area than as a quick way to get to the new airport.

 

Women Play Soccer Too

Although everyone is excited about the upcoming men's championship, this statue of a woman and her daughter playing "fútbol" is a reminder that soccer is not just a man's sport.

Soccer Stars

Along Paseo de la Reforma there is currently a display of posters of "fútbol" stars from previous World Cups going back to 1970.  One side of the poster shows the country in which the championship was played; the other side a photo of an outstanding player from those games.  Usually, but not always, they were members of the winning team.  I have heard of some of the players... Pelé, Maradona, and Messi... but the rest of them were unknown to me.

In 1970 the World Cup was held in Mexico.

 

Brazilian superstar Pelé led his team to victory that year, the third win for Brazil.

In 1974 the Cup was hosted by Munich, West Germany.

The home team won the championship, and one of their top players was Franz Beckenbauer.

In 1978 the games were held in Argentina.

The home team won, but there were are accusations of interference by the military dictatorship.  Perhaps, that is way an Argentinian is not pictured.  Instead, Hugo Sánchez, who is regarded as the greatest Mexican soccer player of the 20th century is honored.  In spite of the fact that Mexicans are passionate "fútbol" fans, the country has never won a World Cup.

In 1982 Spain hosted the games.

Italy was the winner, and one of the team's top players was Marco Tardeilli.

 

In 1986 the World Cup returned to Mexico.

Argentina won (fair and square this time), and the team was led by one of the most famous players of all time, Diego Maradona.

 

The 1990 games were held in Italy.

West Germany won the Cup that year, and one of their players was Lothar Matthaus.

 

In 1994 the United States hosted the games, and the final was played in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.

Brazil was the first country to win four championships.  The star of the team was Romario.

  

In 1998 the World Cup was held in France.

The host country won the Cup, and the top French player was Zinedine Zidane.

The 2002 games were held in Japan and South Korea.  It was the first time that the Cup was held in Asia and the first time that it was hosted by two countries.

Brazil won for a record five times.  Pictured is Ronaldo Luis Nazario de Lima, who is simply known as Ronaldo.

Germany was the host in 2006.

The tournament was won by Italy, whose team included Francesco Totti.

In 2010 the games were held in South Africa, the first African country to host the Cup.

Spain won its first world title, and one of their players was Andrés Iniesta.

The 2014 games were held in Brazil.

The winning team that year was Germany.  However, Colombian player, James Rodríguez, who played for his home team that year is pictured.

The controversial choice for the 2018 games was Russia.

The championship went to the French team, and one of its players was Kylian Mbappé.

Another controversial choice was Qatar in 2022.

Argentina won their third World Cup, led by captain Lionel Messi.