Saturday Afternoon at the Mall

I wrote on an earlier trip that new shopping mall, Parque Tepeyac, opened at the end of last year.  It is within walking distance of Alejandro's house or just two Metrobus stops away.  Yesterday afternoon he and I went to the mall and spent several hours there.

I also wrote previously that there are plans to open an aquarium at this mall.  It will be the largest aquarium in Latin America.  There was some doubt as to whether or not the aquarium would be built because neighborhood groups objected to its construction.  Residents were fearful that it would result in a shortage of water for the neighborhood.  Apparently, those objections have been overcome.  The builders have assured residents that the water for the aquarium would be shipped in from Veracruz on the Gulf coast, and they welcomed those local groups to serve in an advisory role on the construction.  Alejandro's sister has heard that the opening of the aquarium will be in October.  I suspect that once the aquarium is open and attracting crowds of visitors, the remaining empty store spaces in the mall will be filled. I have already noticed more stores have opened since the last time I here.

We think that the aquarium will be located on the top floor of the mall since there is currently nothing up there.

Sculptures of construction workers are sitting at the top of the mall.

Children can rent motorized dinosaurs to ride around the mall.  This triceratops looked big enough to accommodate an adult.

We browsed through various stores including the two department stores that anchor each end of the mall, Liverpool and Sears.  We noticed this clothing store which had recently opened... Lefties, an international clothing chain from Spain.  Well, since I am a leftie, we had to take a look.  Even though I certainly don't need more clothes, I bought a shirt that I liked.

In the middle of the mall, there is an artisanal ice cream shop, so we took a break and had a couple of scoops.  They had some sugar free flavors, so Alejandro was able to have a guilt-free treat.

I had a scoop of strawberry / cheese and a scoop of chocolate brownie (neither one was sugar-free).

"Ummm, that was good!"

We did actually have a reason for coming to the mall; Alejandro had to pick up a new pair of glasses he had ordered at an optician there.  Here he is in front of the shop debuting his brand-new "lentes".

The optician is part of a chain in Mexico City that has the whimsical name of "Ben & Frank".  I couldn't help but think of the U.S. ice cream brand of "Ben & Jerry's"!  

They promote themselves as a Mexican-made product and have a rather humorous website.  It says that you don't have to sell a kidney to see well and that glasses not only make you appear more intelligent but also better looking.  They proclaim that they are the ambassadors of "cuatro ojos" (four-eyes) pride and say that four-eyes will dominate the world!

Although I am perfectly satisfied with the price and quality of the glasses I got a year ago in downtown Mexico City, if Alejandro is happy with "Ben & Frank", I might get my next pair here.