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