This is the world’s largest natural stone mosaic covering 4,000 square METERS of the central library at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. No paint just millions of pieces of stones telling the history of Mexico. This is a huge university…300,000 students! Check out Wikipedia for UNAM…they have 26 museums, campuses in 9 countries with very rigorous entry requirements. While the present day UNAM was founded it in 1910, it was founded as a secular alternative to the Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico. It is considered the first (or one of first) universities in the North Americas…founded in 1551! (By comparison, Harvard was founded in 1636 and Berkeley in 1868)
We stayed in a whole new area of the city for us. It was just perfect for our needs…which included visiting a friend, finding tile, and eating excellent food. All were accomplished! (easily, except for packing the tile)
By the time we got to Mexico City we had been traveling for about 2 weeks so we were ready to relax, and stayed in a perfect Marriot near our friend’s house. Sometimes a Marriot feels like home! This was a place where business people come for meetings etc. The staff was clearly perplexed how we ended up there but so very kind and helpful. As always the person who spoke English best was the doorman/porter who eventually shared his life story of working in the US (ChicagoI think) but eventually returning home.
On arrival to Mexico City we were a bit bleary from the bus ride through the city traffic and US Level 4 labeled countryside. After spending the past week deep in the Mexican culture of historical cities, it was fun (in a jarring sort of way) to find ourselves in a German restaurant serving Irish beer and bratwurst as well as delicious lentil soup while playing some great Mexican music videos. It was filled with men and women in nice suit coats eating salchichas loaded with sauerkraut. That is the fun of Mexico City. Like any large city it embraces the cultures of so many places but somehow in Mexico City they often seem to do it by crazily mixing it all together. I doubt many German restaurants serve pickled jalapeños with their hot dog. I think we need more of that in the world but I also loved being able to eat a wonderful dinner in a beautifully preserved home from the early 1600s later in our visit. A terrific blending of the new and old from all over the world.One morning I saw the staff bustling around for a frenzied couple hours setting up an elaborate breakfast meeting here for about 40. I think the meeting lasted less than a half hour. I would have been irritated. The staff looked so joyful afterwards…instead of annoyed. A good lesson….
Our first night there, Patricia and friend took us to a wonderful restaurant. We are so appreciative of our friend’s kindness in accepting that we really haven’t come close to fluency in Spanish but yet there was a sense of understanding each other with lots of simple sentences in English and Spanish …mixed with lots of laughter…and intermittent use of live translate open on our phones. Her friend is a sculptor and while we could not speak deeply about his art there is clearly something that transcends language when you share your artwork with someone.
The first clue you are in a nice restaurant is when they serve the margarita in a silver carafe in its own silver ice bucket. I’m very critical about margaritas outside of LB but I would give this one 5 stars.…and when you see 3 large bouquets of flowers in the bathroom it’s pretty convincing…(I didn’t get pics of all 3 bouquets because the attendant was sitting next to one and felt bad about asking to take her pic).….That you are in a very special restaurant! It was so beautiful but I felt odd taking pictures as I was afraid I was amongst movie stars and politicians who would not appreciate it so I just took pictures of the courtyard and bathroom. The pics on their website are better anyways.
The name of the restaurant is the San Angel Inn (it’s not an Inn anymore though). The home was first built in 1616. At one time it was a 90 acre ranch but now it is a very elegant restaurant that is completely hemmed in by the bustling city. Definitely interesting to Google it’s history. Better yet, go there for dinner and do not forget to use the bathrooms. (The food was excellent too).
Yet another excellent dinner. Brant has found a kindred spirit, another lover of the Cuba libre. Salud! This restaurant was at the Arcos Bosques, a giant office complex combined with a very high end shopping mall. (The restaurant even had power banks they brought to your table if your phone charge was low. I never would have thought to have asked but this appeared to be a common request). This is a giant skyscraper built in the shape of an arch. I did wonder about the wisdom of building a 36 story arch in an earthquake prone city.The slanted glass roof is the dramatic entry to the mall. When I walked through I did not realize I was under the arch (or I would have walked faster)!
We are so grateful to our friend for patiently showing us around Mexico City (unbelievable traffic in a downpour)….places we never would have found without her. She took us to a brand new part of the city with huge skyscrapers containing ultra modern apartments designed to attract wealthy businesspeople. The area is called Santa Fe. And jokingly, it is referred to as Santa Fe, New Mexico by those living in Mexico City. (Those living in Mexico City just call it Mexico—leaving out the word city).
Definitely a different kind of Santa Fe, New Mexico !
Patricia was kind enough to battle the traffic and take us to some tile stores. We were lucky enough to find some concrete tiles at a store I happened to find on instagram. The hard part was figuring out how to transport them home in our luggage, but we did!
Here we are in Moart mosaicos. The store owner and our friend had a detailed discussion about how it seems Americans love their shop. Maybe it’s their instagram postings? Whatever it is, I think they look great in our new kitchen!I think (Brant might disagree) that all our wandering through the city for bubble wrap was worth it…all 18,000 steps worth. I described it as burbuja then made a wrapping motion which worked very well to get us directions . (I remembered the word burbuja from swim lessons at summer camp, “Sopla burbujas!”). It was interesting to see the look on the Uber driver’s face when he lifted my bag into the trunk…. A bit heavier than expected! I pointed and said, “azulejos de concreto” but he just looked at me strangely.I chuckled when I saw a rendition of our tiles in our hotel. Now I just need the table and chairs.We found some tasty Japanese food during our search. Seemed odd to order Japanese in Spanish.And while we racked up 18,000 steps in our search for burbuja wrap we also took time to admire the infrastructure of the city!They even have shops to fix your cell phones. Love the “easy fix” in English.
Once again, we loved Mexico City. It is young, vibrant and diverse. On our trip we visited 4 cities, Oaxaca, Pueblo, Taxco and Mexico City. Each city very unique from each other but all very busy and thriving. In each city we saw very different sites, ate different foods and enjoyed different activities. But I did find good coffee in all 4! (Oaxaca and Mexico City tie for best coffee).
The coffee here was excellent and only about 2 dollars for a flat white.…and I discovered we both like flat whites the best. The coffee at this spot was was outstanding!!! (I think this was Alquimia Cafe)
Best of all, was the time spent with Patricia and the realization despite our language barriers how much we enjoyed the same things: food, drink and most importantly, art. An afternoon spent painting together was so perfect and timeless. (I truly thought we had only painted for an hour until Brant told me it was 3).
As we always tell our friends, LB is a tiny piece of Mexico that we initially fell in love with because of its unique combination of mountains, desert and ocean with its kind of rustic lifestyle (well up until about 10 years ago). So far, we have never found a place like it anywhere in the world. This trip provided us with a great excuse to learn about the complex history of Mexico. The Baja was spared most of this often brutal history likely because of its hostile climate and relative lack of riches (kite boarding and SUP apparently not important to the original explorers). It is lucky for us that a country filled with such a rich culture is a quick flight away. Interesting that I don’t think we saw/met anyone but Mexican tourists (perhaps we met a few in Oaxaca) in such a beautiful place. (So very different in similar places in Europe). We finished the trip with a list of new places to explore and for me, an even greater desire to learn Spanish along with its history.
Once again I was flummoxed by my attempt to see Luis Barragan’s home. Next time!
(the background is a photo)
…and maybe next time I will write this in Spanish.
