The woman who owns our condo told us about this market that happens each Tuesday just 100 feet from the entrance to our condo building. The fruits and vegetables were absolutely beautiful. They really go all out in displaying their wares. Everything was so good! The array and quality of the fruit is unbelievable. I'm going to be very sad when we go home and leave all this fruit behind.
After sampling until our bellies were full and stocking up on produce for the week ($3 for a flat of eggs, 70¢ for four tomatoes, $1.70 for a huge head of lettuce, celery, and cilantro), we left the twins behind and went into the main part of town. Jake wanted a soccer jersey for his birthday and since we were rained out the day before, we went shopping. Luke was still limping around, so we wouldn't be able to walk too much and there's no way he could crowd onto the metro without getting stepped on, so he wanted to stay home (and take advantage of the unregulated access to video games, I'm sure) and Ike decided shopping didn't sound like much fun either.
With just the three of us, we headed for the metro and squeezed into a train heading east to the center of town. When I say squeezed, I mean squeezed! Sardines have it good compared to the east bound green line passengers. If you've ever seen those pictures of people on subways in Japan or China, that's exactly how we were and this was mid-day, not rush hour! Luke would have had his foot stomped on for sure. It was interesting to experience once, but I'd rather walk a mile and a half each way.
Right out of the subway station we exited was the Palacio de Correos de Mexico, the post office. It is incredible and still operating as a post office! It was built in 1907. It sustained pretty heavy damage in the earthquake in 1985, but was restored beautifully.
After sampling until our bellies were full and stocking up on produce for the week ($3 for a flat of eggs, 70¢ for four tomatoes, $1.70 for a huge head of lettuce, celery, and cilantro), we left the twins behind and went into the main part of town. Jake wanted a soccer jersey for his birthday and since we were rained out the day before, we went shopping. Luke was still limping around, so we wouldn't be able to walk too much and there's no way he could crowd onto the metro without getting stepped on, so he wanted to stay home (and take advantage of the unregulated access to video games, I'm sure) and Ike decided shopping didn't sound like much fun either.
With just the three of us, we headed for the metro and squeezed into a train heading east to the center of town. When I say squeezed, I mean squeezed! Sardines have it good compared to the east bound green line passengers. If you've ever seen those pictures of people on subways in Japan or China, that's exactly how we were and this was mid-day, not rush hour! Luke would have had his foot stomped on for sure. It was interesting to experience once, but I'd rather walk a mile and a half each way.
Right out of the subway station we exited was the Palacio de Correos de Mexico, the post office. It is incredible and still operating as a post office! It was built in 1907. It sustained pretty heavy damage in the earthquake in 1985, but was restored beautifully.
Our next stop was the Torre Latinoamericana, the Latin-American Tower. It's 44 stories and was built in 1956. It was the tallest building in Latin America for a while, but is 4th or 5th now. It withstood the 1985 earthquake without any damage. Our timing was perfect. Just as we walked into the lobby to buy tickets, it began pouring. They told us the glassed-in floors were open, but not the open-air deck at the top because of the lightning. We headed up and enjoyed some incredible views of the city. Within 30 minutes it had stopped raining and we got to go out onto the roof after all.
We then decided, since there were only three of us, to eat at the restaurant on the 41st floor. We'd heard it was fancy and expensive. Though it was very nice and the views were fantastic, it wasn't expensive by American standards. It was an Italian restaurant, so Jake and I had pasta dishes that were about $15 and Matt had filet Mignon for about $20. It wasn't cheap, but considering the location and how nice it was, we were pleasantly surprised and Jake got a nice birthday dinner a day late.
We then decided, since there were only three of us, to eat at the restaurant on the 41st floor. We'd heard it was fancy and expensive. Though it was very nice and the views were fantastic, it wasn't expensive by American standards. It was an Italian restaurant, so Jake and I had pasta dishes that were about $15 and Matt had filet Mignon for about $20. It wasn't cheap, but considering the location and how nice it was, we were pleasantly surprised and Jake got a nice birthday dinner a day late.
There's a huge boulevard between the Latin-American Tower and the Zócalo that is closed to traffic and is the main shopping area. Jake didn't have any luck finding his jersey, but they both found some nice dress shirts that were a great bargain and we enjoyed people watching and looking at the amazing architecture. There are so many historic buildings downtown.
After shopping, we strolled through the Alameda Central, the park next to the Palacio de Bellas Artes and then went back up into the Latin-American Tower one more time to see the city at night. By that time it was close to 10pm and our metro ride home was much better, we even got seats.