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After another breakfast at Don Toribio restaurant (we discovered this wonderful restaurant near our hotel the morning before), we got an Uber to the start of Reforma to make the most of car-free Sunday mornings and see the alibrijes on display along the street.  This time we had a far nicer Uber driver, who first complimented me on my Spanish and then chatted with me for the entire journey, dropping us off at the best spot to start our walk.

We didn’t realise just how many alibrijes there were on display!  So colourful and cute, lining both sides of the street.  In addition, for the first part of our walk there were giant Catrina models, followed by Mexicraneos (giant brightly painted skulls).   I took so many photos.

My original plan was to walk up to the Anthropology museum, mainly to find the stall where I purchased some delicious esquites last time.  (esquites are sweetcorn, off the cob and warmed in a broth of herbs and spices, served in a polystyrene cup and topped with mayonnaise and cheese. Delicious!)  However, instead we took the wrong route and ended up in Chapultepec Park.  Not a problem, it was a lovely day and we decided to spend some time in the park instead.  Firstly I dragged Rob onto the land train – this was a fun way to rest our feet whilst getting a quick tour of the park.   After this, we retraced some of the train route to the beautiful Fuente del Quijote and then on to the boating lakes.  I purchased some Dorilocos – had to be done, as I was too ill last time we were here to face this local snack (Not sure I will try it again! Doritos covered in chilli/chamoy sauce, peanuts, grated carrot, jicama and jelly sweets) and we sat next to the quiet lake enjoying the beautiful day and getting bothered by cute squirrels.

Finally made it to the Anthropology museum and just sat outside with esquites, watching the Voladores.  Didn’t do the museum itself as we had visited it last time we were here and just wanted to sit outside in the sunshine, knowing we were soon to return to cold, rainy UK.

Walked back up the Reforma to see the rest of the alibrijes and continued our walk to the Popular Art museum – a longer walk than we thought!  So glad we finally made it here though, as its probably my favourite museum that I have visited in Mexico, folk art, creativity and historic artefacts, right up my street.  Too tired to walk any more, we got an Uber back the short distance to our hotel.

That evening, we went back to Café Bizarro in Roma district.  It was a lot quieter than Friday night and for some reason they seemed to have run out of practically everything on the drinks menu, but the music was great and it was perfect to spend our last evening in our favourite place in CDMX.

Photos part 1 – Reforma, Chapultepec park and many alibrijes https://vampyresheep.smugmug.com/Holidays/2022-Mexico/11-06-Chapultepec-Reforma-and-Popular-Art-Museum

Part 2: Popular Art museum and Café Bizarro https://vampyresheep.smugmug.com/Holidays/2022-Mexico/11-06-Sun-part-2-Popular-Art-Museum-Cafe-Bizarro/

There were two ways to get to Oaxaca (three if you count the night bus) – a winding, 8 hour bus ride over the mountains, nicknamed the Vomit Comet, or a more expensive but nippier 30 minute flight in a 12 seater Cessna.  We went for the latter and I was quite excited about this!

After going through the usual airport security palaver (I didn’t realise there was an issue carrying liquids on board a flight like this but it turns out, yes, airport security didn’t like it), we boarded the cute little plane and I was thrilled to get the front row.  The flight was way smoother than I expected and the views absolutely stunning, it was well worth doing.

We got to our hotel mid-morning, Casa de la Tia Tere, and unlike last time we stayed here, they asked us to come back at check-in time agreeing to hold our luggage in the meanwhile.  We headed into Oaxaca for brunch, returning to Café Nuevo Mundo, where we had our very first Mexican breakfast last time.  The food was still good, although Rob’s steak burrito had changed and now consisted of ground steak mixed in with the eggs.  Rob was also starting to feel a little delicate in the stomach, from what we suspect was our lunch on the beach the day before.

After brunch we took a wander around Oaxaca, stopping off at Espacio Zapata to look at the fantastic political and mural art, purchasing a print whilst we were there, through a little market on Plazuela Del Carmen Alto to get icecream from the Icecream Museum on the Alcala.  Our first, of many, tuna icecreams!  Stopped at the Organic Harvest food market for a drink and then back to the hotel.  We were still too early to check in, but they let us sit by the pool until our room was ready.   Eventually we were able to check in and I was thrilled to have a room that opened right onto the swimming pool!  My stomach was also starting to play up a tad by now, so we concluded this was definitely from our day on the beach.

We had however booked a table at a nice restaurant for that night, Tierra del Sol, so hoped we would be OK for that.  After a swim and freshen up, we headed back into town to see if we could catch the Magna Comparsa (parade) before our restaurant booking. Unfortunately the route had changed from last time and although we picked a decent spot, the parade hadn’t reached that far before we had to leave.

Tierra del Sol was lovely. A rooftop location next to the beautiful Santo Domingo church, specialising in moles.  I had duck with pipian mole (pumpkin seeds, nuts, coriander and various other ingredients including I assume chocolate).  The mole was absolutely divine but the duck was very tough, or it may have been the blunt knife!  After dinner we had a bit of a wander up and down the alcala and over to Plaza de la Danza where we caught the end of a concert. Rob was feeling a bit rough, so we decided to call it a night.

Photos https://vampyresheep.smugmug.com/Holidays/2022-Mexico/10-27-Cessna-Flight-and-Oaxaca