Our Mexican Sojourn

Let me start by apologizing for the long gap between posts…the excuse is lame and clichéd, but we have been really very busy.

My parents and mother-in-law are visiting from India and we took a trip to Mexico City last month. This trip had been planned almost six months in advance, and we had allotted seven days for it. On our last day in Mexico, we realized that a week was not enough for seeing the myriad churches and other sights.

The first thing that hit us when we got out of the airport was that Mexico looked just like any big Indian city…we related it to Chennai because we are all from there. The roads, the traffic, the incessant honking, and the drainage odor wafting in the air, all felt very familiar; the only things unfamiliar were the people and the language.

We had been forewarned that the city was dangerous in the nights and that we should be extra cautious when using the public transportation or local taxis. It could be because of our experience in Indian buses and trains that we found the trains quite comfortable, except for the occasional peak time crowd.

We stayed in a serviced apartment and managed to cook at least two meals on most days, at other times we ate from local joints. Being a food enthusiast, I enjoyed all the dishes I ate there and have been planning to write about them.
This was our first international vacation and we enjoyed every single moment. Thanks to the Google translate App on my husband’s phone and research done by my father, we were able to cross the language barrier a bit.

Our first restaurant experience in the city taught us that the people there are extremely patient and accommodating, especially to tourists like us. Another interesting factor that we noticed was that most of the people there, including servers and vendors, are literate. We would show them the phone (with the translated queries) and they were able to respond accordingly.

Overall, I have only one thing to say, Mexico City and its nearby locations are worth visiting. The beautiful churches, ancient pyramids, and castles together make Mexico City and its surrounding areas a tourist’s paradise.

There were many roadside eateries all over the city. We did not venture to eat from there, because we weren't sure what all was being served

Appetizers: Tortialla chips and fresh bread

Tomato Soup

Vegetable enchiladas in a spinach cream sauce

We went to Isckon temple in Mexico city and this was part of the prasadam lunch provided there: Bread and potato stuffed empanadas (tasted like samosas)

Salad

Maha prasadm: Rice pudding and a berry pie

Fresh papaya juice

Fresh tamarind juice

Vegetable soup

Main course: rice, greens, and eggplant

Dinner made at home: Curd rice with exotic garnishing, spicy boondi and bhujiya sev with mango pickle

Lunch at La Zanahoria (The Carrot): Steamed vegetables with a spicy salsa

Fresh naranja (orange) juice

Another enchilada, but this one was in a salsa verde sauce. Tasty and lighter than the spinach and cream base

Dessert was from...any guesses? McDonalds...yes you read it right!!!

Varieties of bread bought from a bakery right across from our apartment. The breads were light and fluffy, with a nice crust. Another thing we liked was the price, four breads and one sandwich cookie together cost less than $1.50

This bread had sugar a encrusted outer crust, very yummy!

Sandwich cookie

Soup from a can and fresh bread, not a bad dinner!

Lunch at Dipao Restaurant

Olive oil and balsamic vinegar to go with bread

Vegetable Pizza

Vegetable Pizza

July 4th Weekend and Catching Up With Friends

We hope that you all had a lovely July 4^th weekend. We did…the whole week was extremely exciting. We got to meet two of our closest friends in the span of three days. We met one group at our home and the other at Sequoia National Park. It was a fun reunion. Driving to each other’s place seemed out of the question and that’s when Gomathi and I decided to pick a spot that neither of us had seen. The planning began a month in advance and we booked a cottage, fully equipped with a kitchen and accessories. So we decided to carry raw materials to cook at least one meal a day. Where is the fun without food, especially when foodies go on a holiday!

By the time we were packed for the trip, my husband had a very genuine doubt, ”Are we going there to eat or to see the place?” We truly had more food than anything else. But trust me, it was all worth it. When we finally met, the husbands had a gala time making fun of us, saying that they were expecting some classic Bollywood style drama…of me calling out to her from the parking lot and a slow-mo. run to greet each other :-). We are not drama queens, FYI.

After the meeting and greeting was done, we explored the park and returned to the cottage by late evening. Dinner comprised a simple fare of rice, rasam, and chips and we retired for the night. The next morning, after a hearty breakfast of bread and eggs, we headed back into the park. Our first destination was Moro Rock, a huge dome shaped rock equipped with a flight of 400 steps all the way to the top. It was an interesting climb with a narrow stairway, lots of people going up and down and us huffing and puffing our way through. By the time we returned to the foot of the rock we were all famished. A shuttle dropped us off at Wuksachi Lodge, an amazing restaurant inside the park premises. Even though the food took some time to come out, it was worth the wait. We had a pesto gratin and caprese for starters, corn chowder, pasta with marinara, chicken quesadilla, a kid’s meal with mac n cheese, and a vegan wrap. Everyone was so hungry that we attacked the food as soon as it came and I was left with only two photos of our lovely lunch. 

Caprese

Vegan Wrap

                                We completed the meal with a subtly flavored honey-lavender ice cream, which was delicious. We did a little more exploring and returned to the cottage in time for dinner. All the climbing and walking had made us super tired, but were looking forward to an interesting dinner. Here’s what we had:

Paneer-Bell Peppers-Onion Skewers

Grilled Corn

Smores (After)

A long weekend is never long enough and our vacation was nearing its end. The next morning saw all of us lazing for a while. While sipping on my coffee, I glanced through the kitchen window and realized that we had had an intruder in the night. The garbage can filled with paper plates and scraps of food had been left outside and it was now on the floor with everything strewn about. We also found some paw prints but could not identify our wild visitor. We cleaned up the space, got ready and finally checked out at about 11.00. After a quick picnic (thanks to Subway) at a nearby campground, we were ready to part ways again. We let down out husbands’ expectation of a weepy Bollywood style goodbye and soon were driving away in opposite directions.

Lots of walking, copious amounts of delicious food and good old gossip sessions…I say those are pretty good ingredients for an awesome vacation!!!