New Years Eve

Chapultepec Park

Chapultepec Park is one of the largest public green spaces in Latin America. The public park has tree lined paths filled with venders and houses a zoo, a lake for boating and a number of art and history museums. It’s a popular weekend spot, especially on Sunday when the museum entrances are free.

I decided, perhaps unwisely, the join the crowds on this beautiful sunny day. I climbed the hill to the Castillo of Chapultepec to be rewarded with an expansive view of the surrounding landscape. Once the residence of Mexican rules, the Castle now houses the National History Museum. The museum offers a concise history beginning with the conquest through the revolution. I especially enjoyed the murals of O’Gorman and Siqueiros.

The stroll down the highest hill of the park was a lot more leisurely despite the increasing crowds. Since I had visited the Museum of Modern Art on a previous trip, I walked to the Museum of Rufino Tamayo. The contemporary art is housed in a unique concrete and glass building that was awarded the national prize for architecture in 1981. The current exhibit featured several South Korean artists and the permanent exhibit included works by O’Keefe, Miró and Tamayo himself.

Frida and Diego

Frida was too good for him, but love, loyalty and probably locura (craziness) continued tie her to him. Frida mirrored her troubled life – marked by a childhood of polio, a traffic accident that that broke her back and caused severe pain throughout her life, and a tumultuous marriage (twice) to Mexico’s famous muralist – in her unique and unforgettable paintings. And Diego, well, he loved her – in his own way. She suffered through his notorious womanizing, though not without her own affairs, most notably with the Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky.

The Casa Azul, in the Coyoacán neighborhood, where Frida was born, lived much of her life and eventually died, now is a wonderful museum to fill my fascination with the life and work of Frida Kahlo. During previous visits to Mexico City, I have satisfied this allure of all things Frida and Diego by visiting museums and murals of two of Mexico’s most distinguished artists.

By exploring San Ángel, the neighboring barrio of Coyoacán, I was able to visit a new area of the city and satiate my Frida obsession today. San Ángel is one of the wealthier areas of the city with colorful colonial architecture and stone streets lined with flowers. Plaza Jacinto, the center of San Ángel, hosts a large art market and many artisan vendors that attract many tourists, especially on Saturdays.

A short walk through the windy streets led me to Museo Estudio Diego Rivera that was built by Juan O’Gorman for Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo in 1931-1932. The two houses, one blue and one red, are connected by a roof top bridge and surrounded by a cactus hedge. Diego’s house has a large living room / studio with a wall of windows that allows the sunlight to pour into the minimalist architecture. It is one of the few rooms in the entire museum that contains an assortment of his personal belongings like paintbrushes, papier-mâché skeletons and pre-Columbian pottery.

Diego´s house

Frida´s house

Frida´s house

Diego´s house

While the houses displays none of Frida’s work and only a few sketches and paintings of Diego, there are several rooms of photographs of the two that allow me to imagine what it must have been like for Frida to live in the artsy neighborhoods of Coyoacán and San Ángel during the 1930s and 1940s. And if you have seen the movie, Frida, you will recognize the museum since part of it was filmed there. With the 1.5 km walk to Coyoacán, I finished my day of Frida.

Christmas

Las Posadas

There was a knock on the door as we were baking cookies with Isabel. The neighbors invited us to a posada they were having for the apartment block – the cutout cookies could wait.

We joined the others in the entry way of the apartments, sipping Coke and munching on wafers and potato chips while listening to salsa music. When we had a crowd of 10-15 people, we began our posada. The Posadas typically begin on December 16 and continue for the nine days preceding Christmas.

In a single file line, we walked around the apartment block while carrying candles. The woman, who seemed to be the organizer, led the procession. Another woman carried large plastic replicas of Mary and Joseph, who would be asking for posada (shelter). Using a small booklet that had the words to the song as a guide, there was a call and response type of dirge that continued until we arrived at the designated apartment, which conveniently was the empty apartment in a central location.

After some discussion, several of the participants agreed to be inside the apartment so that the rest of us would have someone to whom we could ask for posada. Since there was only one booklet with the words, there were some comical pauses as they passed the booklet back and forth. I didn’t feel so bad not knowing what to do or sing as most of the others didn’t seem to know what do either.

With the ritual completed, it was time to party. And it would not be a party without piñatas. The first of the three large piñatas was ready. We sang the piñata song and after several turns, the piñata broke. I was surprised to see not candy, but jicama, oranges, apples and peanuts falling to the ground.

With the three piñatas broken and the music and drinking beginning again, we decided to return to baking. When we left to go home at 11:30pm, there were still a dedicated few enjoying the last of the food and drink from the posada.

The Nutcracker

The National Auditorium where we saw La Cascanueces (The Nutcracker).

Natalie and I in front of the Christmas tree and large nutcracker.

I love poinsettias!

We had great seats – first row, center, balcony – in the National Auditorium for a traditional performance of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker.

Winter Wonderland - Mexico City Style

I hear that there is a big snow storm that is about to blanket much of the Northeast. Well, who needs a snowstorm when Mexico City’s Zócalo is a short metro ride away from you? And you can forget the gloves and hats at home.

This evening I emerged from the crowded and hot metro to discover a winter wonderland of sorts that blanketed the Zócalo. The Zócalo was lit up with lights of poinsettias, stars and the nacimiento (nativity scene) on the surrounding buildings. The choices of winter activities were abundant.

I had my choice of ice skating surrounded with bleachers filled with spectators or riding snowmobiles in a small ring of fake snow. Beside the long line for snowmobiles was a line for sledding. And by sledding I mean dragging an inner tube up a short flight of stairs and sliding down a short incline – less than half a minute. For the less active, there was a tent lined with tables that would eventually hold tens of little snowmen made by molds. Groups of parents and their children huddled around the less than foot and half mold to stuff it with melting snow to make the small snowman before the next family reused the mold. So much for unique hand made snowman. And perhaps my favorite, there was a tent full of kids having a snowball fight.

What better way to make a pint size snowman then with a mold.

I decided to leave the winter activities to those for whom the snow was a novelty and walked down Calle Madero which had been converted into a pedestrian street. I was taken back to memories of Las Ramblas in Barcelona. Groups of holiday makers crowded around statues. Among others, there was the man completely painted in silver, the ancient Aztec and my favorite, a pretty well done Michael Jackson look alike.

With a week from Christmas, Mexico City is ready, with or without the snow and cold.