Tochimilco, Metepec & Mercado Ignacio Zaragoza

 27/01/24-03/02/24 Tochimilco & Metepec

 

Tochimilco Aqueduct

Repairing the Monastery

Tochimilco

On Sunday morning, Tony and Shirley went to Tochimilco and I tagged along. They have a mercado (market) there on Sunday that Shirley wanted to go to. We took the bus there, about a 25 minute trip and arrived there shortly after 10:00 AM. We went to the zocalo where the mercado was set up. About half of it was a farmers market and the other half were food vendors selling a lot of different Poblano (from Pueblo) dishes, including memelitas, quesadillas, tacos, etc., many served with various mole sauces. I don’t tend to eat at mercados because I am suspicious of the meat, which is often pork or goat, neither of which I care for. Unlike a lot of the mercados here, there is a nice shaded porch where people can eat, as well as public restrooms and a sink where one can wash one’s hands. I have found that it is important for gringos like me to make sure we wash our hands before eating here because we are more susceptible to getting ill from the parasites here. We certainly have parasites in the US, but we tend to be immune from most of them.

Besides the market, we visited an old monastery which was being rebuilt after having been struck by lightning. It was badly damaged and the repairs are taking a long time, due to the age of the structure. I enjoy looking at these old, colonial buildings and churches because I am interested in the construction methods. I don’t claim to know how they built them, but I find it a fun mental exercise to imagine how they did it. I will have to get a book on it sometime soon to satisfy my curiosity.

There was an old aqueduct there as well, which was still functioning, with water running along the channel. These old stone arches are sturdy and functional as well as pleasing to the eye. After a few hours, we headed back home on the bus. The total cost for the round trip was about $1.75 US.

 

One of many blocks of the Mercado Ignacio Zaragoza

Mercado Ignacio Zaragoza

On Thursday, I went to the Mercado Ignacio Zaragoza, which is a huge market held on Tuesday and Saturday. I walked a little over a kilometer to get there, and then spent almost an hour and a half exploring the place. It is gigantic and I got lost several times; I had to go to the GPS on my phone to figure out where the hell I was. The had a lot of produce, food vendors, and typical flea market items like cheap tools, blankets, clothing, jewelry, etc. After I had seen enough, I bought some tomatoes, bananas, peppers and mushrooms and headed home. I couldn’t believe the difference in the quality of the produce I got there from the produce I had been buying at the grocery store. Everything was fresh and ripe, and the tomatoes (roma) were more like home-grown than store bought; rich, red and flavorful. In the future, I will be making a weekly visit there for sure.

 

Tony & Shirley at one of the old trees in Metepec

Metepec

On Saturday, I went with Tony and Shirley to Metepec, which is the home of an old textile plant which has been turned into a hotel, campground, and museum. It was a cool blustery day and the bus was cheap ($.50 each way) but very uncomfortable, with no legroom, even for a short legged guy like me. When we got to the textile plant, we paid 110 pesos (about $6.50 US), and spent an enjoyable couple of hours walking the grounds and visiting the museum, both of which I found fascinating. There are some old, old trees here, and the vast root systems are often exposed above ground. I find it mesmerizing to look at, like meditating on a mandala or some of the American Native sand paintings or weavings. I think I might like to go there sometime alone and just spend some time looking at the old trees and sketching them or meditating.

The museum was also thought provoking, looking at the old machines on display and reading the story of the plant (in Spanish). They also had a movie that was made in 1923 that showed the processes of how they made the fabric and yarn, how they dyed it and printed patterns on it and other processes I didn’t understand.

After the museum, we ate (breakfast for me, lunch for T & S) at an outdoor vendor in the town. I had a steak taco with potatoes for 50 pesos ($3.00 US) and had more than I could eat, giving the leftovers to a street dog who carefully removed the steak and left the tortilla and veggies. The steak was pretty tough and I am thinking I should keep a set of silverware in my backpack for future use when eating at street vendors.

The wind was really kicking up by then, so we headed back to Atlixco where is was sunny, slightly breezy and pleasant. I walked the 1¼ km. home and relaxed on the couch for a half hour or so, having walked about 6 miles from 10:00 AM to 2:30 PM.

That’s what I did this week. ¡Hasta luego!