Two Markets

It tastes -- and smells -- as good as it looks

On the agenda for the final day in Mexico City this trip: two markets. One for food. One for what is billed as "artisanal crafts."

The walk there was half of the fun.

It was a beautiful sunny morning, with an almost certain chance of afternoon thunderstorms. So what did I do? Slept in. But only after I got my breakfast pastries and coffee at El Globo. Then, when it was getting close to the time for the thunderstorms to roll in, I wandered the area.

I stumbled on this: 

I love a good clock tower in the middle of an intersection. So, of course, I loved the Reloj Chino de Bucareli. The Chinese Clock of Bucareli. The north-south street at this intersection is Bucareli.

To get to both of the two markets, I made a right turn at Reloj Chino and, soon enough, found a park with statues and fountains. Parque de la Ciudadela. Park of the Citadel.

I love a park with statues and fountains ALMOST as much as I like a good clock tower in the middle of intersection. It's close. But the clock tower will always win that battle due to the rarity factor. Every city of any consequence has a park with statuary. But how many of those cities have clock towers in their traffic intersections? Case closed.

This statue in the middle of the fountain is Ángel de los Aviadores.

Angel of the Aviators. Not sure why here in particular. But aviators are entitled to angels wherever they can find them.

And this is Morales.

Star attraction of the park.

Morales is looking decidedly less Botero-esque than he was in Cuernavaca. BTW, as the kids would text, I think this is called Park of the Citadel because it used to be adjacent to a military school. I think.

And the buzzing of the google maps on the phone means I have arrived at Market #1: Mercado de San Juan. The food market. 

It smelled awesome. Well, except for the fresh fish section. There actually was more floor space here devoted to meat than vegetables and I wasn't in the mood to photograph animal carcasses. Delicious though they may be. There even was a large Asian section. There also were a number of restaurants on the premises.

Labrador retrieved approved.

I did not find what I was looking for here: Mexican vanilla. So on to the artisanal market it is.

Market #2: Mercado de Artesanías La Ciudadela.

Need a guitar?

While there was an over-abundance of stalls selling cheap souvenirs -- probably made in China and not locally -- there was some legitime artisanal crafts, such as the guitars. Lots (and lots) (and lots) of jewelry. Pottery and porcelain. There even was a shop selling those Mexican tile tin mirrors that I love. I almost pulled the trigger but worries over transport killed that idea. Next time. When I bring a bigger suitcase.

And when I left the second market, the skies clearly had darkened.

What time is it? The clock on the tower of the intersection says it is time for the skies to open up and for the afternoon thunderstorms to begin. The clock was right.