El Centro

Finally after almost 5 months, we visited El Centro, the historical part of DF and within it still stands beautiful architecture from its colonial days. Walking on cobbled streets, between old and new buildings, I couldn't help but feel like I was walking back in time, into colonial Mexico, named 'Nueva Espana' back then. We started our little centro immersion by going up the Torre de Latinoamerica. It was once the tallest building in Mexico. Up there, we got a bird's eye view of the city in all its chaos and glory. We could see as far as the smog allowed us and Sera had a fun trying to identify buildings and structures from a given map of the city in all 4 directions.

We visited the Nacional Museo de Artes, a little bit of art exposure for our girls who were only fascinated by one exhibit, a moving projection of birds flying. As you can imagine, they were trying to chase the birds much to the disapproval of the museum guardians. They settled down for a while when we entered an art room where they made crafts using glue and feathers.

We lunched at the famous Sanborn's restaurant. The restaurant is beautiful. The walls are high and painted with colourful images reminiscent of old Mexico. There is natural light coming through the roof that simply highlights every detail of the restaurant - the tiles on the floors, the intricate carvings of the stairs and even the toilets were not spared. However one very important detail was sadly overlooked - the food. Ha ha. All I can say is we didn't even dare stay for dessert.

El Centro is one place in DF we will return many times over. It's a place to walk, discover, people watch, to visit the many museums and get my fix on cheap bargains. More to come!

On the 37th floor of Torre de Latinoamerica. Girls were thrilled and didn't seemed to be scared of the height, especially Yassy who crawled all around the tower on that ledge!


Just a part of the city and you already get a good sense of how densely crowded it is!


View of Palacio de las Bellas Artes to the right and the road in front of it is Benito Juarez and it is closed for cyclists till 2pm on Sundays

Inside the Post Office

Nacional Museo de Artes

Pit stop

The exterior (back side) of one of many Sanborns all over Mexico. This one is the most special in terms of architecture.

Top view of the restaurant

Stairs up

Pedestrian mall

And we stopped for dessert!

Little moments

I share my days with the girls and there are often instances like this one, goofing around on the monkey bar, where I just stand there and literally laugh out loud! Sera and Yasmin, as siblings, are very close. Sera for the most part takes on her role as big sister very seriously and Yassy looks up to Sera, adoringly. But it doesn't always go this way. Both girls have been blessed with very strong characters and inevitably, fiery tempers. On bad days, our home sounds very similar to the likes of a fish market. But we always strive for good, happy days!

So yesterday, walking back together from Sera's bus stop, Yassy starts hoping on one leg. She is thrilled and can't stop her one-legged hop. We're all clapping and encouraging her. Sera joins in too. But ... plop, Yassy trips and on her knees she goes. Opps! The end of that happy discovery. But she can hop on one leg ... now that's a big deal.

Yassy has been trying to go on the monkey bar since she watched her sister breeze through it

But so far, she only collapses on her sister ... well at least Sera always catches her in time

Recuperate!

The girls started the weekend feeling under the weather. Sera skipped school on Thursday and then, Yassy skipped school on Friday. Sniffling noses and weepy eyes. Johan returned from Manzanillo on Friday past midnight, exhausted. So we welcomed Saturday with some lethargy. And the family that rests together, recuperates together. On Sunday morning, we were up early and raring to go for a cycle on the Reforma. We almost made it to the Zocalo but the kids got distracted by a huge carousel along the way and anyway, it was time for a pit stop. The kids did well, and I think the biggest applause goes to Yassy who was on her bike all the way.

Saturday

Before the start line

Slow and steady

Pit stop

The girls can never resist a carousel ride

A typical manifestation on Reforma

Back home and bikes in the bodega

Back on the couch

Harvest time

Yesterday, we left the comforts of the city (well ... ), drove 2.5 hours on very winding roads to Coatepec Harinas (I hope I got the name right?) to harvest PEACHES. Well, at least all of us like peaches so that was a big incentive for the girls and it was a lot of fun. Gare, our lovely Spanish teacher, invited us to her father's peach plantation. There was also an impressive tomato and chili farm, but the big draw were the peaches. The girls spent at least an hour looking for 'amarillo' peaches and yes, many peaches went straight into their mouths as well!

The plantation

The girls couldn't wait to harvest!

How pretty!

Haha, harvesters complete with the hats!

Sera knew to pluck the deep orange ones but ...

like Yassy, they don't eat tomatoes unless in a sauce!

The harvest

Easter break

Spring break came and went but our days were busy and very full. The girls also had opa and oma here for a visit so never a dull day during their holiday. Here's a snapshot of the Easter break!

We joined the Sunday cyclists on La Paseo Reforma, which is closed to traffic from 8am to 2pm, and almost made it to the Zocalo. Lots of activities at every roundabout - salsa dancing, zumba, yoga, vendors selling everything and anything - a big fiesta on the Reforma.

We celebrated oma and opa's birthday ...

Went to Manzanillo for a long weekend. We were so excited to be at the beach after so many months. It was all about fresh salty air, no traffic ... it was perfect.


We took a 2 hour domestic flight to Manzanillo and checked into a small beach resort on the beach. Our view every morning!


The girls took long walks on the beach everyday.


Snuggling with papa just before they started their day

Yassy was a little afraid to enter the pool for a few minutes but overcame her apprehension soon to join in the fun

On our way down for a dip in the pool after a siesta

We drove to Cuyutlan, a little town outside Manzanillo, to visit El Tortugario and to go on a boat ride on Palo Verde, a mangrove lagoon filled with a colourful array of species.

The girls enjoyed the little boat ride ... most especially seeing the sunbathing crocodile

El Tortugario was on a little lull as the female turtles don't usually nest until August onwards. But here, they house some turtles for research and try as best as they can, with little resources to educate the public on turtle conservation. They also house crocodiles as well as iguanas in this sanctuary.

We ended our visit to Manzanillo with a brunch at one of Johan's colleague's house up in the hills ... the view was beautiful of course but it was nice for the girls to hang out with their kids for that morning. Nice end to a relaxing holiday.

We went to Tio Pepe La Granja and spent the morning with the farm animals

Our girls get all nervous around the dogs in our neighbourhood but they are extremely calm whenever near a horse! Sera and Yassy were eager to get on the horse, two rounds around the paddock.

Xochimilco, best known for its canal and chinampa system from pre-hispanic past, allows tourists and local visitors to enjoy a slow and tranquilo ride on colourful gondola-like boats called tranjineras

Sera enjoyed the colourful scene that enfolded in front of her and especially the mariachi music that flowed through the canal

Well, Yassy can only appreciate music to a certain decibel

Our little Easter tradition ... egg hunt! With the help of opa and oma, the girls had fun looking and digging for chocolate eggs.

Their baskets were overflowing with chocolate eggs but they were generously distributing the eggs to all of us and the security guards in the building.

And to end our Easter break, we visited Puebla. A beautiful historical city about 2 hours drive away. Puebla is filled with intricate and colourful architecture, hundreds of churches, unique Talavera pottery ... and just a great place to walk and people watch.

The girls were so excited to see a pink building ...

There were Saturday markets every which way you looked

So that was our past few weeks. Hope you enjoyed it!