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Zihau

Ixtapa/Zihautanejo share an airport.  That’s where the similarity ends.  Ixtapa is a resort designed by the Mexican government, think Cancun.  Big hotels, manicured boulevards, strip malls, restaurants, secure condominiums.  Zihautanejo or Zihau as it’s called by the locals is a town which grew from 8,000 to 80,000 when people came to work at the Ixtapa hotels and restaurants.  It was just a sleepy fishing village and the fishermen still bring their catch in every day.  It’s got personality and the most beautiful beach, Playa Ropa.  Zihau is more our style and its where we spent the last few days of our vacation.

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Day 3 in the DF

Monday, a holiday in Mexico City.  That means no museums are open.  But that’s okay there’s plenty to do.

We have a time slot scheduled at the Luis Barragan house.  He is an influential architect of the 20th century, the Frank Lloyd Wright of Mexico, a Pritzker prize winner.  His house is in a working class neighborhood of Mexico City and looks like all the other houses on the street but inside it’s a different story.  He loves the play of color and light and is famous for his staircase that looks like it is not supported.  On his patio, no furniture.  On the tour with us were architectural students from around the world.

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Kika Tapas

I want to give a quick thumbs up to Kika Tapas, on Third Street in Kendall Square, Cambridge.  If you haven’t been to the area around Third Street, go!  It’s the new restauarant row.  We went to Kika Tapas after seeing A Separation which is a must see.  Kika Tapas is brought to us by the same people who own Solea in Waltham and Tapeo in the Back Bay.  This restaurant is eye-popping in design, has great artwork on the walls and makes the other two restaurants seem dull by comparison.  It has a variety of seating areas from cozy banquettes to cafe tables or the bar of course!

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Day 2 in the DF

I have a new passion – it’s name is Concha which is a pan dulce bread and the Conchita which is a muffin.  A sweet bun on the bottom and a crunchy  scallop shell shaped topping of cocoa and cinnamon-totally awesome.  I discovered these breakfast treats in my pastry basket on Sunday morning.  I’ve never had one before – they are heavenly.  Those of you who know me know that I rarely will eat a muffin but hey, I’m on vacation!

Day 2 in the DF started at 8:30A meeting Alvaro in the lobby of the hotel.  It’s not really a lobby but more like a sitting area out of Architectural Digest.  Alvaro mapped out the day and off we went.  First by taxi to the Paseo de la Reforma, a large boulevard reminescent of the Champs Elysee which cuts across Mexico City.  It’s home to many embassies including the American Embassy, shops, hotels and on Sunday it is closed to cars.  Only bikes, pedestrians and running clubs, lots of running clubs.
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Ciudad Mexico – Day One….

Mexico City, Ciudad Mexico, the DF – all names for the 5th largest city in the world with 22 million people and counting and sitting at over 7,000 feet above sea level.  People wondered why go there?  Well, why not.  We decided to combine Mexico City with Zihautenejo or “Zihau” as the locals calls it.  A big, big city combined with the beach.

We arrived in Mexico City and checked into a 35 room uber-trendy boutique hotel called Las Alcobas located in the Polanco neighborhood.  The Polanco is full of boutiques, restaurants, art galleries, and home to the sophisticated residents of Mexico City.  We immediately unpacked and headed out to begin our adventure and of course eat!  We were directed to a casual neighborhood restaurant specializing in a type of taco called the “Al Pastor” (also the name of the restaurant) — marinated pork cooked on a vertical rotating spit, like gyros. That’s the Lebanese influence in Mexico City.  Six different salsas were served with the tacos and we also ordered some guacamole and a couple of beers to wash it all down!

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Can’t win ’em all…

You can’t have a great meal every time out.  Last night proves that point.  It wasn’t exactly a bummer but Roy, me and our friends agreed that it wasn’t blogworthy.  The restaurant is Sophia’s Grotto in Roslindale.  Roy wanted something with a neighborhood feel and it is that.  The restaurant is small, the bar area cramped and it was crowded.  We had an 8P reservation and called to say we’d be late (Roy was too busy talking to our friend and forgot about giving directions).  When we arrived the hostess said it would be a while so we had a glass of wine.  I’m not even going to tell you what we ate. It wasn’t memorable.

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Winter has arrived….

Winter’s arrived.  We couldn’t escape it.  That first snow is beautiful and when I walked Romeo at 7A yesterday morning with the snow falling it was so peaceful; no noise, not even a bird (that’s one of my homemade birdhouses).  I like to look for critter tracks and there were lots of them.  Poor Romeo’s paws hurt from the salt on the road so I had to soak them when we got home.  Yes, those of you who know Romeo might not think so but Romeo is a wuss! Continue reading “Winter has arrived….”

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Dinner at Home – What A Concept!

Saturday night – we haven’t had dinner at home on a Saturday in forever.  Don’t get me wrong.  We eat at home every night during the week.  My chef de cuisine, Roy always has dinner waiting when I get home from a long day at work.  Saturday we like to go out as you know.  But there are extenuating circumstances to staying home tonight, namely the PATRIOTS!!  I can’t miss this game – we all want to see Tim Tebow’d into the dirt (sounds a little aggressive, right??).

So what’s for dinner at the pop-up restaurant called Chez Podell?  Lobster!  But first we have to do a little shopping.

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A small bistro in the center of Lincoln

I feel pressure.  Here I am blogging and sometimes it’s tough to come up with something to write about.  So we have to keep doing our research for 2 at the bar and that means finding blogworthy restaurants and travel.  Not a bad assignment.  It is a little tough with Roy on his latest health kick called “Business Plan for the Body”.  It’s really Weight Watchers but he’s counting calories instead of points and he’s doing a good job at it.  But we all know Roy will get bored and be on to something else hopefully before we go to Mexico.  In the meantime, I’ll try to keep you interested in our comings and goings.

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