Travel Journal- Coyoacan

February 1, 2012
We went to Coyoacan again today, they had a Tamale festival.  It was fun, there was tamales from everywhere and Atole of every flavor!  Did you know that they make a sandwiches with Tamales?  It is a Mexico State thing- you take a tamale and unwrap it, then stick it into a Bolillo which is a crusty baguette.  NI really like it that way, it adds another flavor and texture to it...but also a  lot more calories.  Hee hee!  Afterwards we walked and walked and walked...had to work off the calories.

Tomorrow we are going to go back and take a tour at the Frida Kahlo museum.  Coyoacan is very close to Boris’ sisters house and it is a fascinating part of town.  It is its own little world really, very Bohemian and artsy.  Most famously, Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera had a huge house there.  Leon Trotsky lived there when he was first exiled, his house iver very interesting all of the windows and patios are sealed by bricks and there are multiple fake entrances.  Today on our tour I learned that he was killed by an Ice Axe to the back of the head.  Ouch!  There are Cafes and Cantinas on every corner in Coyoacan, lots of open air patios and benches in the plazas or sitting and discussing lifes curiosities.

In the morning Boris and I snuck out for Tacos de Canasta.  A canasta is a basket.  They take the tortilla and dip it into warm oil, just quickly, this keeps the corn tortilla nice and pliable and keeps the filling from soaking the tortilla and turning it to mush.  Then they fill it with filling s that stick together like refried beans or mashed potatoes or chicharron in salsa...then they pile them into a basket and cover it with plastic.  The tacos steam and stay warm.  They ride around on bike with these gigantic canastas on the front and back with buckets of salsa hanging off one side.  I made a huge mistake, I forgot that the salsa in Mexico City is Smoking Spicy Hot!!!  I grabbed my taco and scooped a huge pile of salsa like I was scooping guacamole-  I was like a dragon with flames shooting out my mouth and smoke out my ears!  It was so hot!  The tacos were the best I have ever had!  My favorite was called Adobo, which is mashed potato mixed with Adobo spices.  It is a little bit spicy and super flavorful.  We might go back again tomorrow ;)