Mexico City Day 3

Museum Day & Pujol tasting

Garden in Castle Chapultepec

Polanco is walking distance from Castle Chapultepec and the Anthropology Museum. So we are off for a big walking day bright and early. 

For breakfast, the park next to the hotel has a market at 8am. We found tasty carnitas tacos Michoacán style for breakfast. Poked our head around the produce and fruits stands before we head out to the museums. 

Breakfast tacos

We walk through the Chapultepec Forest which is a huge park that has the zoo, a central lake and a lot of vendors. 

Bald eagle? in the zoo aviary

When we walk through the forest in the AM, the vendors are still setting up the stores. When we came back from the castle to the anthropology museum, they are all setup for business which is pretty fun to see. I love how neat everything is arranged on these stands. 

Ready, Get set, Go

We chanced upon a art gallery display in one of the hotels and poke our head in. Really liked the colors. Her name is Marimer Pujol. 

Art work display by Marimer Pujol

We planned to get to the castle by 9am when it opens and it was a good choice as it got crowded by the time we left. 

Climbing up the slope to get to the castle entrance from the bottom

Chapultepec means grasshoppers in Aztec term, hence the grasshopper statue in the fountain. 

Grasshopper fountain

I think it's a sacred hill for the Aztec and subsequently those in power in Mexico city used this as a residence. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chapultepec_Castle

Maximilian stayed there for 2 years and had a lot of influence on the architecture and furnishing. He was executed and never got a chance to clear out the castle. 

Interior of the castle

The grounds from the rear view

The castle garden on the 2nd floor 

Little trinkets in the castle

They have 3 carriages exhibit which i love. Very sherlock holmes 

3 carriages displayed, including the one for Maximilian

The castle also has a great view of the whole city from the balcony and you can see down Reformer street and all the way to the monument. 

View of Calle Reforma

After visiting the castle, we walked to the Anthropology museum. On the way, we saw a cool Aztec performance where they have 4 guys winded up a long pole, they flip down and and slowly unwinding in a downward position. A guy is staying at the top blowing  a whistle and it's mesmerizing watching them unwind. 

Mesmerizing Aztec performance in the forest

Anthropology Museum 

The Anthropology museum is one of the largest for mesoamerican culture. I'm intimidated.  To be honest, i can only stare at stone and ceramics for 3 hours before my brain atrophied. And they have at least 13 rooms filled with stones and ceramics.

I understand it's history of this region and I totally respect that. But I really can't piece together what's going on, who is attacking who, who is occupying where in that whole timeline.. sorry. 

All i know is there's a lot of different cultures that occupied this region and a lot of them fighting and changing of rulers. The Spanish is a big part of this timeline before the Mexican government finally took over and they changed presidents a few times too. 

The entire roof is supposed by the pole

During the food tour, a couple mention the ball game so i kept an eye out for that. They played with a rubber ball using their hip (no hands and no legs) to go into a stone round for a goal. And apparently the slaves who lose gets sacrificed.. talk about motivation! 

Ball game in Aztec times

The sun stone, Aztec calendar

Other relics that caught my eye

After the museum, we went back to the hotel and lounged at the pool area for the rest of the afternoon before heading out to Pujol for dinner

Pool time and view of the auditorium from the pool

Pujol

Inside Pujol

Pujol was supposedly the big event for our trip and unfortunately i'm very disappointed. I can't get good pictures of the food as the table had insufficient lighting. I'm putting a reference to somebody else who has reviewed with food pictures. 

Note that 1) price is close to $180 now, 2) we ate different things as it's a seasonal menu. 

https://travelwithladychin.com/a-complete-review-my-dining-experience-at-pujol-in-mexico-city/

My honest opinion is Pujol has passed its time. Wine is very overpriced and dishes are not worth the price tag. 

Pujol menu

I want to give a personal opinion here on the courses that I tasted.  

I truly have no idea what we ate in the snack course as the explanation was bad and we can't see the food. What i can say is it lacks an acid to open the appetite, the corn is not corn- tasting enough after the ant mayo and the fried cheese tempura is too salty. The egg dish with mushroom is good. 

The bluefin crudo has 4 small pieces of bluefin under a bed of avocado which is way too little for a crudo. And they have capers and soy sauce that build salt level too fast that cannot be cut with the sweet potato chips. Overall the palm juice is good, fish is fresh but got salty fast. 

The amberjack tostada has fish that taste great. They put a grasshopper filling that's crunched up in the middle but i think the salt isn't mixed in enough. So i get a whole mouth of salt periodically through the tostada. The fried leek on the top just make it tough to eat, lacks flavour and not quite crunchy enough. 

The squid course is the best as the squid is cooked just right with good heat from the green mole. But sitting there i can smell a fishy squid smell and got a tad worried about the freshness. But it tasted ok. I saw a lot of reviews online of people getting sick. 

The lamb course to me is not enjoyable. They cook barbacoa, took out all the fat and smushed it together in a medallion that eliminated texture and fat. They didn't put back enough salt or acid in there to make it enjoyable as a taco. Their tortillas are great but only 1 per person. Guacamole is processed to the point of no taste and we are given a pouch of chick peas and eggplant and I can't find the eggplant. 

Dessert course is too soggy for me. The mousse is too loose, the sorbet too melted. It's light and citrusy but not sure it qualifies for a good dessert in a 2 star Michelin