Monte de Piedad

Gail and I decided to take a walking tour through the neighbourhood curated by my guidebook. It was one of those walks that says you can do it in 2 or so hours - but that is not if you actually look at the places. We started at the furthest spot, Viveros Park. The park wasn’t much to look at, but it gave us the opportunity to stroll through the neighbourhood looking at houses and trees. This city certainly prioritizes trees.

First stop was the Fonoteca Nacional. They had several rooms filled with posters with illustrations representing different traditional Mexican songs. This is one of the 150 museums of Mexico City, and this one was to capture the rich and varied musical repertoire of Mexico. I wish I had thought to google the songs at the time. I added two links to the photos below. Enjoy.

Next up, the guided tour said to take a look at a supposedly haunted alleyway. Well, not much goin’ on here. It was a nice detour through some narrow streets and old homes. For security and maybe privacy too, the perimeter walls are impossibly tall, and some edged with glass and barbed wire. It is pretty normal here but jarring to see.

We stopped at the Plaza Santa Catarina for a bite to eat and rest a minute. It was starting to get hot. There was a community center across the street, Casa de Cultura Jesús Reyes Herales. What a lovely and unexpected oasis. There was a beautiful oil painting exhibit to view. But this was not a space just for spectators. There were offices, classrooms for weaving, a choir practice, and a bunch of other opportunities to learn and create. There is a nice coffee shop in the back that we didn’t take advantage of, but it seemed like a peaceful spot to spend an hour catching up with a friend.

We wended our way back to the two main squares. It seems I have approached these squares from different directions and always feel a little surprised to happen upon them. There are so many things to observe and so many vantage points, each visit seems both new and familiar.

After dinner at the house, Gail had spotted a bar along the square that hosted musicians. We were ready for some tasty adult beverages (fruity margarita for Gail, gin and tonic for me) with a good dose of Mexican live music. The band was great. We were also treated to a “performance” by a lovely couple who just had to dance. They were having a blast, as were we.Read more