The Day That Wasn’t

Today was just one of those days where everything goes awry. We spent the day sorting out messed up tour plans and phone plans. All I can say is, thank goodness for the comfort of food!

We had booked a tour to see the pyramids at Teotihuacán, the most important and largest pre-Columbian city in Mexico.

We arrived at the address given in our instructions ten minutes before the start of the tour but despite our best efforts and ten attempts to call the number provided, we were unable to locate the office. We finally, at 9:10, entered a luggage storage facility to ask for help, but the woman behind the desk spoke no English. She made a few calls and eventually a young man showed up to tell us we arrived too late to take the tour and there was no way to take it today.

Dejected and a more than a little disappointed, we went back to our hotel and made last minute alternate plans.

We had lunch at "Gold Taco", located in Mercado Roma which is not really a market but rather a gourmet food hall. Although the prices here are higher than at your typical taqueria, the quality of the food justifies the price.

We ordered mushroom tamales, quesadillas, and a few tacos. Although everything was delicious, the tamales were the highlight. They were "elevated", and truly the best tamales we'd ever eaten.

We then strolled around and made another visit to the Mercado Medellin where we picked up a few snacks and goodies lest we find ourselves feeling peckish (fat chance of that happening in this city).

Then for dinner we went from gourmet to street food. We ate at "Gracias Madre" a popular neighborhood vegan taco stand. Roch ordered 3 different types of tacos, arrechero, chorizo rojo and salchichas a la mexicana, and I ordered the volcanoes (similar to a tostada) with a red chorizo topping. I found the red chorizo a tad salty but otherwise delicious. As we were paying the bill, we spotted a little chocolate tart in the display case. Once I learned it was gluten free, it got added to the bill and taken home with us.

Roch asked the owner why they were called "Gracias Madre" and he was told that the name reflects the gratitude for the work they love to do, and Madre was in honour of mother Earth, who provides all the bounty for the food they serve.

In the end, we re-booked our Teotihuacán tour for my birthday on January 2 and managed to cross a couple of eateries off of our to do list. Not a total loss.

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