On Sunday Mexico was holding midterm elections; just like in Ecuador, election-time means no drinking, and the ley seca was imposed, meaning no alcohol could be sold all weekend. Julien and I figured the anthropological museum was a safe bet for a day thought to bring minor political changes with potential major long-term implications, and we took a 45 minute stroll to a huge park, Bosque de Chapultepec, that has a variety of museums, lakes filled with paddle boats, families out and about, vendors yelling out their wares “Cheetos! Doritos! Tacos! Juguetes para niñooos!”

We made our way into the Museo Nacional de Antropología, videoguides plugged into our ears, and proceeded to spend about four hours navigating through the expansive museum. We traveled through Mexico’s ancient history, listening to stories of civilizations rising, the invention of war, and consequent civilizations dissipating, dates and ancient tribe names starting to blur as we approached late afternoon, our stomachs protesting having not been fed since breakfast. It was a most beautiful museum, and though we didn’t even make it through the entire first floor (of two), we left at closing time, quite satisfied with our visit.

 

We made our way back to La Condesa, the cute, hip neighborhood where we are staying, to grab some food. The precise area is called the hipódromo, aptly named as historically it was the site of a horse-racing track. The track is easily traceable as the elliptical pedestrian walkway that encircles the Parque de Mexico. Lush vegetation provides a beautiful shade and the area is dotted with juice bars, organic cafes, chocolate boutiques, the latest in exercise clubs, cupcake shops. To add to La Condesa’s charm (at least in our eyes) one cannot walk more than a minute without passing a dog, or two, or a crew of ten, happily tugging at their leashes; the neighborhood is filled with dogs, well cared for canines of all shapes, sizes, and breeds, and there is an extraordinarily charming dog-park in the middle of Parque de Mexico where it has become our morning and evening pastime drop by and watch no less than 50 dogs playing and running all over the place.