In/around Chapultepec Park

Today's order of business was exploring Chapultepec Park: the Botanical gardens, the Castle, and the Anthropology Museum. Then lunch at Publico Comedor and possibly the Soumaya.

Our 5 passenger Uber took us down Reforma to the park. Traffic was heavy but moved. The buildings and landscaping were very pretty. 

We walked about in the Botanical gardens for a few minutes. The variety of plants, the sculptures, and the general loveliness of the garden made it fun to explore.

We bought our tickets to the Castillo de Chapultepec (aka History Museum) and climbed up the hill for fantastic views.

The ticket office

The park is very large

The Museum is divided into two distinct sections: history and the castle where Emperor Maximillian and his consort Empress Carlota lived in 1864.

We chose to see the history museum and learned a lot, even though much was not translated to English.

The rooms let out into a pretty garden with a fountain, pergolas, and incredible views!

Back down to earth, we were able to see a performance by the Voladores de Paplanta. They climb up the tall pole and twirl down over several minutes to the beat of a drummer. Very cool!

The Anthropology Museum is one of the top sights in Mexico City. 

From wikipedia: Designed in 1964 by Pedro Ramírez Vázquez, Jorge Campuzano, and Rafael Mijares Alcérreca, the monumental building contains exhibition halls surrounding a courtyard with a huge pond and a vast square concrete umbrella supported by a single slender pillar (known as "el paraguas", Spanish for "the umbrella"). The halls are ringed by gardens, many of which contain outdoor exhibits.

The Museum contains significant archaeological and anthropological artifacts from Mexico's pre-Columbian heritage, such as the Stone of the Sun (or the Aztec calendar stone) and the Aztec Xochipilli statue.

The Anthropology Museum was just fantastic!

But now we were hungry. Husband and I had enjoyed Publico Comedor in 4/2018 so there we headed via Uber. It was just as good as the last time!

Passionfruit panacotta (delicious!)

We decided to head to the Soumaya Museum but detoured into the Palacio de Hierro department store instead. We looked around the fancy shops, at the liquor store, the food store, got churros at El Moro (delicious!), and decided to get drinks at a rooftop restaurant. We lingered and just enjoyed the great late afternoon.

We took Uber back to the hotel. The route took us by the beautifully lit up Soumaya. 

We relaxed at the hotel for a little bit.

Then headed out to the Gran Hotel Cuidad de Mexico for late drinks on the balcony. Brother-in-law and I started planning our next CDMX trip (July 2019)!

Next: Tacos, murals, and Quintonil