The posse in the sun.

(To view the picture album click on the picture above)

On the last week of February some friends from Raleigh and Fort Collins came to visit us. Dave and Jay came to Mexico City a few days before to tour the town, then we drove to Acapulco, where we were met by Alison, George and Dave to spend a week at the Mayan Palace resort and do some R&R under the sun.

In Mexico City, we visited the Anthropology Museum, the historic downtown district, the National University Campus, the Dolores Olmedo Museum, the ancient canals of Xochimilco and the historic district of Coyoacán.We also did a day trip to the pyramids of Teotihuacán.

In the Acapulco area we took a boat tour around the Coyuca Lagoon (where Rambo II was shot), enjoyed the sunset at Pie de la Cuesta, spent an afternoon at the island of Roqueta, saw the famous Cliff Divers, visited the San Diego Fort and had fresh seafood by the beach at Puerto Marquez.

Of course we also took time to hang out by the beach and play in the surf, float along the resort's pool (which they advertise as one of the world's longest ones) and enjoy everyone's company.

One of the days boys and girls split up: the boys played golf in the resort's 18 holes course while the girls had a blissful day at the spa. It was heavenly!

As always, food was amazing and we made sure to sample lots of seafood and try a variety of places ranging from little shacks to internationally acclaimed restaurants. Here's a sample of some of the food we ate! (Click on the picture to see a larger version.)


Once again, we had an amazing vacation and were very happy to share it with our friends. Check out the trip's pictures!

A Church of Gold, then Char-Grilled Tacos

(To view our trip's album click on either of the pictures above.)

Early February our friends Rosy and Oded organized a bar-b-q in Tepotzotlán, Estado de México. Tony and I decided to leave early and visit the former Jesuite monastery, which houses now the National Museum of the Viceroyship. The site is really beautiful and the most impressive part of it is the Churrigueresque-style church of San Francisco Javier. This building absolutely breathtaking and is one of the few New Spanish XVIII century baroque churches which still preserves its original architecture, painting and sculpture. There's few places on earth where you are surrounded by that much gold!

After the museum we met our friends for lunch and had a blast. We ate tons of yummy food: arrachera tacos with molcajete salsa, cheese-stuffed peppers, veggie tacos... We also enjoyed the wonderful weather and had an amazing time. I can't believe this was our first bbq since we got here!!!!!

Check out our pictures from this fun day trip!

Birthday Celebration

(To view the picture album click on the picture above)

For Tony's birthday this year we couldn't break the tradition of eating his favorite dish: pizza. Family and friends joined us at 50 Friends, a hip neighborhood spot in Condesa known for the quality of its pies. We had some great food and company and Tony was very happy. For an extra special treat he had a chocolate soufflé in addition to the yummy Nutella fruit pizza we all shared.

From the restaurant we walked to the Malafama pool hall to shoot some pool and continue the laughs. It was tons of fun and a late night for a Tuesday!

Pictures of Mexican Food

I've always been obsessed with taking pictures of food. Everywhere I go, I snap before I eat. I literally have hundreds and hundreds of pictures of food. At some point, I though of making a picture diary of everything I ate, but then found out someone had already done it!

Yesterday I got a picture message from my friend's daughter, who's 6. She knows how much I like pictures of food and decided to photograph her chicken tacos and send me the pic. It made me think about all my pictures of food buried in my picture folders. I went back and really enjoyed finding some collages I had made of food from China and Australia.

Then I went through my Mexico folders and made the collage above, a small sampling of my food fetish: no, I haven't taken to eating carnitas, but I still enjoy photographing them!!!!! Also of notice is the candied rose petals cake my cousin had at her bridal shower, a real piece of art, and the candied carrots we saw at a market in Toluca.

If you click on the picture you can see it bigger to really "appreciate" each dish!

Bon Appetit!
iti

Oaxaca Escape

(To view our trip's album click on the picture above.)

Last December we had a wonderful trip in the state of Oaxaca. We visited tons of sites. At Santa María del Tule we paid a visit to the largest tree in the world (36.2m trunk circunference). At Hierbe el Agua, we saw the beautiful petrified waterfalls. We explored the zapotec ruins of Mitla and Monte Albán. Finally we shopped for local crafts at several markets in little towns and also hung out in Oaxaca city where we visited the amazing Santo Domingo complex.

We had a great stay and sampled lots of specialties of the amazing Oaxacan food. My favorite experiences were tasting six different mole varieties at Los Pacos and making our own chocolate mix at the mill of the Mayordomo chocolate company.

Check out our trip's pictures and see for yourselves...

Cyber-Iti having a blast!

I couldn't resist making this cool fun version of "me"! Too bad I'm sitting at my desk in front of the computer and not at a yoga studio right this moment!

Holidays NOT On Ice

December 2007 VS December 2008

(To view our trip's album click on either of the pictures above.)

This holiday season, Tony's mom and sisters came down to visit us and escape from Chicago's crazy weather. After spending one evening in DF having great food, courtesy of my dad, we drove down to Cocoyoc, where my mom's friend Olga had rented us a house for the week-end. We visited the nearby colonial towns of Tlayacapan and Tepoztlán and enjoyed the garden, the pool, the grill, etc... The Chicago Chicas really enjoyed leaving their coats and boots at home and hanging out by the pool in 80 degree (Farenheit) weather!

After Cocoyoc we spent two days in Taxco, where we had also rented a pretty colonial house. The town's incredibly steep and narrow cobbled streets and crazy drivers proved somewhat of a challenge, but the allure of the town and its infinite amount of silver shops made it all worth it!

We returned to DF tired but happy to enjoy two days of parties: first for Michelle's birthday, then for New Year's Eve. Michelle, my dad and some assistants (my uncle Dany, cousin Galia and I) prepared a monumental paella for the whole family on that day.

A weird stomach flu attacked Tony and his three sisters at the end of the trip, which was a real bummer, but overall we all keep great memories of this warm weather holiday trip.

Latest news say the weather is awful in most of the US... you could be here instead, sipping a cold beverage by the pool, and enjoying our company! Check out our pictures if you're still not convinced...