Mexico City (Before Covid) – La Casa de Toño, Mercado de Artesanías La Ciudadela, Mercado de San Juan, Museo del Calzado, Pastelería Ideal, and Cafe Jekemir

Here's another (hopefully) quick post (abbreviated) on our last trip before Covid struck from back in February, 2020.

The Missus decided that She wanted to do some "exploring" the day after visiting visiting Teotihuacan, so of course I had to plan something out. Of course I wanted to start out with something to eat, IMG_0142 so we headed to La Casa de Toño…..because the Missus wanted some Pozole at the Zona Rosa location.

So, basically, I'll equate this to something like a Denny's….a chain that's very popular. The Missus wasn't enamored with the pozole….there are several choices in terms of meat available….She stayed safe with Maciza….while I went full "cabeza de cerdo" (pig's head) which turned out to be the better choice.

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IMG_5340 IMG_5341  This was pretty mild in terms of porkiness…at least it made the Missus appreciate the pozole I make.

La Casa de Toño (Many locations in CDMX)
Londres 144
06600 Ciudad de México, CDMX, Mexico

From here we headed to our next stop…..

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The Mercado de Artesanías La Ciudadela.

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Which…my goodness, had a huge selection of items you never knew you needed….

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IMG_5348 IMG_0145  Man, there sprawling alleyways and shops……I ended up needing a break after a while.

Luckily we found a cafe….and a cafe de olla came to the rescue.

Lest you think this marketplace is for tourists, I've been told that many local come here to shop for various items though I never did ask what those items specifically were.

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We also took a walk thru Ciudadela Park across the street.

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And saw this group practicing ballroom style dancing.

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It was so sweet and charming. Notice the fellow dancing by himself? I'm wondering what the story might be behind that?

We enjoyed the green spaces in the city.

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The next stop was purely for me….the Mercado de San Juan.

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I always enjoy visiting these markets when I travel. There's always something interesting.

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The "Chinatown" street, Dolores (which I've posted on before) is just a about a block away, so we headed up the street.

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From here, I had an interesting place I wanted the Missus to see….the Museo del Calzado….yep, the footwear museum.

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Up a discreet stairway is an interesting collection of footwear…from the historic…to, well, the famous.

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IMG_0159  IMG_5393 It's a fun stop whether you have a "foot/shoe" fetish or not.

Museo del Calzado"The Borcegui"
Calle de Bolívar 27
Mexico City, 06000 Mexico

Right down the block was another interesting sight….an Ottoman Clock – the Reloj Otomano. IMG_5395

You can read more about it at Atlas Obscura.

CDMX is indeed an international city!

And full of surprises.

The next stop was a recommendation of an acquaintance who said it was his favorite "bakery in the world".

Pastelería Ideal is located a few blocks away and is easy to identify…..just look for the towering cakes in the window.

You can't  miss it! And the throngs of folks shopping for their favorite pastry. Everyone is in sugar heaven!

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I was instructed to head to the second floor…..

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IMG_0184 (2) IMG_0187  Where there was a "showroom" of sorts for cakes. I cracked up as each cake was labeled with how much it weighed? Just in case you wanted that 10 kilogram panda cake!

Pastelería Ideal
República de Uruguay 74
06000 Ciudad de México

Boy, after inhaling all that sugar. I needed something to wake me up! Luckily, I had a cafe on my "list" that was just a few blocks away named Cafe Jekemir.

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Which proved to be just what we needed.

Cafe Jekemir
Calle Regina 7
Mexico City 06000 Mexico

In spite of the caffeine I was bushed….so we called an Uber and headed back to Condesa for a short nap….which would come in handy since we'd end up walking quite a bit for the dinner I had planned.

Thanks for stopping by!