New Year's Eve: Mexico City

Mexico City has been very close to the top of my list for a long time so when my pal Brenda said she was coming here after Christmas and I was welcome to tag along, there was no hesitation. So many of my friends have been here and loved it, and I was tired of not having that pin in my map. I arrived yesterday and met up with Brenda. We walked around our neighborhood of La Condesa for a bit and then met up with Seattle friends Dave and Annabelle who also happened to be here - it's the hot spot - I'm telling you. The four of us had dinner and walked around some more and had drinks/dessert at another place before calling it a night. This city is sprawlingly huge, I know, but our little area is very beautiful and very... 'livable' keeps coming to my mind. There are charming old Colonial-style buildings, the parks are beautiful, the dogs are groomed, the boutiques are cool and there are intriguing restaurants, bars, taco stands, and ice cream shops everywhere. 

mobile dog-groomer: genius

Today we went on a bicycle taco tour and tasted four tacos from four different regions of Mexico.

at Molina El Pujol (a hole-whole-in-the-wall offshoot of the fancy restaurant):
Oxacan style with cheese, avocado, wrapped in a tortilla
with hoja santa leaf

doesn't look like much, but this Yucatan-style carnitas taco
was the tastiest one on the tour.

Mexico City-style: beef braised in a vat of beef fat

Frozen

Yesterday was a long but fabulous day. I went on a small group tour to Niagara Falls which included stops at two smaller waterfalls, visits to a small batch gin distillery and boutique winery, a nice Greek lunch, and a frigid day at the world's biggest (by water volume) waterfall.

Tiffany Falls

Sherman Falls

delicious ice wine

American Falls

Horseshoe Falls

Summer (from Bellingham!), Megan and her mom Janey (D.C./Florida), me, Alexander and his wife whose name I didn't catch (Costa Rica by way of Florida), Lili from China (by way of Ann Arbor), Victoria and her brother (Sao Paulo by way of New York) and  Vicky from New York.

When your mittens are soaking wet but you're also kind of a genius. 

Another Thanksgiving in Canada

It's cold in Toronto. Like, REALLY cold. While my friends in Seattle were preparing to eat turkey, I was walking around trying not to freeze to death. I walked through Graffiti Alley, went to the Bata Shoe Museum, and went to see Jay Baruchel talk about his book, "Born into It" at the Toronto Public Library. It just so happens that I've watched a bunch of Jay's movies in the last few months and while I won't say that noticing that Jay's book tour included a stop at the library in Toronto was the reason I decided to come here this weekend, because that would sound creepy and stalkerish, I'm not... not saying that was the reason.

I went to an interview and slide presentation given by Manolo Blahnik about ten years ago in NYC. He was a seriously wacky sort who was fun if someone incomprehensible to listen to, and he showed slides of his beautiful original drawings. The drawings were part of the show at the museum and the shoes were gorgeous. He said he hated to see women in athletic shoes (whatever) so he'd heartily disapprove of my beloved sneaker collection. 

I read almost half this book while waiting for the interview,
and I'm definitely impressed; it's about far more than hockey,
it is quintessentially about CANADA.

Rooms and Views: Toronto

When I was very young, I wanted to live in a high-rise with a view of the big city. I wasn't sure which big city it would be, but I certainly didn't think it would be Toronto. I'm perfectly happy in my low-rise, non-view home in medium-sized Seattle, but for the next five days, this view of Toronto is mine.

It was 22 degrees when I landed and part of me seriously considered cozying up and just staring out the windows for the rest of the evening, but I knew if this November foray into the great frozen north was going to work, I had to bundle up and head out, which I did. Only one thing on the agenda for today, visit the highest spot in North America, the CN Tower. It was about a 20 minute walk, and my face - the only exposed part of my body, was numb when I arrived, but it was worth it. When you live in a medium-sized city, it's good to be reminded what a BIG CITY looks like.

from 1,136 feet up

 

from 1,465 up

view on the walk from my apartment to the tower

daytime view from my apartment

The National Zoo

I know that zoos are important institutions for research and conservation and I'm not going to say much about the National Zoo which is three blocks up Connecticut Avenue from Nilan's apartment. I went there twice in the time I was in D.C., and while I enjoyed seeing the animals and believe the zoo serves the greater good for education of the public and the preservation of species, in my anthropomortification (is that a word?) of the zoo's inhabitants, I left feeling that they were either very bored or very sad.

this might be the saddest thing I've ever seen.