Day 1- gringas en el DF

When we arrived to our hotel (Emporio- the same chain I use in Mazatlán and love), we checked in at the front desk and fell in love with our front desk peeps.  I think his name was Daniel.  Not unattractive, but we didn't fall in love that way.  He was super helpful, let me speak Spanish, and he made us laugh when he said my name.

Laura, of course was in true Spanish pronunciation.  Long was said well.  I had to correct him on Klapheke- duh.  But then every time he would say something to me, he would call me Laura (Spanish) Long (non-Spanish).  I think you had to be there.

We got into our petite, but nice room and got settled.  We knew our first order of business was to go get tickets for the ballet folklórico at the Palacio de Bellas Artes.  This auditorium, for lack of a better description, is unfortunately closed for renovation, but the tickets were still sold there.  Its auditorium is famous for its "glass Tiffany curtain," using almost a million pieces as well as murals by many famous Mexican artists, including my boy Diego Rivera.  The really sad part was that not only would the dance not be held there, but you couldn't even peek in!  

But back to the hotel.  Let's stay chronological here.

We asked about the tickets at the front desk (my travel book said some hotels might have access to tickets), and they told us how to get to the Palacio.  

It happens to be in the historic District, so we planned on just spending the rest of the evening there.  That was a good choice.  It was about a 25 minute leisurely walk from our hotel to the Alameda, a quaint little park in the middle of some crazy traffic.  We saw what there was to see there (dancers, bands, vendors, fountains, people), and decided we should get to the Bellas Artes and then see the sites.  

It was a truly beautiful museum.  Too bad we could only see the lobby!  We got our tickets (400 pesos each), and wandered around, taking in the beauty.  
Seeing just a glimpse made me really sad that the dance was going to be, are you ready for this, in the Anthropology museum and not here.  Yeah right!  I will definitely have to make another trip to Mexico City at some point in my life to see this place.  I'm okay with that.
After we got our tickets, we went back toward the Alameda before plopping down to figure out dinner plans.  It was night time at this point (or getting there), so we pulled out my trusty Fodor's 2009 book to see what good eats were in this area.  There were several options, but the winning one was called Las Sirenas.  It was Fodor's Choice, so we figured it had to be good.  I thought I had been there with Comexus (Fulbright Mexico) when we had our meeting in November, and it was incredible, so I was all for it.  Between where we were and where dinner would be was the Zócalo, or main plaza.  There are many government buildings, some old ruins, and a sinking (well, not anymore, they're remedied that) cathedral as well as some hotels and restaurants there.  
We saw the sites and kept walking to our restaurant.  I didn't feel right about the way we were going.  Not that I would remember from November (and not that I had any orientation back then, my first time in the city and traveling by taxi as opposed to on foot), but I thought we were going the wrong way on the wrong street to get to the restaurant I remembered.  I consulted the map again, and we were right; it just wasn't the same restaurant!  That explains it!  We saw the sign and went in.  We had to climb two sets of stairs to get to the outside deck.
On the way, we passed some really pretty stained glass.  It seems all the buildings in Mexico have such nice interior details.  
This was where we ate.  We were a block off the Zócalo, so we couldn't really see any action besides the backside of the cathedral.  However, it was a nice tranquil place for dinner.

The menu was pricey.  It was pricey even for the US I think, but I've been so long it's hard to tell.  But we were there and we were seated, so we decided to make this our nice meal for the week.  Besides, I knew us pretty well, and I figured we'd end up having taco stand tacos (for 6 pesos each) several nights.  (I was right.)

I decided on one of the chef's suggestions (I think).  It was cornish hen with a mango glaze.  And I also figured that if this was the meal for spending (and I was eating hen for crying out loud), I should top it off with a glass of wine.  I don't remember which wine it was (it's been two weeks!), but it was a really good white from somewhere other than Mexico.  It was just what I wanted!  Ashley had duck that came with a sauce that I can't remember now either.  I think it might have been tamarindo.  I liked it, but it was not her favorite.  It had a fruity barbecue taste to it, and I could eat barbecue sauce on just about anything.  We left there stuffed and waddling, but only willing to call it a night after a bit of sweet.
We made our way back.  Slowly.  I think this night we stopped in an Oxxo for Magnum bars.  Magnums are the Mexican (well, who knows where they originated because they're all over, but we associate them with Mexico because they are a daily requirement on our Cozumel mission trips) equivalent of Haagen Daas or Dove bars.  Ice cream bars with hardened chocolate on the outside.  Divine.
Our ballet the next day was at 9:30 and general admission, so we decided to leave the hotel by 8:15.  After being up and at em all day and night with my friends in Manzanillo (with no naps, mind you), I was not looking forward to an alarm clock.  However, I didn't want to miss out on anything in this awesome city, so I set it...