CULTURE + FOOD, MEXICO CITY
March 29 - April 6, 2019
La Rama living room, The Red Tree House
We are mixing things up and this time we are focusing on seeing the art in Mexico City while at the same time, indulging in some of the greatest food found in this mecca of notable culinary talent with visits to long standing favorites, and to hidden alleys where we will share some good old stick to your ribs traditional food.
It's going to be jammed packed with visits to museums and artist studios so you will need your stamina and a full appetite for not only the art but the food that you will be introduced to.
Schedule
Day 1. Friday, March 29. This is a travel day so we will meet this evening at 5:30 p.m. in the lobby of The Red Tree House for introductions and a drink followed by a welcoming reception.
Day 2, Saturday, March 30. Breakfast will be in the main house where you will meet others who are staying here, too. Then it's off to San Angel's Saturday market of artists plying their wares. Surrounding tiendas or stores will be worth stopping in and perusing. We'll stop for comida (lunch) at Fonda San Angel before walking to the Ex-Convento del Carmen. We'll have an early dinner at our one of our favorites, Contramar. It's noisy, but worth every decibel when your meal is presented to you.
Frida by Felipe Ferguson
Ex-Convento del Carmen
Day 3, Sunday, March 31. Breakfast at The Red Tree House before we take off to founder, Carlos Slim's Soumaya Museum at Plaza Carso. It has over 66,000 works from 30 centuries of art including sculptures from Pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica, 19th- and 20th-century Mexican art and an extensive repertoire of works by European old masters and masters of modern western art such as Auguste Rodin, Salvador Dalí, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo and Tintoretto.
““Art, like philosophy, awaken consciences, invites us to know and question the environment, and to unravel the meaning of existence. The restless art; It is a living reflection of society and its ideas. We believe that contact with art improves the understanding of the word, and therefore, the quality of life of people. ””
Comida or lunch will be at Pujol, voted one of the top restaurants in the world.
Pujol Comal
We'll need to walk off our meal so we will visit the historical Castillo de Chapultepec once a fortress of the Mexicas (Aztecs) and later the residence of Emperor Maximilian and his wife, Carlotta and until 1939 was the residence of Mexico’s presidents, when then President Lázares Cáredena decreed that it become the Museo Nacional de Historía. We are planning a visit to artist Felipe Ferguson's studio and hope to visit this evening.
Day 4, Monday, April 1. Breakfast at The Red Tree House then we will scoot over to the Frida Museum so that we can be first in line.
After you have seen enough, we will head over to Coyoacan and visit the market there before we climb onto our trajineras or gondolas at Xochimilco. This is always a treat, with boats of mariachis, flowers, and women selling pozole, mole and other treats sidling up to our boat. We will enjoy a lunch of mole while floating along this ancient waterway. Dinner will be on your own this evening.
Day 5, Tuesday, April 2. This morning's breakfast will be at Chef Elena Reygadas Panderia in Colonial Roma. Reygadas received the 2014 Veuve Clicquot Prize for Latin America’s Best Woman Chef, a recognition Restaurant magazine bestows as part of its “Fifty Best Restaurants in Latin America” list.
Tonight we are hoping to get tickets to the Ballet Folklorico, a visual feast architecturally and in the dances and music presented during the perfomances.
Ballet Folklórico de México is a Mexican folkloric ballet ensemble in Mexico City. For six decades it has presented dances in costumes that reflect the traditional culture of Mexico. The building is filled with murals including Diego Rivera’s famous El hombre en el cruce de caminos (Man at the Crossroads), originally commissioned for New York’s Rockefeller Center. The Rockefellers had the original destroyed because of its anti-capitalist themes, but Rivera re-created it here in 1934. Most notable is the stained-glass curtain depicting the Valle de México. Based on a design by Mexican painter Gerardo Murillo (aka Dr Atl), it was assembled by New York jeweler Tiffany & Co from almost a million pieces of colored glass.
Day 6, Wednesday, April 3. Breakfast at The Red Tree House, then off we go to The Museu Anthropoligica. We'll leave ample time for you to discover the many wonders of this museum. If we are lucky, they will have a performance of the Voladores outside.
It's a performance you will never forget. We'll have barbacoa for comida today and visit another artist studio this afternoon.
This itinerary may change due to weather, new opportunities or the whim of the group.
Accommodations
Our base will be at Jorge Silva and Craig Hudson's the Red Tree House which is managed by the delightful, Alex. It's our favorite place to stay while in CDMX (Mexico City).
“Whether you’re an oler tourist or a young backpacker, traveling with friends or solo, this botique spot feels more like a friend’s home than a hotel”
Red Tree House owners, Jorge and Craig are great supporters of local artists and their B&Bs are filled to the brim.
A little art by Felipe Ferguson with breakfast. Pictured, Kathie Vezzani and Katie Kendrick
Walking through each room is like walking through a museum, especially fun are the assemblages made by Craig.
Assemblage by Craig Hudson
The Red Tree House staff is very helpful and every morning a beautiful breakfast is served with a smile. I can smell the chocolate and churros even now. There's a nightly happy hour where you will meet other guests who are staying at The Red Tree House. It's a convivial group, the staff and people who stay in this home away from home.
This trip is full
This Escape Includes
8 nights accommodation, double occupancy at The Red Tree House
Welcome celebration
Visits to museums
Eat our way through Mexico City
All meals except for one dinner
Artist studio tours
A very special farewell celebration
New art tribe
Price: $3,450, limited to 12 people based on double occupancy. A limited number of single rooms are available for an additional $500.
A $1,000 non refundable deposit is due upon registration with the final payment due September 30, 2018
Price does not include airfare to/from Mexico
Airport: Mexico City International Airport; officially Aeropuerto Internacional Benito Juárez is an international airport that serves Greater Mexico City. Code: MEX
The airport is a 20-minute ride to The Red Tree House. There are taxis available 24/hours.
Day 7, Thursday, April 4. Breakfast at Cardenal where you will need to fuel yourself for the day ahead. It will be a full day in the center of the city. We will visit the Templo Mayor Museum, that was the main temple of the Aztecs in their capital city of Tenochtitlan, which is now Mexico City, walk across the street to the Palacio Nacional to view the Riviera murals at the government building, and we will visit Museo de Arte Popular (my fav!) a showcase for popular art. We can't be in the zocalo without visiting the Bakery Ideal with its towering fanciful cakes, and if Carlito Dalceggio is in town, we'll stop by his studio.
Carlito Dalceggio and Jorge Silva (checkered shirt)
Lunch will be at Pozoleria Moctezuma, a small cocina that Rick Bayless took his staff to on their staff visit, and dinner will be at our favorite taco stand near the Red Tree House. We'll be needing that cocktail hour.
Day 8, Friday, April 5. Breakfast at The Red Tree House. Craig and Jorge will give us a tour of the artwork in their buildings and discuss the art scene as they know it.
Craig Hudson
Comida will be at Pasillo de Humo with the afternoon free to relax or time to explore on your own. Dinner this evening will be a very special treat at the home of our friends Laura Cordera and Nacho Urquiza. Laura is a food stylist and Nacho is a professional photographer with a long resume. The artwork in their home is equally as fabulous as what you will see this week. They will make you feel very much at home and it will be a fitting end to our time together.
Nacho Urquiza and Laura Cordera
Day 9, Saturday, April 6. Time to leave or stay on, your choice. There's still a lot to experience in Mexico City!
Churros at El Moro
