If you are ever in a new town and you are trying figure out what to do my suggestion is go to Google (or whatever your favorite search engine might be) and type in “best Ice Cream in (place new city here).” That is how we found Lala’s Creamery.
Complete with it’s old fashion soda fountain, Lala’s Creamery definitely fits the definition of ice cream parlor. I particularly enjoyed all the old ice cream treat advertisements.
The portions were very generous and decently priced.
It was kind of weird seeing a Five Guys on the West coast.
When we were in Washington DC I heard that President Obama really liked going to this fast food place called Five Guys. I wanted to check the chain out, but our time in Washington DC was limited and so we just didn’t have the time.
Fast forward a year in Santa Rosa and I am using my GPS to find a supermarket because we forgot to buy toothbrushes for our trip. While looking for Safeway late at night I spot in the corner a Five Guys. This time I knew we would have an opportunity.
Five Guys is definitely a different kind of hamburger place. In appearance it kind of looks like In and Out but without the yellow. It is a very simple menu that includes hamburgers, hot dogs, and fries. The regular hamburgers are all double patty burgers. If you want just a simple hamburger with only one patty you have to order a Jr. burger. The paid options on your burger are cheese and/or bacon. While the paid options are simple the unpaid options are complicated. This is due to the fact that there are soo many toppings you can put on your hamburger, be very careful if you order a burger with “everything”! French fries are extra, but a regular side of fries will easily feed three (big) people.
Shelling peanuts before eating a burger was different.
While you are waiting for your burger there are free peanuts. I am not sure why there are free peanuts, but there are, you just scoop a tray of them and there you go.
The decor is really simple in Five Guys
The burgers themselves are pretty tasty and for just under $6 dollars a pretty good deal. The only problem I had with them was the buns, which in my opinion not sturdy enough for the burger. Luckily the burger was wrapped in aluminum because the hamburger got really sloppy really fast. That said the burger was nice and juicy and really big. The only other thing I guess I should mention is the music. I didn’t notice it but my mom and my aunt said the music was really loud.
We are almost home now so I can begin to chronicle our trip up the 101. Unfortunately my grandmother passed away but we did get the chance to see many interesting things.
Today we went to Stacky’s Shack in Summerland,CA. Summerland is a little boutique town just south of Santa Barbara. The restaurant had a nice decorations, there were lots of signed celebrity pictures on the walls, but the wasn’t many patrons there. The fish items we had were good and at prices ranging between $6-$12 it was reasonably cheap.
The Sonoma Mission marks the last of the original 21 missions.
In 1819 Father Jose Altimira came from Barcelona, Spain to work at the Dolores Mission in San Francisco. He didn’t like the mission in San Francisco because it was not adventerous enough for him and he found the foggy weather in San Francisco to be too cold. Getting permission from the Mexican Governor Don Luis Arguello he went north to Sonoma. This was a bit out of the ordinary because to build a Catholic church you generally want to ask the Catholic Church’s permission, but this Father apparently wasn’t much for details. On on July 4, 1823 Father Altimira established the Mission Solano and despite the minor faux pax the Catholic Church eventually sanctioned the last of the 21 missions. As noted Father Altimira was not a man for details, but he was a determined man and took 700 natives to Sonoma to help him build his mission. The natives didn’t like getting resettled and were even less happy when Father Altimira and the soldiers whipped them. In 1828 the natives were done with Father Altimira and revolted. Father Altimira had to flee to Mission San Rafael and eventually made it back to Spain. In 1832 Father Buenaventura Fortuni from Mission San Jose took over the mission and made it into a success. He regained the native’s trust and soon had 6,000 sheep and over 900 horses. This got the attention of the Mexican government and in 1833 General Mariano Vallejo replaced Father Buenaventura Fortuni with a Franciscan order of missionaries from the Mexican state of Zacatecas. This made the natives once again mad and so to control the mission General Vallejo built a barracks and housed a bunch of soldiers right next to the mission. Things at the mission did not go well with General Vallejo running the show and in 1880 the mission was sold to a shopkeeper who made it into a warehouse / saloon. Eventually, in 1903 the The Historic Landmarks League bought the property and after carefully restauring the mission and barracks deeded the property to the State of California in 1926.
Today the Mission Solano and the Sonoma Barracks are park of the California Sonoma State Historic Park. For a nominal fee you can visit both the mission and the barracks on the same ticket. In general the buildings are a bit sparse, but the altar is nicely redone and the barracks has a very good museum. I also enjoyed watching the video about the soldiers living at the barracks.
August was a very volatile month for stock trading. Never in the history of stock trading has the DOW swung as much as it did in this month.
Finding good opportunities in this market is really tough. Luckily for me I don’t have any money in that I need to get out quickly. On that same note however I which I had more money because I am finding that it is actually cheaper to invest with more money than it is with less.
Early in the month I was able to take advantage of a good swing and sell of my SILA stock for a bit of a profit. I was so excited about my first stock gain that I bought a stock called GRAS. GRAS is the stock for Greenfield Farms and they specialize in grass fed beef. It seemed like a no brainer with labor day coming up, but then Irene hit. Unfortunately, a lot of the markets Greenfield Farms sells to are in Vermont and Vermont is currently under a lot of water. It turns out people don’t buy high end beef when they are bailing the water out of their house. Oh well, my hope at this point is that I can wait for some better time (like I said I haven’t invested any money I needed soon), but I am doubtful there will be a big rush for beef after Labor day.
As far as my other stocks they are still in the loss category. Looking at them you may think I have really lost a lot but you have to remember that part of the loss includes the $10 trading fee. They are slowly growing, but it is kind of the equivalent of watching paint dry. Good for long term investment, but horrible for a day trading hobby.
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La Feria was very popular when we were there.
As I said in my last post of Chapultepec Zoo, Chapultepec Park is huge. In the second section of the park is the amusement zone. In the amusement zone there is a children’s museum called El Museo Del Papalote (Kite Museum), the technology museum, a ecological park called Planeta Azul (Blue Planet), and La Feria (the Fair).
We only had time for one venue so we went for the big one: La Feria. La Feria is a amusement park that was started in the 60s when it’s signature ride called La Montana Rusa (the Russian Mountain), a roller coaster, was first constructed on the site.
The roller coaster is called La Montana Rusa (Russian Mountain) but it was decorated in a Aztec motiff which was a bit confusing.
Since then many things have been added to the park. All together there are about 35 rides that range from little kiddie rides, to motion simulators (the one with Elvira speaking Spanish was hilarious), to roller coasters that will loop you 360 degrees. AJ really enjoyed himself. I don’t know how many ways you can go in a circle, but AJ sure gave it a go.
The park also has a very entertaining dolphin show.
When we went to the show it was kind of amusing because there was this family in front of us that very obviously had money.
The dolphins were Chivas fans (the trainer was from Guadalajara).
First of all there were two nanny’s in the group. We knew they were nanny’s because one had a pink uniform and the other a blue one. Then the two women in the group totally stuck out. Which was funny to me because we always standout as American tourists, but these two women stood out in a whole different level. It wasn’t any one thing, but with the manicured fingers, hair, and gucci purses I knew they had money. People in the city usually dress very well to begin with (especially when they are going out), but this was totally different.
We had a fun time at the dolphin show.
Besides that one family I would definitely say that this amusement park was the “working man’s” park of Mexico City. There is actually a Six Flags Park in Mexico City which at $35 US dollars a person is the more expensive park. In contrast an all inclusive pass for La Feria is only $15 US dollars. Food prices inside the park are not that great and highly elevated. Just outside the gate there are many food stalls that are way cheaper and much tastier. The only thing is the park does not permit food into the park or reentry so we just bought a small snack in the park and at outside at the stalls for dinner.
Batman has nothing on AJ.
AJ did a lot of rides that went in circles.
Denise and AJ didn't understand much at the crooked house.
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El Palacio National de Bellas Artes contains many cool things underneath it's domes.
It was 1904 and Mexico was about to celebrate their 100th anniversary. Porfirio Diaz, the dictator, needed something big to celebrate. He needed to show he was in charge and that Mexico was great, so he built El Palacio De Bellas Artes. Well, he sort of built it, he meant to build it, but something got in the way. Well, if it wasn’t for that darn revolution and his whole goverment getting toppled I am sure he would of put down more than one stone!!
The inside theme is water and is repeated in different elements. The light is representive of a fountain and the door has images of Tlaloc, the Aztec god of water.
Well, luckily for the rest of the country (and argueably humanity) the revolution did stop, but the idea of the Fine Arts Palace did not stop. The original archetect Adamo Boari returned (by a bloodthirsty mob) to Italy so a new Mexican archetect named Federico Mariscal finished it. Construction started again in 1932 and completely finished in 1934. Made of white marble from Carrera, Italy, it is a masterpiece worthy of the beauties it contains.
If you haven't seen the National Ballet Folklorico you are missing out on a cultural gem.
The main function of the Fine Arts Palace is that of an active theater. The group that performs there is the Ballet Folklórico de México de Amalia Hernández .This spectacular performance helps keep alive the history of Mexico through music and dance. If you haven’t seen the show it is a must and at prices ranging between $20 to $80 dollars, it isn’t that expensive.
I love the magical realism of this painting.
Another lesser known feature of the Fine Arts Palace is that of it’s artwork. It has a wide range of artwork. From contemporary to classic, you will probably find something you like. Entrance to the museum section is $3 per person. When we went there we went with some of my dad’s student’s and we thought he was going to lecture (which is usually interesting), but instead the head professor chose a local tour guide. I got bored really quickly from her lecture. Basically, it was like she was talking to someone from middle school, but all my dad’s students are post-graduate students. Since we were not taking that course for credit we ditched the local tour guide and wandered about on our own.
If you look really close you can see Rockefeller painted in with the bad guys.
My favorite mural was that of Diego Rivera’s “Man, Controller of the Universe.” This painting was originally commissioned by Rockefeller and was supposed to be installed in New York City, but when city officials got word that the painting had communist leaders in it they quickly stopped it. Diego Rivera blamed the fiasco on Rockefeller and so if you look very carefully in the painting you will find Rockefeller painted in with the corrupt Capitalists.
Anyhow, if you have time I suggest you take a look at this beautiful building. Even if you don’t go to a show or to the museum going into the lobby or bookstore is free and that alone will make your day more interesting.
Sanborns is kinda like Denny's in price only, decoration wise it is in a way different clase.
After the lecture we went with my dad to to the House of Tiles to have lunch at Sanborns’ (a Denny’s like restaurant). This particular location is famous because it is where Zapata’s soldiers stopped for lunch on their way to the Zocalo. It too is decorated in murals and is a great place to get some Enchilladas Suizas.
So here’s the problem, your the richest man in the world and you got a bunch of spare land and some artwork lying around, what do you do? Well, if you are Carlos Slim (who is the richest man in the world), you build a museum.
The building kind of reminded me of a shiny top hat.
The Soumaya Museumin Polanco was named after Carlos Slim’s wife and inaugurated in March of 2011. A six story building it is filled with artwork and antiquities arranged in chronological order. On the top story there is a sculpture garden filled with Rodin artwork pieces. At the bottom there is a floor dedicated to all the different Mexican currency (figures the richest man in the world would display money).
I can't even begin to imagine what all these gold coins are worth.
Getting there is a little bit tricky because it is not close to any metro station. The best way is to get on the Orange Line (#7, tickets are 3 pesos) and get off at the San Joaquin station. From there you can take a peso for about $3 pesos (.30 cents USD) which will let you off within a block of the museum.
Metro station San Joaquin is the closest station to the museum.
When the museum first opened it came with much fanfare, but the critics didn’t like it too much. One critic went even so far as to say “money apparently doesn’t buy good taste”, but I disagree. I wouldn’t call it the best museum I have ever seen, but I definitely thought it was interesting. Riding the elevator to the top and slowly walking down the long winding ramp was very fun. Not only that, it was free!! So you couldn’t do much better.
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This scale model shows the many layers of Templo Mayor.
The other day I posted that I could only imagine what it must of been like for Hernan Cortez when he first laid eyes on the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan. As it turned out I didn’t have to imagine too much. In a report to the Spanish king in 1522, Hernan Cortez gave a very elaborate report on his findings of Tenochtitlan. In his report he said that the main square had approximately 40 temples with shrines to various gods on top of each temple. He also said that the pyramids were larger than any of the church spires in Seville. He said that there were fires burning day and night with the a constant air of incense. People were always busy in the ancient capital and had many specialized functions.
Security is pretty tight at the Templo Mayor
On our second day of our last trip to Mexico City we visited El Templo Mayor (the main temple). Admission to the site is $35 pesos (a little more than $3 USD). If you want to see the temple that Hernan Cortez saw go all you have to do is look at the cathedral.
A long snake representing Quetzalcoatl surrounded the temple.
For the Aztecs, El Templo Mayor was vital to keeping the universe moving. Blood was considered the staff of life to the Aztecs and only by continually feeding blood to the gods did they believe the gods would continue their work of running the universe. On the main temple were the two shrines dedicated to the main Aztec gods: Huitzilopochtli, god of war and Tlaloc, god of rain and agriculture. After a sacrifice was made the body was hurled down to the stone representing Coyolxauhqui (the moon goddess) as a payment to release the sun from her grasp.
In this picture you can see the cathedral in the background and a scale model of what the city looked like when Hernan Cortez first came to Mexico City.
The Mexico City cathedral was built out of the stones quarried from El Templo Mayor. The temple and the surroundings had been built over a total of 7 times. What is at the site today is actually leftovers of the 1st,2nd,3rd, and 4th layers of the temple. Each layer was made by sacrificing a bunch of people and then burying the old temple. It is said that during the dedication of the 4th layer in 1487 King Ahuizol ordered the sacrifice of 1000 people a day for 20 days. The temple it is written became a river of blood. After Hernan Cortez conquered El Templo Mayor was almost totally forgotten. There were a few token digs, but it wasn’t until 1978 when the temple was rediscovered by electricity workers digging for new underground electric lines came upon the remains of El Templo Mayor that any real archaelogic studies began.
Alex in front of the new archaelogy digs in progress.
Many things have been discovered at El Templo Mayor. Some of these things include the Aztec calendar stone, the palace of the eagles, and sacrifice stone of Coyolxauhqui (goddess of the moon) upon which were thrown the bodies of those sacrificed. Excavations still take place at the site and new things are discovered all the time.
AJ saw this eagle warrior and immediately started to do the chicken dance.
In addition to seeing the main temple you will also see the Palace of Eagle (the Aztec elite guard) and the museum which houses some of the artifacts discovered at the site. We spent only a few hours there, but we could’ve easily have spent an entire day looking at both the site and museum.
After we visited El Templo Mayor we went to this “All You Can Eat” Chinese place. It was cheap, but it was horrible. I don’t know what posessed us to visit a Chinese restaurant in Mexico, but I will never do that again. I guess I thought since Mexicans run all the Chinese restaurant kitchens here in the USA it couldn’t be that bad, but I was wrong. Not everything I guess can turn out perfect.
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Tenochtitlan looked nothing like the modern day Mexico City.
Mexico City is built upon a really big ancient lake. I can only imagine what Mexico City looked like when Hernan Cortez first arrived. As far as 16th century standards go this was not a small place. Even back then it was a thriving metropolis. With it’s complex system of man-made islands it must of been like a crazy scene from Waterworld. Unfortunately, Cortez was really only interested in two things and neither of them involved learning about the local culture.
All ready to go aboard, I mean shore, I mean wherever you are!!
The years have of course passed and now Mexico City is fairly dry. The canals for the most part are all gone. The only place where you can sort of get a feel of what it was like back then is at Xochimilco.
Xochimilco is now within the boundaries of the ever sprawling Mexico City, but back in the conquest days it was just a small town to the west of Mexico City. For this reason it became a very convenient base while Cortez was sacking the city. I mention this because I think it might of been some of the reason why this section remained so well preserved. Despite the ever danger of the city swallowing it up, Xochimilco still remains quite green.
You can get to Xochimilco by public transportation, but a tour is a MUCH easier option.
You can get to Xochimilco like we did by public transportation but is far easier to take a tour or a sitio taxi out there. There are three boat launch site, the biggest and most colorful is called Nativitas.
All the prices at Xochimilco are posted don't pay more or less, it causes problems if you do.
The prices at Xochimilco are posted. The cost per lancha (boat) is $200 pesos (about $19 USD) for an hour. This price includes the boat and the driver. If you are by yourself, or just really cheap, you can take any of the “collectivo” (per person) boats for less.
The islands upon which Xochimilco is built on make for excellent flower growing.
Along the way on your trip you will find many people trying to sell you different crafts and food. Most of the things sold are overpriced from what you will find on the land, but it is kind of novel to buy something while riding in the canals.
These Mariachis had a good gig with our boat. We hired them for 12 songs.My dad really hammed it up with the Mariachis, and no, he didn't drink any alcohol.
One of my favorite things to buy in Xochimilco is a song from a Mariachi. For $100 pesos ($9 USD) you can sail down the canal with your very own live Mariachi band.
When we went this last time we were with a group of my dad’s students and we all pitched in. When it was all said and done we had enough for 12 songs. Almost all the way out and back.
Everyone got to dance but me 🙁 (and Denise, she didn't want to).
The atmosphere of Xochimilco is that of a big party. It was a fun time everyone was dancing and taking pictures like there was no tomorrow. Even AJ found a dance partner.
AJ found a dancing partner his age.