Boats and Tacos

 

After last night’s dinner, we slept HARD. And, miraculously, so did the girls. Their babysitters, yes, babysitters, plural, because the company required two people to manage our two tiny humans, apparently had a blast with them. Both girls went down easily, nobody traumatized the babysitters enough to make them flee the profession, and then something truly remarkable happened: both girls slept through the entire night. At least ten glorious, uninterrupted hours. Apparently all it took to fix our children’s sleep was dragging them through three states, multiple missed flights, a night in Texas, and several days in Mexico City.

We woke up feeling suspiciously refreshed and had a relaxing morning with breakfast before setting out for a tour of Xochimilco. Xochimilco is one of those places that feels completely different from the rest of Mexico City. Its famous canals are remnants of the enormous system of lakes and waterways that once covered the Valley of Mexico, dating back to the world of the Aztecs and Tenochtitlan. It is now part history lesson, part floating picnic, and part party, basically exactly the kind of cultural experience the Rosenfeld family can get behind. 

It was an absolutely spectacular sunny day, and we had an entire trajinera to ourselves. We slowly floated through the canals while other colorful boats drifted past us selling everything imaginable. Food, drinks, flowers, trinkets and souvenirs all came floating by, along with entire boats of mariachi musicians ready to pull alongside and serenade you for a few pesos. It was wonderfully chaotic. The girls LOVED it. After several days of carrying children through museums, airports, airplanes, and castles, sitting on a boat while Mexico floated past us felt downright luxurious.

We finished at exactly the right time to race back to the apartment for the sacred nap time. 

Today also happened to be Mexican Independence Day, which is an incredible time to be in Mexico City with one minor logistical complication: EVERYTHING WAS CLOSED. We had ideas. We had plans. Mexico had a national holiday. Mexico won. We tried the National Library, closed. So instead we headed back toward Bosque de Chapultepec, wandered around, and let Joni take in the crowds, music, sounds, and general energy of the city. Honestly, with a toddler, sometimes abandoning the itinerary and just letting her wander around looking at people is probably the better activity anyway.

Eventually, however, we had a mission. We hiked our way across the city toward Maizajo, a taco spot we had seen featured with Antoni Porowski and had subsequently decided we needed to experience for ourselves. When we arrived, there was a long, long line. Under normal circumstances, seeing a massive line while carrying two increasingly tired children would be a clear signal from the universe to go somewhere else. But we had come too far. We were committed.

The girls initially held it together admirably. Then they started fraying around the edges. Then the wheels began visibly loosening. By the time we were waiting for our names to be called, we were down to seconds before a complete dual-child systems failure.

And then they called us.

We sidled up to the counter with two exhausted children in tow and ordered tacos with reckless abandon. At that point I didn’t care what anything cost or how much food we ordered. Just start handing us tacos. 

And let me tell you: they were the best damn tacos I have ever had.

Not “really good tacos.” Not “great vacation tacos.” The best tacos I have ever put into my mouth. After days of eating our way through Mexico City, Maizajo somehow managed to raise the bar again. The tortillas, the fillings, the flavors, everything was incredible.

Apparently Joni agreed. I was feeding her bites when she began attacking each taco with such enthusiasm that I genuinely became concerned for the safety of my fingers. 

And somehow, after the chaos of airports, missed flights, bathtub sleeping, vomiting, bed-diving, toddler meltdowns and the general insanity of hauling two children under two around one of the largest cities in the world, it was a perfect night. We sat at a counter in Mexico City with our girls, absolutely demolishing some of the best tacos of our lives, and everyone was happy.

We made it home just in time for bedtime. Both girls were completely exhausted and went down quickly. Another day in Mexico City successfully completed. We’re getting dangerously good at this.