by Lola
After a lengthy delay at LAX and a hideously long line in Mexico City’s customs gulag, we finally made it to my cousin’s house and a blessed plate of homemade quesadillas and a cup of hot ponche. Welcome home!
The city is very quiet during Christmas, since everyone’s left for their respective vacation villas, family homes and overseas trips. Hurray! The streets aren’t quite empty—a city this size never really empties out—but the traffic is flowing nicely. This afternoon we drove over to a local taquería named El Farolito and had ourselves a feast. For those who haven’t been to one, they hand you a list much like that of a sushi bar, only jam packed with the finest selection of tacos: de cecina, de arrachera, taco al pastor, de chuleta, de costilla, de hongos con queso, la Farolada de chorizo, volcanes adobados etc. etc. I chose my favorite: taquitos al pastor and another one of tender cecina. Man, they were good!! I missed out on a chicharrón de queso because I was already full, but it’s next on my list. For the uninitiated, it’s a thin slab of cheese toasted golden and crispy on a hot griddle, then served up in a giant curl of cheesy goodness.
After that, my cousins took me to walk around the latest mall to have sprung up around these here parts, the swanky Antara in Polanco, located between Ejército Nacional and Moliere streets. It’s the “see and be seen” crowd, pretty funny if you enjoy people watching. It’s an outdoor mall, with one of those “floor fountains” that are so popular for kids to jump around in when it’s hot, and scores of chi-chi stores like Burberry and Coach. It’s everything you would expect in Polanco.
One very nice touch—unusual in most upscale malls—is found in the food court. Up on the second level with a bird’s eye view of the shoppers below, they have a selection of American food (of course), but they also have an outpost of El Farolito (see above) and another of this fabulous fruit stand called La Ciudad de Colima. 
This place is stocked with the most marvelous, sweetest, juiciest fruit you could ever imagine, and they serve it up any which way you want: cut up on a plate, speared in a cup, juiced in a glass… outrageously delicious! If you’ve ever had a cup of fresh pineapple spears (with a bit of salt), you’ve been to heaven…
Tomorrow we’re going to go have breakfast in one of two local places: La Veracruzana or La Casa de Toño. With names like that, you can’t go wrong.