“Muy rico”, he exclaimed, biting into his tuna, pointing to the ground beneath a massive cactus. There, lying in the dirt, were literally dozens of tunas, or prickly pears, free for the taking.

Jeff and I were strolling through the modest botanical garden in Teotihuacan just outside of Mexico City, taking in all of the beautiful and different types of cactus and other succulents scattered about. We had already walked several miles climbing to the tops of the pyramids, and I relished the thought of biting into one of the juicy fruits before me. I had tried tuna in local mercados, although they were always pre-peeled and ready-to-eat.

I picked up several, tossing aside the ones that were infested with ants, until I found the perfect  fruit. Immediately,  I  threw it down as I felt the masses of undetectable thorns covering the fingers of both hands. I instantly looked for the hombre that so highly recommended them, imagining him laughing  under his breath at the gullible gringa .  It took an hour to get the tiny barbs that we could see pulled out, but I was still tweezing them when we got back to our condo late that afternoon.

Despite the thorns,  the Mesoamerican city of  Teotihuacan was well worth the visit. It is thought to have been established around 100 BC, and population estimated at 125,000 or more, making it at least the sixth largest city in the world during its heyday. We opted to do the day trip on our own, taking the local, jam-packed bus from the city. We walked the Avenue of the Dead, explored the Pyramid of the Sun, Pyramid of the Moon, the museum and the well-preserved murals.

In order to avoid the masses of pushy vendors lining the Avenue of the Dead, we skirted behind one of the smaller pyramids. Then I heard it. The angry growl of an approaching jaguar! I nearly jumped out of my skin as I knocked Jeff out of the way in search of a safe place to escape.

Then I saw him.

A short, squat Mexican blowing into a ceramic thing-y that made the identical (I guess) sound of a hungry jag. Amused by my hysteria, he smiled a wide, gap-toothed grin and tried to sell me his wares. I laughed back (what could I do), and headed for the nearest bathroom with plenty of toilet paper.

Leaving the park, we had lunch in “La Gruta”, a cavern that boasts of wonderful meals in a spectacular setting. I wasn’t super-hungry, after almost losing my breakfast, and ordered an appetizer of 3 sopes with guacamole and chapulines, or grasshoppers.  I wasn’t expecting such a, well, hearty portion of the insects, but managed to finish 2 of the 3 sopes. Jeff made gagging noises throughout lunch, so  I snuck a few grasshoppers in his tortilla soup. Ha Ha Ha!

It was a full day for us, and one I highly recommend if you are visiting Mexico City. Just don’t touch the prickly pears!!!

The Toy Museum of Mexico City is a quirky, odd collection of over 20,000 pieces all contained in an equally quirky showroom that spans 4 floors.  Most of the toys are from Mexico, and all are owned and collected by Roberto Shimizu Kinoshita, who we were fortunate enough to meet while enjoying his collections. He explained that he started hoarding collecting toys at a young age, and wanted to make his passion available to the public. Particularly interesting is the way he has chosen to display his collections, (not your typical orderly display cases), and the murals that adorn the open-air rooftop terrace.

There isn’t a square inch that is not festooned with some sort of whimsical relic. It was fascinating chaos.  The museum was an unexpected highlight of our visit to CDMX. I recommend it. Highly. In fact, I’m sure we missed a lot of it, but will return next time we visit the city that still has a piece of our hearts.