Green Day

Mexico City is pretty green. Maybe not so much in the eco-friendly manner we have taken the word "green" to mean nowadays - but in the simplest of meanings - the actual color green.

For a city as big as this one, I would say that there is a fair proportion of tree lined avenues and parks that makes living amongst the concrete and traffic somewhat bearable. Most neighborhoods around town have a park for its residents to enjoy daily...and if you want a more Central Park atmosphere, you can always head to Bosque de Chapultepec and enjoy its vast sprawl of green.

Anyway, in an effort to make the inside of our little home greener, we headed over to Viveros de Coyoacan to see what we could find. Viveros de Coyoacan is a huge park and plant nursery in the heart of Coyoacan in the southern part of the city.

When we moved to Mexico City, there was a slight attempt at keeping up our workout routine through early morning runs at the viveros. It's quite a popular spot for running enthusiasts. Open by 6:00a.m., there is a circuit around the park about 4 km long. By 6:15, if you don't run, stay on the left side please. Unless you want people running all around and over you. Anyway, I said attempt because I lasted all of 5 days getting up at 5:30.

But now we have discovered a whole new area of the viveros - La Exposicion Permanente de Floricultura y Viverismo or the Permanent Exhibit of Flowers and Nursery - basically a huge flower and plant market. Even if you aren't shopping for anything, a walk through is definitely a must. It's like being in a beautiful giant green house.

cactus garden

odd plant I've never seen before

lots of mini cacti

Before heading out to lunch, we dropped off our newest household member. It's called palo de brazil and supposedly can deal with barely any sunlight. So we'll see how my green thumb fares this time around.

Around 4p.m. we headed over to Azul y Oro for lunch after having read a million rave reviews about the place. This little outdoor restaurant is actually on the UNAM campus. There are two locations on campus, with the exact same menu at both: in the Centro Cultural and next to the Engineering Building. It may be little out of the way for some people, but don't let that deter you! It's a must! We didn't try everything on the Oaxacan menu, but it was definitely hard to choose as it all sounded great. And to top it off, you can't beat the price. I think we paid 250 pesos for an appetizer, 2 mains, and 2 aguas. Next time I want to go back for breakfast and some hot chocolate! 

Here's the info!

Viveros de Coyoacan

Melchor Ocampo 100

esquina con Avenida Mexico

Colonia del Carmen Coyoacan

Mexico D.F. 03152

(55) 5554-6007

Azul y Oro Centro Cultural

Insurgentes Sur 3000

esquina con Frente a la Sala Nezahualcoyotl

Col. Fuentes del Pedregal

Azul y Oro Facultad de Ingenieria

Frente del nuevo edificio de la Facultad de Ingenieria s/n

(parking lot 3 or 4)

(55) 5622-7135