The next day was Sunday and I met a friend who was visiting at the same time. On Sunday's a major avenue heading into the historical downtown is closed to cars so people can bike or jog on it. We had a pleasant walk down the road to the historical center. We first stopped at the "Museo de Arte Popular," a folk art museum, which was fascinating.


Fascinating displays at the folk art museum.


From there, we walked through the busy downtown area, lined with restaurants and shops. We stopped at the famous "El Cardenal" restaurant for lunch and a wonderful coffee. As we were waiting, there was a protest march heading towards the main square. Global Adventurer helpfully warns us of protests in Mexico, but this one was small and had ended by the time we left the restaurant. I had the arrachera steak on cactus leaves, which was perfect. My adventuresome friend got the "escamoles" taco (ant larvae) to share - I tried a bit and it was fine, a subtle nutty flavor, but I couldn't get myself to eat the entire thing.


Ant larvae taco.


We next went to the Zocalo (the main square). It's beautiful, but busy with lots of vendors hawking their products. Stayed long enough to take a photo and got out of there. North of there is the main cathedral which was beautiful. There was an ongoing service inside, but we were able to go in and explore. Next to it is the Aztec ruins of the original Mexico City (Tenochtitlan) with a wonderful museum attached to it. Amazing to just be able to walk through the ruins in the middle of a major city. We spent the rest of the first day shopping and eating small snacks.


Zocalo. The central square.