Here is part 2 of my time in Coyoacan!
For those curious, check out part 1 in this article I wrote here.
Anyway, in the end of the last article, I was at “Jardin Allende” by the Coyoacan Market and asked some street vendor about how to get to the Center of Coyoacan.
He pointed me in the right direction.
So I began walking!
Along the way, I noticed a lot of cops in the area.
Which, being honest, made me feel a tiny bit uneasy?
I guess enough time in Latin America doesn’t make me like cops down here so much.
But most are cool if we’re being honest and fair.
Anyway, I first found this Frida building along the route to the Center of Coyoacan that you can see here.
Since it had the word “Frida” on it, I imagined it must be important, right?
Though, in my brief time here, it felt like a lot of shit was dedicated to Frida.
Like I was in some Frida Disney land.
With some houses with partial or full paint of blue that you can see here just like the official Frida house.
This Frida market and all else I saw.
Made me think…
“Well, OK, if I go to a sex shop in this area, could I get a life size doll of Frida also? Get one of her husband Diego to place in a corner while I fuck the Frida doll in front of him?
Not that I’d be into that…
But, I’m just saying, there were plenty of Frida references (direct and indirect) in this neighborhood!
Anyway, was the Frida market good?
I walked in and out in under 3 minutes.
Not much to see – just a bunch of small stores that weren’t too popular.
Some haircut place?
Some videogame place as you can see here.
I think there wax shop if I remember right…
If there was, I should’ve checked to see if my aspirations for a Frida fuck doll could be fulfilled!
Well, OK, not for me…it’s for a friend!
Anyway, here’s a few more pictures of the inside of it.
Pretty simple.
Very soon after that, I found myself in the center of Coyoacan.
La Joya de Coyoacan, wey!
At the Center of Coyoacan
Here’s my initial photos I took as I encountered this area.
Right away, I noticed the building in the last photo.
Initially, I thought it was something important because of this sign here.
When I saw someone walk out of the door next to that, I walked in.
And there was some gal sitting down asking “how she can help me.”
To which I asked her “is this a touristy place?”
She smiled finding that humorous “oh you typical tourist you….”
And said no and that it was an “alcadia.”
That left me a tiny bit confused the sign in the front made it seem like this could be a touristy spot.
But it is what it is!
I noticed the “policia” badge on her shoulder and laughed about it “oh policia!”
And I explained to her that I saw that sign outside and thought it was something else.
She laughed and said it happens a few times that some foreigners get confused.
Anyway, I excused myself leaving the building.
To which I saw some bus tourism service.
Some red train looking thing that can take you around the touristy areas of the area.
The dude wanted to charge me 80 pesos for the service.
Though, glancing at my phone, I realized it might not be worth it given the time.
Perhaps another day.
So I carried on and found this church here.
This place is apparently called the “Parroquia San Juan Bautista Coyoacan.”
Some big church from the 16th century.
As I walked up to it, I saw some museum next to it.
The Tut Exposition
As I walked in, the architecture inside kinda reminded me of what I saw in Potosi, Bolivia for some reason.
Anyway, here’s a photo of the inside of the exposition as you walk inside.
They charged me 70 pesos to see the exposition.
Being honest with you, it was pretty uneventful.
Not at all really that exciting but it was well put together.
Here’s a photo of what you’ll see as you walk past the lady you pay 70 pesos.
Then here’s photos of what you’ll see in the first room.
In all of the rooms, you have TVs that give you important information about Tut.
Including descriptions written down of everything you’ll see.
Next, here are photos of the second room I walked into here.
As you walk past that, there’s some dude behind a counter that has some items on display.
I forgot to check if they were tourism items or not for purchase but I think they were?
But I didn’t look too carefully at them.
Then here’s photos of the third room.
One good thing about the third room is that it has a fan!
Since we have to wear masks to be inside this building, they were clearly smart enough to include a fan for us so that we don’t have to suffer at this point of the trip.
Granted, I’m not sure if the fan was for us suffering in the heat with the damn mask on but it’s much appreciated!
That’s a side point anyway – anytime I put on this mask I sweat like hell.
Fuck these masks.
Anyway, I thought the exhibition was fine.
I was going to write a full article on this but it’s honestly not needed.
If you like King Tut history, you’ll like it.
I thought it was a little bit boring and also was odd to see a King Tut Exhibition in this area.
Why not have a exhibition or museum dedicated to the church next to it if they don’t already have one?
Or something relevant to Coyoacan since it’s all in the center of Coyoacan anyhow?
King Tut didn’t have anything to do with Mexico.
Nothing at all.
It’d be like having a Simon Bolivar museum in Moscow.
It’s cool, I guess?
But why put it in such an important part of the neighborhood when it has no relevance to the area and you could draw in more tourism dollars having something more relevant?
Plus, they obviously didn’t have any real artifacts from King Tut from what I could tell.
Just replicas.
Worth it?
Sure.
It was only 3.5 USD.
You could learn a thing or two also as the exhibit was well done.
And, as I said, if you like Egyptian history, then it’s cool.
But I wouldn’t visit again because I didn’t find it too interesting.
I thought it would somehow have some relevance to the area given its location in the center of Coyoacan.
Anyhow, let’s move on.
Back Outside in the Center of Coyoacan
So we’re outside again.
I probably spent 30 minutes in the King Tut Exhibition.
If you don’t care for the audio explanation of what you are seeing, then you could spend maybe 10 minutes easy just walking casually through.
Maybe 15 if you want to exploit that fan in the third room for some refreshing coolness.
Anyway, I found this fountain area here.
I’ve been here before actually – it’s a nice spot!
Here's another photo.
I always thought this would be a good place to set up dates.
Plenty of seats, a good fountain and plenty of cafes nearby.
And, outside of setting up dates, it seemed like a genuinely decent area to relax in quiet.
Of course, there were a few folks hustling for money.
So it’s not perfect.
As I walked up to the fountain anyhow, some fat dude in a bench was staring the living fuck out of me.
For some reason, some Mexican dudes really have a staring problem.
I almost feel like the population of Mexico has higher autism rates than your average country.
And, for some reason, his stare was aggressive as shit.
Like he looked like he wanted to punch me.
No fucking idea what his problem was but OK, mariconcito, puedes verme asi si quiereees.
Anyway, the general area was pretty cool.
Out of all of these 3 spots (the church, the first area I walked onto and the fountain), this area was my favorite.
Had some live musicians playing at the restaurants on the side that I could hear.
All around it was nice!
Definitely a good spot to relax with some nice architecture of the church within view also.
Recommended for a visit!
If I lived in this general area, I’d be here almost daily just for an hourly sit down in quiet and peace.
Which I did do some sitting down to appreciate the area.
When I was ready, I got up and asked some cute waitress at a nearby restaurant about how to get to my next destination – Viveros de Coyoacan.
She gave me the general idea and off I went!
Interested in Part 3 of Coyoacan? Check it out here!
And follow my Twitter here.
Thanks for reading.
Best regards,
Matt