What’s Pesach without a seder? How would I know why this night is different from all other nights of the year?

We decided to invite our friends over since they are interested in Judaism (one of them is technically Jewish, but was not brought up religious), so we trudged (and by trudged I mean Ubered) over to Polanco, where there are Jews and kosher supermarkets. The selection was surprisingly good, although I didn’t get any chocolate matzah, however, there were “fruit” slices aplenty and the actually taste like their color (the ones we usually get in the US seem to only taste of sugar). Weird.

We printed out the relevant pages of the Chabad haggadah and I made chicken soup thanks to the very nice poultry guy at the mercado who gave me extra bones and chicken legs. My Gran would have been proud. Instead of brisket, we had chicken breasts with tahini sauce with roasted veggies and potato on the side. (for someone who doesn’t eat meat, Sue is an amazing cook and everything was fabulous)

The haggadah was a little weird, but we made it work and had a great time explaining traditions and history. Teresa decided she wants to be Jewish and we decided to let her in. Next year in Mexico City!

Saturday we took a walk (not quite a death march) to see Templo Mayor, or the Grand Temple, an archeological site smack dab in the middle of the city and has a museum attached. Steven said it reminded him of Rome. Just walking along the modern streets when all of a sudden, there’s a structure from ancient times – in this case pre-Colombian circa 1325, young in Roman terms. Tenochtitlan (now CDMX) was the capital of the Aztec empire and the pyramid-shaped temple was dedicated to the god of war, Huitzilopochtli, and the god of rain, Tlaloc. I’m sure it won’t surprise you to know that every time we go to an archeological site in Mexico, we learn that Hernan Cortes destroyed it and built a church on top of it. Before Cortes arrived, the pyramids had been expanded seven times and you can see the layers of expansion at the site.

When the Spaniards arrived, the temple stood 150 feet high and had a square base with each side measuring 440 yards. One of the reasons the site is so well preserved is that it was buried under new construction and wasn’t rediscovered until 1914.

First, you wander around the site, which began being excavated in the 1970s. The path leads to the museum, which focuses on the finds from the site. They’re still digging, so who knows what they’ll find next.

We were hungry, so we headed over to a kitschy Mexican place a few blocks away. I have read many times not to be in El Centro after dark, and I have to say that even in the daylight if you wander a bit off track, it’s not the nicest of atmospheres. I didn’t feel unsafe, but I am definitely glad it was light out.

Saturday night, we ventured all the way around the corner for a very delicious Italian meal at Barolo (warning: FB link). They make their own pasta in a glassed-in area so you can watch. I ended up having mushroom risotto, which was incredible, and Steven had cacio e pepe, also amazing. We couldn’t resist desert and a grappa – a very good grappa – and went home stuffed but very happy.

And, what’s spring without beisbol? Sunday we took the Metro to Estadio Alfredo Harp Helú, home of the Diablos Rojos for a preseason game against the Oaxaca Guerreros. The stadium is about the size of a U.S. minor league stadium and we were four rows behind the plate. It was Easter, so the red devil mascot was also a bunny. An odd juxtaposition, but a blast nonetheless. Our boys lost, but we had a great time and got to try papas con salsa picante y limón. Yum! I also had a michelada, sort of. There was no tomato juice involved, but there was salt, lime and chamoy. Don’t ask what chamoy is. Let’s just go with it’s red.

After the game, we went out for tacos at Párama because we tried the Thai place down the block, but it closes early on Sundays. From there, we retired to our roof for a drink until we all got too cold. Besides it was Sunday and Monday is a work day.