Desierto de Los Leones is a national park located entirely within the bounds of the Federal District. It is neither a desert nor does it have lions. At the top of this wilderness is an ex-convent once inhabited by Carmelite nuns looking for a means of getting away from the world, but as civilization started to encroach, the ladies packed up and moved to more remote locations. The forest is referred to as the "Lungs of Mexico City" because of its necessary pollution-filtering qualities. The smoggy haze is so bad, I can't begin to image how nasty it would be without this place.
Though the litter was pretty bad at the parking area at the entrance to the park and at the convent itself, the hike up the hill was very pleasant and was filled with birdsong. It was nice to see signs of life. In the city itself there isn't even the occasional squirrel.
Obligatory fungus shot
The shrine to Mary was just set onto the picnic area with (what I would call) a funeral tent above it. But the fresh flowers were a nice touch, I think.
The masonry of the convent had this cool effect where they put little stones in mortar.
Anywhere people are expected to be, vendors will follow. The convent grounds were no exception, and we stopped at a place where they were selling sweeties. We bought a candy bar made of pulverized squash seeds (with a lot of sugar), tamarind paste (with a lot of sugar), and some brightly colored disks which looked festive but turned out to taste like communion wafers. The first time I ever had a communion wafer was when I went to church with my friend Matt who was Episcopalian. I grew up Baptist, so I was used to the Eucharist bread being something akin to saltines in very manageable bites, and was startled when the priest popped into my mouth a whole circle of dry, polystyrene-like wafer which instantly glued itself to the roof of my mouth, causing a subtle choking sensation. Now imagine that with cancer-causing artificial flavours, and you've experienced the joys of Mexican treats. (Actually, the squash-seed bar was quite tasty in a diabetic-coma-inducing way).
listen. When you're like me (i.e. chicken and spaghetti sauce nuked together because I am lazy and not having an audience) you are just happy to have things look pretty...not considering in any capacity that taste might weigh in-(no pun intended)- more than sheer survival or nutritional value. My problem is I would come back with a whole bunch of pretty treats and they would stay in a fancy bowl on my counter forever.
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