Aporil 20 Day 4

We walked to Mercado Independencia, which was closer than yesterday’s. It’s also large and confusing with tons of beautiful fruits and veggies, flowers, food stalls and and clothes, shoes, house wares, etc. We bought 3 pieces of pottery which were small enough to put in our carry on luggage. We stopped at the Casa de Artesanias and got the price for shipping. The piece was $280 and shipping would be $1000. We passed. We went to an expensive restaurant (Mirasoles) for lunch. The ambiance was very pretty in a small courtyard with plants and murals, but the food was not great. We walked through the downtown, which was jammed with traffic. There were several demonstrations going on all day so streets were closed and there was even riot police in full gear lined up in case things got ugly. In the hotel the told us that it was city employees protesting, but none of the protesters had any signs or flyers explaining what this was all about. We were told that these protests were a daily occurrence. In the afternoon, we went to the rooftop terrace bar/restaurant for a drink. Then, we took a cab to San Miguelito (which was closed last night) and had the best meal of the trip. The interior of the restaurant is lavishly decorated with Mexican folk art, including tons of Dia de Los Muertos stuff. They also have a shrine to San Antonio (hanging upside down), patron of lovers where couples come and make their pleas. When we got back to the hotel they told us we had to change rooms due to construction. A real pain, but we got to experience a different suite.