Tlalpan

Tlalpan (pronounced Tlahl-pahn) is very hard to say. Try it.

So, we went to this little tongue-twister of a neighborhood last weekend. Our guidebook described it as a very cute, quiet, modest place on the southern edge of D.F. It was a long bus ride to get there, down Avenida Insurgentes, the longest avenue in the Americas. Although we covered a relatively short distance of the avenue on our journey to Tlalpan, I did feel like I was, quite possibly, on the longest street in the Americas.

Our visit to the neighborhood left us charmed. Tlalpan possessed an adorable little town square bubbling over with the archetype of a happy, lazy Sunday in friendly Mexico; children playing, clowns and magicians performing, artisanal goods being sold. We enjoyed wonderful coffee at a lovely roasterie and wandered the narrow streets. Oh, the best part: the air quality's better down there, and it felt better. Tlalpan will serve as our "away from the city, but not really" refuge when we need it, I think.

In pictures: