Merida

We have been yearning to see the colonial architecture of Merida.

Merida, founded in 1542 by Francisco de Montejo is the largest city on the Yucatan peninsula and the financial, administrative and cultural capital of the area.  Sixty percent of the population is of Mayan ancestry, but there are influences from the Spanish, French, Dutch, British and Lebanese.  The Spanish became wealthy in the henequen (sisal) industry.  De Montejo was called back to Spain and charged with atrocities against the Mayan people.

Merida was once a walled city and three of its eight arches remain today:

We stay in a little Airbnb in the Santiago neighbourhood and easily walk to Plaza Grande and the Paseo de Montejo, lined with neo-classical mansions.  The Plaza becomes a favourite place to lounge and people-watch or enjoy cultural activities such as dancing, singing or theatre...and there's the flea market on Sundays.

The owners of our Airbnb duplex have a small boutique hotel (the Hotel Merida Santiago) around the corner from us and another Airbnb duplex across the street from their hotel.   The hotel was a complete renovation and is beautiful with the hand-painted pasta tiles that Merida is famous for and those special colonial touches.  We get to use their courtyard and pool and can come for dinner or happy hour if we choose.  Jan (a Dutchman) and his partner Rita (Mexican) the owners are delightful.  They love what they do and share stories of their love for this vibrant city.  They make guests feel so welcome and always make time for a chat.

Hotel Santiago Merida

On a bench one day in the Plaza we meet Georgia from New York.  We talk until it grows dark, then walk her home.  Turns out she's staying at Jan & Rita's hotel!

Its time consuming to walk anywhere, as there are so many buildings and/or building details to stop and photograph. 

Grand old buildings on the Paseo and in Centro

Doorways are intriguing and inviting and many gleam in the sunshine.



There is beauty in the details

 Ironwork:

We walk the Paseo often but never make a Sunday morning when it and nearby streets are closed to traffic so people can bicycle the area.  At the north end of the Paseo is a magnificent monument, the Monumento a la Patria.  I have to go to the Internet so that you can see the grandeur of this work. 

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

Much of the history of the Yucatan is expressed in this one installation.  In the top right square below is the eagle eating the snake which is a symbol of Mexico and an image we see repeated in various works of art.  Mexico City was founded (according to an old Aztec myth) because a city was to be built in the place where the people came upon an eagle eating a snake.



Here, for example, is the eagle and snake battle represented in artwork at the Plaza Grande:

Before leaving the monument, we search for representations of the three states we are visiting on this trip:

 The Jeep takes us to Celestun to see the pink flamingos in nesting season.  There are several firsts for us here: seeing the flamingos, a boat ride into a mangrove, seeing pelicans perched in trees and shrubs and eating conch.

A short walk into the mangrove there is a cenote with clear water for swimming and little fish.  We are given ten minutes to swim if we choose.  Our boat operator tells us he saw a crocodile near the shore while we were in the mangrove.  Everywhere in the mangrove are huge termite nests (photo top right below).  We are told there are also snakes, ocelots and spider monkeys, but none show themselves.

The conch cocktail is delicious

Celestun has a pretty nice beach that we could return to for a relaxing vacation.

Georgia's friend Mike, also from New York wants to come to the Uxmal archaeological site with us.  We enjoy his company.  Here Mike and I are looking at Paul who has climbed one of the tall pyramids:

Uxmal is the most beautiful of all the Mayan archaeological sites we have seen so far.  Its grounds are spacious and groomed.  Many of the buildings are well-preserved as is much of the carving on the buildings.

The myth of Uxmal is that it is an invisible city, created in one night by the magic of the dwarf king.  The pyramid of the magician greets us as soon as we enter the grounds.

There are many images of the rain god Chaac with his long nose, depicting the rays of the storm...illustrating the importance of water to people who lived where there was a long dry season each year and who depended on agriculture for survival.  The Mayans became expert at capturing water during the rainy season and storing it - up to 35,000 litres in just one of many underground tanks called cheltunes.  Chaac's image runs up the entire side of the pyramid on the left of the photo below.

Some of the buildings.

Ascending the steps of some of the buildings leads to spectacular views of the site.

Images of people and animals as decoration from a variety of buildings:

Walking home one evening we pass a Pancho Villa restaurant.  I gather this is an American chain...but I've never seen it before...and wasn't Pancho everyone's childhood hero?

 On another walk, we pass a restaurant that serves authentic Yucatan food and these lovely women (above) are making tortillas in the entryway.  We assume the restaurant buys these handmade delights from them.

We visit a perfumery where all the ingredients are locally sourced in the Yucatan.  The same owners have a place next door that has some artisanal things like one-of-a-kind clothes. 

We also take a tour of a chocolate factory and of course come home with some chocolate.

We come upon a church one day that looks very unimposing from the outside, but inside it is all hand-painted.  There is much gold leaf work.  Paul is drooling!

Next up is to explore the huge Lucas de Galvez market.  It covers 156,000 square feet, over 1,000 vendors and 100,000 visitors every day.  Being here is at the same time like being sardines in a can and being very alive.  The market is inside and outside; dedicated areas for different vendors: fruit, veg, meat, fish, flowers, seasonings, clothing, shoes, kitchenware, hardware, baskets and so much more.

We find colourful pinata street and watch as children choose their favourite.  Here candy is being delivered by the truckload for parents to fill the pinatas.  I wish we had room to take a couple of them home.

Hunger strikes and we make our way into an eatery with music blaring.  We are the only gringos and patrons greet us with smiles, thumbs up and buenas tardes.  When the live music starts couples dance by their tables between beers and/or food.  The atmosphere is noisy and festive but peaceful considering the number of cervesa around. 

Cervesa is sold only by the litre bottle for 42 pesos (2.91 Cdn).  Most meals on the menu are 50 pesos.  

The record-keeping here is flawless.  With each litre of beer ordered, a green bottle goes on your table; with each 50 peso meal, a clear bottle is added.

The servers had a secret spot by our table where they kept open beer.  Passing by, they would suck some back and carry on.  I wonder how many make it to the end of a long shift!!

Our last day in Merida (December 31) starts with a visit to the Santiago Hotel to say goodbye to Georgia;

...then Jan takes us on a tour of his newest duplex that he and Rita will Airbnb.  Modern architecture in a colonial building that is stunning

We just have to go back to the market:

The flower market is gorgeous.  A small floral arrangement that includes a rose can be had for 30 pesos ($2.06 Cdn).  I am totally taken by these mums made to look like a bear, or perhaps a fluffy puppy:

We head to the hotel for our New Year's dinner and meet people from Kelowna, France, Colorado and California during Happy Hour.  We both have arrachera (beef) and it is delicious, not tough like has been our experience in most places in Mexico.

Before we leave at about 10 pm, Rita gifts us each with a bag of 12 grapes.  This is a Spanish tradition now practiced in Mexico.  (At the market there were many grapes for sale waiting for New Year's Eve).  There is one grape to bring luck to each month of the New Year.  When the first of 12 chimes start, marking midnight you start eating your grapes and you must finish by the last chime of the clock.  If you start before the first chime or you don't finish in time, or if you cram all of the grapes into your mouth at one time … well, none of those are good.   There are many interpretations of what sweet or sour grapes mean, what does or doesn't happen with doing it correctly.

After dinner, we walk to Plaza Grande to see what will happen as the clock strikes midnight.  We are told of homemade scarecrow-like figures perhaps stuffed with fireworks that signify the Old Year that will be burned at midnight, but that this will likely happen only in neighbourhoods and not in the public square.

Three lovely young teachers from the Netherlands invite us to share some time and their Champagne.  At one point a pretty inebriated couple of guys start to bother them and we get them out of it by playing their strict parents!

Walking home (and all night long) there are LOTS of fireworks, sparklers, bangers and of course the loud music.   Indeed once we reach our Santiago neighbourhood we see some patches where it looks like something was burned.  The normally clean and tidy streets are so littered with the torn paper from exploded fireworks that you can hardly see the pavement in places.

There is a bit of quiet from 6 am to 8 am then the bangers and music start up again!

Here is a photo from right outside of our door the next morning and up the street, there is much more.

This city of Merida is a true gem.  We will be back.  This is one of the coldest months of the year and the temperature has been in the low thirties every day!

One of the things I would like to do next time is a tour of some of the Haciendas scattered in the countryside.  These were the sisal farms with huge colonial homes that made their owners very wealthy and have now been turned into museums, boutique hotels or restaurants.  There is a long history of abuse of the Mayan workers in these places.

New Years Day and we are off to Izamal, the Yellow City and another Pueblo Magico.

Wishing everyone a
Happy & Prosperous New Year.

Source: Imagenes Cool website