For some strange reason, I have virtually no recollection of our 2003 visit to Merida, John very little either. This time, our initial march into the city center looking for hotels left us rather unimpressed. After trampling around the city for a few days, we decided that we like it rather well, in spite of the 100 degree weather which even made the headline in the local paper. We can catch heatwaves well, if not festivals.
Merida has all the elements that we love about Mexican cities. Its squares are particularly spacious and graceful, and it has a good number of Art Deco buildings. While "Domingo(Sunday) en Merida" is over touted by guidebooks, we had fun watching people cycling on streets closed especially for the weekly occasion. Most important of all, the local people in Merida are very friendly, considering Merida seems to have the most number of international tourists per capita of all the cities we visited. One day John and I were in the middle of navigating with our map, a young woman stopped in her track and said to us "you are on 68th street and the city center is that way." I need to work on my geniality.
Getting things going in Merida with a fine meal at Savia Vegetariano.
And more good eating at 2012 Mayan.
Not to mention that we ordered takeout pizza 4 night in a row. The guy with glasses is a pizza genius.
"Transportable murals" by Fernando Pacheco in the governor's palace.
The zocalo.
Dancers on the zocalo.
Parque Santa Lucia.
The Cathedral completed in 1598 out of stones from Mayan temples has gigantic stone columns. Here are two views.
Downtown with Cathdral as seen from the rooftop of Las Monjas Convent.
The Contemporary Art Museum MAYAC had 11 artists in exhibition. We liked the works of Esmeralda Torres...
...and Fernando Pacheco.
Two views of Iglesia Santiago.
Cathedral with streetlights.
Domingo en Merida.
Merida has all the elements that we love about Mexican cities. Its squares are particularly spacious and graceful, and it has a good number of Art Deco buildings. While "Domingo(Sunday) en Merida" is over touted by guidebooks, we had fun watching people cycling on streets closed especially for the weekly occasion. Most important of all, the local people in Merida are very friendly, considering Merida seems to have the most number of international tourists per capita of all the cities we visited. One day John and I were in the middle of navigating with our map, a young woman stopped in her track and said to us "you are on 68th street and the city center is that way." I need to work on my geniality.
Getting things going in Merida with a fine meal at Savia Vegetariano.
And more good eating at 2012 Mayan.
Not to mention that we ordered takeout pizza 4 night in a row. The guy with glasses is a pizza genius.
"Transportable murals" by Fernando Pacheco in the governor's palace.
The zocalo.
Dancers on the zocalo.
Parque Santa Lucia.
The Cathedral completed in 1598 out of stones from Mayan temples has gigantic stone columns. Here are two views.
Downtown with Cathdral as seen from the rooftop of Las Monjas Convent.
The Contemporary Art Museum MAYAC had 11 artists in exhibition. We liked the works of Esmeralda Torres...
...and Fernando Pacheco.
Two views of Iglesia Santiago.
Cathedral with streetlights.
Domingo en Merida.
No comments:
Post a Comment