Advertisement
Published: February 13th 2015
Edit Blog Post
Good breakfast of fruit, rolls, and coffee included at the hostel. Noticed this morning they have three house cats. Very cute. We reserved the same place for two nights after our return from Progreso.
We spent the morning sightseeing. Walked to Plaza Grande. This time noticed lots of purple flowers, posts in which to plug your devices, lots of laurel trees, and several shoeshine chairs. Horses and carriages lined the street.
On the east side of the Plaza is the Cathedral de San Ildefonso, begun in 1561. It Is on the site of an old Myan temple. Some of the stone from the temple was used in construction. There is a giant crucifix behind the altar, but the interior is not particularly ornate. A statue which was burned without charring was supposed to be present, but we never saw it. Several ladies were begging in the doorway of the church. Sad. Just south of the cathedral was a museum, which unfortunately was not open on Thursdays. We'll try to catch it on our return trip.
Another interesting building on the side of the Plaza is Casa de Montejo, which takes up an entire block. It was started in 1549 as a house for soldiers, but was transformed into a mansion for the Montejo family. They lived here until the 1970s, and it now houses a bank. The outside is beautifully carved, the inside contains open courtyards and tropical plants, stone floors, tall columns, tall ceilings. Part of the area is a museum. We were told it would open in ten minutes. We went away, came back in ten minutes, were told again it would open in ten minutes. Must be Mexican time!
My favorite was the Palacio de Gobierno. This houses the government offices, and contains some amazing paintings by a local artist depicting the bloody Yucatan history.They were completed in 1978 but were 25 years in the making. The huge open courtyard was flanked by archways, with huge potted plants. Very impressive. A great hall with massive wooden doors was also surrounded with impressive artwork.
Our last stop was the city museum. This houses some fairly modern artwork, and some city displays, maps, and religious articles. There was a display of the s-shaped cement chairs found in the Plaza. Bob had our morning very well planned. Best part, the tour was free and I had a private guide.
Then it was on to Progreso. That bus depot was close to our hostel. We bought tickets to return back to Merita also. The total cost was only 66p, which was about a dollar a ride per person. This seemed too cheap for the hour bus ride! Once in Progreso, we found the Playa Linda, where we have reservations for four days. We were expecting a more quiet area, but I think it will be fun once we get settled. The hotel has a roof patio area which gives a fantastic view of the beach. We also get a good view of the longest pier in Mexico, which extends five miles out into the ocean. You can see the cruise ships moored out there. We walked part of the beach area, and looked for a place with fish tacos. The restaurants along the beach are quite expensive and made for the tourists, so we went a little further inland. We found one with reasonable prices, but we were not impressed. We'll continue our quest!
In the early evening we set out to find fruit and rolls for breakfast tomorrow. We hoped to find a little private bakery, but we were always sent to Super San Francisco, something similar to a Walmart. We found a spot right next to our hotel for good garlic fish for dinner. We walked for a while along the beach on the Malecon. The area was almost empty. Maybe due to the fact that the cruise ships are gone, or maybe it is the evening weather. There is a healthy wind off the Gulf here in the late afternoon and evening. The temperature drops many degrees.
Tomorrow we'll continue our adventure in Progreso.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.089s; Tpl: 0.017s; cc: 12; qc: 30; dbt: 0.0309s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1mb