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Published: January 5th 2008
Uxmal
Casa del Adivino - The Magician's HouseWe decided to stay in Merida for Christmas. Capital of the Yucatan state, we hoped it was big enough to find things open around the holiday. We were not disappointed .. but that is getting a little of ourselves. We arrived on the 23rd and took a taxi to the hotel we booked. We got a fairly indifferent welcome so left in search of a more welcoming hotel. Wanting the option of watching TV on Christmas Day we tried some of the mid-range hotels and found the Santa Lucia (same owner as the San Clemente in Valladolid) pleasant enough. Got a balcony and a rocking chair and a big TV for the slightly high price of P$490 (US$47). But we would be comfortable.
Merida is the 10th largest city in Mexico but you wouldn't think it. There are only few high buildings, it just seems to sprawl for ever. Arriving on a Sunday we experienced Mexican entertainment in the Santa Lucia plaza. Couples were ballroom dancing on the verandah to live music. We didn't join in. Heading south through the historic centre we passed lots of restaurants and beautiful buildings and churches. The main square was busy with craft stalls
Uxmal
Cuadrangulo de las Monjas - Nuns Quadrangle and food sellers. I tried a crepe type thing with Nutella and cheese. It was very tasty. And the Cathedral was magnificent.
We had some time left before the 2 pm closure of most museums so headed for the City Museum. We struggled through streets of shoppers. For many this might have been the last shopping day before Christmas. Shoe shops everywhere for some reason. At the museum, which was free, we found only 2 rooms in either wing of a lovely old building. Most interesting was the love seat that we had first seen in Valladolid. On the second floor we found an art gallery. It was all art by artists living in Merida, some were foreigners. We were told this by the gallery manager who also gave us a booklet with art in it. We wrote in some of the prices to make it a more personalised souvenir. The manager talked about his daughter who is a fencer. She was in Europe qualifying for the Olympics. If she goes to Beijing then he would go to. He was very proud. One of the paintings had been of an old pickup with a skeleton in the drivers seat.
Uxmal
Some of the current residents We found the pickup .. well, half of it .. and the skeleton high on the wall of the bar we visited that evening. It was a lively evening with lots of restaurants set up on the road that had been closed to traffic.
Christmas Eve we went to Uxmal, yet another Mayan ruin. But we weren't sick of them yet. We caught a 8 am bus that dropped us in the car park of the site. P$95 entrance again. It was worth every penny. Really the most amazing and extensive site. We took over 2 hours to get around it. The stone carved ruins were highly detailed. Birds lived inside many buildings and iguanas were sun-bathing everywhere. We explored the remote corners finding an interesting cemetery and spotting a few marmots. One let me have a photo. At the governors palace we saw the largest iguanas, some oblivious to the tourists. There we found the Los Angeles couple again, again sitting under a tree (see previous blog). We joined them for a bit and learned that they had lived near us in North London many years ago. They were retired historians and very clever people. We had been
Uxmal
Cuadrangulo de lasMonjas - Nuns Quadrangle told the buses would pull into the car park but it appeared that only applied to the 2:30 bus. The 12:30 bus just flew on by on the main road. Oh well. We waited on a shady bench until 2:30.
Arriving back in Merida we were starved and went to Burger King. Oh, the shame. The LA couple saw us there and gave us their details suggesting we visit when we get to LA. Later we had some drinks with them.
Christmas Day we spent trying to minimise the amount of work we created for others but we were surprised to see how much was open and how many people were travelling on Christmas. Some shops were starting their sales on Christmas Day. After a good sleep in we watched TV, ate junk food, walked around and spent time on the internet.
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Kathryn Biggs
non-member comment
Christmas in Merida
Dear Rae and Pieter, Glad you got to Merida as I remember it was quite good from when I worked in Progreso. Junk food for Christmas, hmmmmm. Oh well, at least some places were open. Two important things in Mexico are the iguanas, large and arrogant, and the shoe stores. I was also amazed at the number of jewelry stores and the number of people who speak English. Take care! love from Kathryn