Friday, March 13, 2015
We went on an adventure today driving in Pepe to the beach city of Progreso.
I had heard so many good things about Progreso from people back in Canada that I could not be this close and not check it out. I was, however, not feeling my best because of this lousy cold.
We went passed the lighthouse, which for some reason is not that close to the water. We drove passed and walked underneath the five mile long pier or dock. This pier was built so long because of limestone shelf extending out from the shore at the beach of Progreso. Obviously big ships would not be able to dock close to that shore. Now they even have cruise ships arriving at the long pier. Yesterday a cruise ship was in port. We walked the malecon for awhile, walking by many small palapas set up for vacationers to sit and have a drink under. The Ocean was not really brown but more of a greenish, blue. To me it was like the Ocean was at a spot were it was transitioning to the azure blue of the south shore of the Yucatan.
We walked to the mercado and found it quite pleasant. I drank a big freshly squeezed vegetable juice for under a $1.50 CDN. We walked passed many restaurants offering us either alcoholic beverages or seafood. We were seduced into having an early lunch, minus the way too early alcoholic drink. We really only stayed in Progreso for a few hours. I felt too lousy to want to stay any longer. All I wanted to do was curl up and go to sleep somewhere, anywhere. Ken drove us home. At least we got a little idea of Progreso.
After some much needed sleep we went for some refreshment. We went to a cantina close by that was an obvious hang out for the young and hip of the area. It also catered to expats or at least there were a fair number in this establishment. The cantina itself was established in 1917 and had a very eclectic decorating theme, shabby chic sort of. It was a converted home that was still divided into small rooms and it had a huge garden area. Botanas were free to those partaking of beverages. A great, rocking band was playing. These three guys were very well received by the audience. I know they played Carlos Santa tunes and many more known and less known Mexican oriented tunes.
I find it very hard to figure out where to eat when I am tired and not feeling so well. We end up looking at menu after menu and finding nothing. At one place, once I said I was vegetarian, the waiter pointed us to a restaurant down the street. It was called Amaro. It was a place we had looked for about two weeks ago but could not find - TripAdviser is not always accurate in their location or places (so watch that, we found this out several times just in Merida). If you are interested in hearing about this amazing place with amazing food check out the post for February 24 (or maybe you already have read this post). We are definitely going back.
Saturday, March 14, 2015
We walked over ten kilometres both today and yesterday.
I am glad that feeling better, even though we are not totally better has allowed us to keep up on our walking.
Even though it was very hot, as it is most days here, we decided to get out and about. There is an English language tour given at certain times for the Casa Museo Montes Molina located on the Paseo Montejo. The home was built in 1915 with neoclassical tendencies which was in fashion during the rein of President Porfirio Diaz. The original owner of the home was a Cuban businessman and he and his family lived in this gorgeous home for just over a dozen years. The next owner, Don Avelino Montes Linaja was born in Spain and became an important business man. His great-granddaughter is the owner now and still comes and stays in the home when she is in Merida visiting from Mexico City.
The home is filled nicely with furniture, chandeliers, stained glass, etc. that is mainly imported from Europe. Some of the furniture is original from the early Montes Molina family. The wood, plaster work, the marble floors and painting done on the main floor is outstanding. A well preserved monument to opulent times in the past. There are narrow stair leading to the lower level which was the domain of the servants. This is where the kitchen is located. We met a cook who has worked for the family for over thirty years. We were shown the wine cellar that also houses some of the smaller, old antique pieces - typewriters, etc. The laundry room still has the typical Yucatecan washing facilities for household laundry (is still being used). The kitchen table for the family is downstairs. This is where they now dine instead of in the fancy dining area. I guess times have changed in some areas. The home now hosts huge wedding parties outside in the yard. I am assuming the money changed for the events helps to go towards the upkeep of this colonial mansion.
Starbucks cooled us off and offered a refreshing beverage after our tour. Air Conditioning is truly a wonderful invention especially in the heat of the Yucatan.
We walked to the vegetarian restaurant called Organica. It is located on Calle 64 and is near the San Juan gate. Ken is able to have a wonderful pollo meal there, too. In fact, he thought it to have been the best chicken he has eaten ever. High praise! I will write about my meal on March 3rd where I discuss the veggie restaurants I ate at in Merida.
Since we walked so far I should mention a few other places we checked out. We went into the courtyard of the Templo del Ex Convento de la Orden de la Concepcion "Las Monjas". The convent was closed in 1863 so you can imagine that this is a very old building. There are stations of the cross fashioned out of cement on the garden walls.
Originally there were eight gates in the downtown core. There are three gates that have been preserved. The gates were part of the old wall surrounding Merida many years ago. We saw the San Juan gate a few weeks back and today, too, near our lunch spot. We found the other two located in close proximity to each other on Calle 50. One is called Arch of the Bridge and its name comes from the structure that allowed the crossing of the street during the rainy season when the street was flooded. The other arch is called Arch and Quarter of Dragons. It was named after the Quarter of Calvary Dragons, its neighbouring building.
There is no shortage of wonderful old buildings to admire. We also walked again passed "The Barracks" which had also been a hospital. The building was almost in ruins in the 1980's but in 1992 it underwent a major renovation. Former Convent dedicated to Our Lady of Transit o de La Mejorada. It was build in about 1640 starting with the church. It has had other uses such as a hospital, school of the arts, living facility for the military and now is a school of architecture. It served as a hub of industry during the henequen boom. It assisted with the needs of the henequen haciendas.
We also saw the outside of the old train station called "la Plancha" located on Calle 48 and 55. It is a neoclassical building which was built between 1913 and 1920. Since 2007 it is the home of the Advanced School of Arts of Yucatan.
Sunday, March 15, 2015
We walked to the zoo today and it was a hot day as all days seem to be in Merida.
First we went out for breakfast at the Hotel Colonial's buffet, after three unsuccessful attempts at trying other restaurants.
The zoo entrance is spectacular with two main twin looking gates built in 1810 and one in 1910. The animals look very well cared for with food and clear water. The cages are clean but in some cases perhaps not big enough. Most have buddies to interact with of their own species. There were zebras, giraffes, several types of tigers, jaguars, monkeys, white and brown coloured deer, racoons, lions, rabbits, reptiles including a crocodile, birds - tucans, parrots and macaws, etc. There were dogs (yes, I was a bit taken back, too). It was the kind of dog famously from Colima. I have seen it in zoos in other places, too, that have had these dogs. I am sure they are loved and well cared for. It was a Sunday before a holiday Monday and it was crowded at the zoo. It was nice to see all the families with their children and grandchildren. We were likely the only extranjeros (foreigners) at the zoo. It was a relatively enjoyable experience.
To cool off we dragged ourselves to another museum - Actual Museo de Historia Natural. The building it was housed in was built in the early twentieth century. It was interesting to tour. It had been a private home at first then a teachers college, a library and a school of medicine. It was not really our cup of tea and we kind of raced through it, plus the written information was in Spanish.
As if all that was not enough we went to the main square which every Sunday holds Domingo en Merida. Some of the roads are blocked off near the main part of the downtown. The main square has vendors selling their wares. In front of the buildings on the west side of the Zocola is seating and on the road are entertainers. Today it was, I believe, local dancers. We saw them once dancing with beer bottles balanced on their heads. I would not be able to do this feat at the best of time, but not with others watching me. Ken discovered they had banana splits with real Mexican ice cream. That kept him entertained for awhile. There was also a big band drumming in the middle of the park. Entertainment overload!
Monday, March 16, 2015
Happy Birthday Kelly, our wonderful niece! Hope you have a great one and a fabulous year!
Celestun was where our adventure would lead us this day. We were out the door just after eight which is early for us. We were on an hour and half drive from Merida to Celestun. We drove through some small towns or villages. We noticed that they had central courtyards with churches and some buildings with portales around the main square. I had read and been told that the pre-hispanic home in the Yucatan had walls of sticks, plastered together with a mud like substance or walls of limestone rock. Then the tall sloped roofs were similar in structure to a palapa roof. We were fortunate enough to see many of these homes on our trip through the small towns. Most were being lived in.
The countryside that we drove through has some trees, all deciduous, but mostly there is bush. The bush is thick. We saw many stone fences, perhaps from times gone past when henequen was grown in the area, in the time of haciendas.
We arrived in Celestun before it was too hot. The area where you go on boat tours is conveniently located on the edge of town. The tour started out costing 1280. pesos. Ken realized that the girl at the ticket booth would give a cheaper rate if we waited and had more people in the boat. A tour guide with some German tourists arranged a good rate for himself and the others. The girl ticket agent gave us an even better rate of 500 pesos, our final rate. Out in the boat we realized that the fellow from Berlin, Germany could speak some English. We had the tour in German. You can see the flamingos on the horizon like a pink line as you get closer you actually see them quite close and see exactly how many of these amazing birds there are. There feathers turn pink from the cruestations they injest. In zoos they are feed a special chemical (not harmful) to turn the feathers pink. We also saw egrets, muerres, great blue heron, brown and white pelicans, a crocodile and fish swimming in the clear, blue waters of the mangrove forest. The brown pelicans were roosting in the trees, seemed rather odd looking. I did not want to leave the tour and our boat.
In the town of Celestun we went close to the Ocean. It was a turquoise blue like near Cancun - lovely. This little lagoon, flamingo adventure was well worth the time.
Since we still were mid afternoon we went to Motul, a small town that was about twenty miles out of Merida. We had seen a real estate video telling about the town square. It looked much nicer in the video which had horses pulling ritzy looking carriages. Must have been a festival day or something. We saw lazy dogs sleeping in the shade and a mercado shutting down.
Tuesday, March 17, 2015
May the luck of the Irish be with you - Happy St. Patty's Day!
Today was a big day and in hind sight we might have done too much. I started out the day by walking to the Merida English Library Home and Garden Tour. I could not resist going again and I enjoyed it so much last week. Some of the same people were there as well, I met a lady from Cambridge, Massachusetts and another from Ontario (she had lived in Merida for the last eight years). The homes were nice and all for sale. One owner had bought basically a redo and he did a lot of replacements. He replaced the plumbing, electrical and likely most of the plaster. The big deal thing was that he had front doors that could be re-done. Then he just fashioned the remaining doors, that had to be replaced, after the front doors. All the doors were made of cedar. The floors were amazing. He had done a wonderful job on restoring this old colonial home.
I walked back to the Hotel and Kenneth. Then out for lunch we went, walking to the San Juan area, to Restaurante Organico about 1.2 Km away. The chicken is so good there, according to Ken. The veggie option was good but not something I would have chosen had it not been the only option - nopalita cactus with tomatoes. It was way too hot to walk that far. Along the way we took pictures of old street signs and now have a great collection of these limestone mementos of the past.
From there we tried to go to a museum but it was closed, so walked back to the hotel. The rest of the afternoon was spent trying to cool off in our room with a ceiling fan and air conditioner.
After dark and after cooling off we decided to go enjoy the evening. This being St. Patrick's Day we had to go to an Irish pub located only a few blocks from here. One the way we saw that a gallery was open just around the corner from us - Nahualli Casa de Las Artistas. There was a Weimaraner dog, friendly and adorable. He was relegated to the outside, I would guess because he is too friendly. Wow, the gallery and the art were absolutely amazing. Then we talked to the gallery owner and she was the main artist. It was the best art I had seen here in Yucatan.
The St. Paddy's Day celebration was in full swing at the Hennessy's Irish Pub. Green hats, shirts, even green beer. Mostly it was expats that were celebrating. After one beverage we decided to continue on to Casa Fredrick Catherwood. According to the sign it was an exhibit of Fredrick Catherwood's "Views of Ancient Monuments in Central America, Chiapas and Yucatan." His work was in the form of coloured Lithographs. Catherwood (1799-1854) was an artist and architect of English decent. Him and his traveling companion, John Loyd Stephens, wrote books about the ruins of the Mayan civilization Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas and Yucatan and Incidents of Travel in Yucatan. These best sellers actually introduced the western world to the civilization of the ancient Maya. The works we saw were meticulously done we were happy we got to see these treasures from the past. The building itself was interesting as well.
Then at about eight thirty we ate supper at La Habana Restaurante. This is notable because of what Ken was served. He ordered a matchette, thinking he was getting a sandwich. What he ordered was brought on a long, narrow bread board obviously constructed for such a dish. What he got was a very long and narrow quesadea. it was in the shape of a matchette, most unusual.
Wednesday, March 18, 2015
The temperature supposedly reached up to 40° C yesterday at its hottest point. That is way too hot for me.
We woke up not feeling well. Ken especially felt ill. He thinks we have gastroenterias. I think we have a bit of a heat stroke or something in combination with a flue. We are used to the heat now but yesterday we were really pushing it plus it was very hot.
We laid around and virtually did nothing. We slept and slept some more. We did not even really feel like watching Netflix. I went out once to get water, yogurt and juice. Actually we did not even really feel like eating. Sorry pair we were.
Thursday, March 19, 2015
We both felt much better today.
I, however, had a very bad headache and had to take Tylenol which I really do not like taking. The heat really bothered me today and I did have a bit of a temperature early on in the day. Yuck, health stuff! Guess we need to be reminded we are mortal and need to appreciate all those wonderful things in our lives. The people and things that touch our hearts and souls! That is why I think we get sick on occasion.
It was not a day of doing much. It was the first day I went to a wonderful French restaurant about two blocks from here. Ken discovered it as a perfect coffee spot with a garden. He enticed me to go to Cafe Creme and I was not disappointed. To sum it up, reasonable prices with gourmet quality in a breezy, garden setting. Best cheese, spinach and mushroom omelette, although I actually miss the omelettes Ken makes for us on Sunday mornings. I noticed that here, perhaps it is the French influence, they serve salad with their omelettes. Since I ate little yesterday it was a huge feast for my empty stomach.
Once at the Hotel my job was to cool off and do my Duolingo Spanish. I am on an over "120 streak". Which means I have done my Duolingo Spanish lessons for over 120 days in a row. Wow, I can hardly believe it. I did start back in September sometime but missed the odd day cause I did not really care about the "streak" thing. I am still in the learning stage and can not really carry on much of a conversation. I am learning past tense verbs or I had better say that I am trying to learn past tense verbs. It is difficult and it took me a few hours of work to get through my lessons today.
We had a late lunch back a Cafe Creme. I had a French Nicoise Salad - wow! I have to describe it. Arranged artistically on a dinner plate were pieces of Roman lettuce, cucumber, tomato, steamed green beans, black olives, in the centre of the plate was a mound of tuna and pieces of anchovy. It was drizzled with a oil and vinegar dressing with mustard, mildly flavoured with other herbs and spices. Best salad I have had in a long time.
At our pool here at the Hotel Santa Ana a lady asked if we were the couple from Nanaimo. How did she know? Our license plates are a give away on our location and our van sits in the Hotel parking lot. The lovely couple, Susan and Nigel, were from the Saanich Penninsula. They had thoughts of moving to this area but they find it quite hot as do we. They told us of some of their adventures in this area but alas they are flying home tomorrow.
We did a bit of walking in the evening because we needed to stretch our legs after a day of laying around. We found another restaurant that is close Cafe Chocolate. Another wonderful, colonial building with garden seating.
Friday, March 20, 2015
Happy First Day of Spring!
We are still in recuperation mode from that little sickness episode from a couple of days ago. We are thinking that not doing lots is safest today.
Going out for coffee was a great idea cause you just can not hold up in the room and stay cool all day, can you? Well, actually you could but likely it would be a bit boring. Since I have been ill I have really minded the heat. Even sitting in the common area has been too hot and not pleasant. I had a bit of a temperature so now any extra heat seems to really get me.
Anyway, Cafe Creme was again our destination. It was kind of busy and we found a spot beside some other extranjeros (foreigners) or expats. We had wanted a spot to sit down and stretch out so we could look at our maps of Mexico and the US deciding the route to take back. We've made a trip decision. We are going up to Saskatchewan to see my Dad, Sister and family before taking off for Europe. Figuring out our route is kind of important. When the fellow beside us saw our maps he offered his advice. That started our conversation. It was a couple from Boston, Dennis and Susan and they have lived in Merida for the last several years. They have bought a home which they are renovating. Wonderful couple willing the share their story. We talked for the rest of the morning about traveling, down sizing, moving, Mexico and Europe. Would have loved to chat longer. They had to go and assist with the tearing down processes of their old kitchen.
We came back to our room to cool off. We arranged our receipts from the month and entered them. This is actually a big job. If we did this once a week it would be nothing but every three weeks is harder. By the time we realized that we had worked past lunch it was three oclock. Again, off to Cafe Creme. This time I had the lunch plate - fish with a curry creme sauce, eggplant and veggies that had a Mediterranean taste with rice. Everything was so delicious, just the right amount of spice. Meals there are so pleasant and enjoyable out in he garden. They provide fans for the outside, yes you know it is hot when that happens.
After cooling off from our lunch and the short walk afterwards we actually needed supper. This constantly feeding yourself is somewhat of nuisance. I was not hungry but Ken wanted real food. He had actually done something of importance between lunch and supper and had worked up an appetite. I had only the best mango frappe ever. It came frozen like sorbet, mounded about three inches above my tall glass rim. Both a spoon and straw were the utensils given for the job. Ken was again brought the hamburger plate again instead of the hot dog he ordered. What is with the Impala Dinner? Why the up sale on the hamburger? Are they constantly out of hotdogs or what? Anyway, mystery that will not be solved, no more Impala Diner for us this trip.
We walked downtown to see the goings on. The horses and buggies are such a treat to see. I petted a few of the horses and they were hot. I feel sorry for them standing at the side of the road waiting for customers. When I see them from the vantage point of the Impala Diner and I see them pulling the carriages straight out of a fairytale, with their heads held high I think of them as being proud to be working and doing an important service. Do they know they are such a highlight of Merida?
Saturday, March 21, 2015
We are getting close to our last day or so in Merida.
This has been such a wonderful, cosmopolitan city to spend time in. I can see why there are expats here from the eastern sea board and Europe. We have met mostly people here from Boston, Cambridge, MA, Ontario, etc. This is a modern city, offering great restaurants and cultural experiences. The people who live here obviously care about their city and have pride in it. The city is clean and well taken care of, along with being safe. They have gone the extra steps to make their city spectacular. The colonial homes here, both renovations and copies are a big draw. they are wonderful homes. The one thing that Ken and I would have problems with is the heat. While we were here in Merida in late winter, early spring the temperature was usually in the mid to high thirties everyday. For us that is too hot. We will definitely visit again, likely in January when it is a little cooler.
Cafe Creme was a great place for likely last breakfast out in Merida. Love this place! You walk into the store front, seems kind of small and almost bakery like. Back behind is the garden setting. The service is friendly and professional. The food fantastic and tasty. A combination not found at many places. We have returned here many times.
Ken has a radio meeting at noon but really it was at eleven. There had been a time zone change in BC. Ken came down to the common area feeling like maybe the time zone thing had happened so he phoned as a test. Sure enough the meeting had started. Ken was just in time.
Ken and I had both noticed that since we had been sick with the gasto thing and as it was getting later in the year that we were more sensitive to the heat. It seemed much hotter, much less comfortable. We wanted to spend more time in the air conditioned comfort of our hotel. Even the common are had become not fun. We decided to have one last lunch at Mariposa Restaurante - nachos and a smoothie. This is another wonderful garden spot. Problem now is that it is got out there with only a little breeze.
We wanted to go downtown for a beverage and supper being so close to when we would leave Merida. We chose a place called Panchos Restaurante. This has been an expat haunt for awhile. We met a fellow Lyman who wrote a book on Yucatan cooking back in the nineties.
He originated in California and had been coming down to Mexico since the early seventies at least. He had been in Cancun when it was a sleepy fishing village. Very interesting guy to talk to. When we meet people like him we realize that we did not discover Mexico as it feels like sometimes around others that we know and meet. People like Morton have loved Mexico and have been driving down here way before us.
Sunday, March 22, 2015
We had to say good-by to our Hotel, pack and be on our way.
It did not feel right somehow to leave this place we had called home for the past month, but we managed to get away. Driving out of the heart of the city we kept spotting the street signs with little pictures telling stories about that particular corner. We do not know much about those signs but they have held a certain mystic and have drawn us in long enough to want to capture many of them in photo form. It was almost a safety concern, the safety of others that is, because we were stopping so frequently to capture the last few we would see until our next visit to this wonderful, Mayan city.
We drove through the bush of the Yucatan on our way to the ruins of Uxmal. The bush at this time of year looks quite rough with the leave off many trees or bushes. We were told that once the rainy season starts the bush starts turning green. At that time of year the area looks lush.
Uxmal is quite the ruin. It has had archeologists restoring it for many years. The site is fairly big, not as big as Monte Albon. It is the priciest of the ruins that we have been to. Just before entering the pyramid grounds proper are many little well appointed store selling mostly quality Mayan items to commemorate your visit. Walking a short ways passed the entry gate is a huge, well restored pyramid. The size is quite surprising. Then there is the Nunnery Quaderangle, wow. We went to an Archeological museum in Merida. Wish I had payed more attention the all the Puuc architectural details the symbolism. To me the whole thing was an amazing feat of construction from an era when us Europeons were going about our lives not even knowing the Mayans existed. I am hoping the pictures will speak for themselves.
On our way out of the complex we came across a huge tree with dangling green pods, looking like avocados. We we discussing the fact of our curiosity about this tree. A fellow standing relatively close to us, in English, told us the name of the tree and gave us some facts. It was La Ceiba Arbol Sagrado Mayo. It is a sacred tree revered by diverse prehispanic cultures in Mesoamerica. According to Yucatan Today The ceiba signifies life, perpetuity, grandeur, goodness, strength and unity.
We ended up talking to this fellow, Jeff, who gave us the tree information for hours. He is a fellow Canadian from Montreal, originally from Edmonton and is under thirty. He's a student doing his doctorate on colonial, Mayan times. He was very engaging and smart. He appeared to have in depth knowledge of all things Mayan. We shared our meagre lunch with him on the courtyard of the little shops just inside the gate of the ruins.
Once we parted ways we were off to the small city of Izamal. Our Hotel was out of the downtown so we walked into town to eat supper. It has a very striking colonial central core which we will explore tomorrow.
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