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At the remarkable remnants of the Mayan city of Uzmal (south of Mérida)
in front of the huge Pyramid of the Magician.
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A friend highly recommended Mérida and I'm glad I took his advice! It's a great
place to visit. Mérida is also the opposite of Cancún, purpose-made for beach
tourism.
Mérida, by contrast, is a historic colonial capital. Instead of high-rise hotels
and beach clubs, you’ll find leafy plazas, 16th-century cathedrals, and a
sophisticated cultural scene with many good museums and galleries, plus boutique
hotels in the charming old town.
Mérida also serves as a safe, serene home base for travelers eager to explore
ancient Mayan ruins and beautiful cenotes.
Nerd note: The Yucatán peninsula has three states — Campeche,
Quintana Roo, and Yucatán. Mérida is the capital of Yucatán state, not to be
confused with the peninsula.
At the Plaza Grande with the Catedral de San Ildefonso in the background. It
is the oldest cathedral in mainland America, completed in 1598.
Mind-blowing to see the enormous, enduring cathedrals that Catholics build, in
this case on the left, over 400 years ago. On the right is the alter of a
smaller but pretty church by the Parque de Santa Lucia.
Paseo de Montejo is the grand boulevard, said to be modeled after Paris's
Champs-Élysées. It features opulent 19th-century mansions and restaurants. The
Cantón Palace (in yellow above) is home to the Yucatán's archeological museum.
BiciRuta: On Sunday mornings, half the boulevard is closed to cars and becomes
a popular route for biking.
Near the Paseo de Montejo on Saturday nights is the popular, colorful Noche
Mexicana showcasing Mexican music and traditional dances.
One sweet urban motif throughout Mérida, especially in all the plazas, is
these intertwined, intimate, white seats called "Tú y Yo" or "confidant"
chairs. This affectionate couple seemed happy to let me take their photograph.
My favorite museum was the engaging Palacio de la Música where its hands-on
exhibits trace the evolution of Mexican music.
Mérida has the outstanding Gran Museo del Mundo Maya. Since the Maya were
not nearly as bloodthirsty as the Aztecs, I will not complain that the Gran
Museo looked the other way regarding human sacrifice. The Mayan statue
above (at the anthropology museum) depicts the deity Itzamná, a nice guy who
taught humans about science and medicine.
By chance, my week was Art Week in Mérida, with many galleries hosting
receptions and opening new exhibitions. I explored many small as well as
larger galleries in the old town. To represent that aspect of my trip, here is
my favorite “Mar de saxos III” (Sea of Saxophones) by Jazzamoart. It is
6' x 11' and sells for US$52,000 at the Galleria Urbana. Tell Salim that Bill
sent you.
Calle 47 near my hotel is sometimes called “Restaurant Row" but the old town of
Mérida has impressive restaurants on many blocks.
On one half-day trip I went to Izamal, an important Mayan city a millennia
ago, but claimed fame again when the Pope visited and Izamal changed its
color.
What do you do when Pope John Paul II (Juan Pablo II) visits your small town
in 1993? You cleverly decide to paint your entire town the Vatican's
golden yellow!
Around 1550 (!), Spanish Catholics build the Convent of San Antonio de
Padua. But the Pope came not to honor this historic place, but primarily to
try to strengthen ties with indigenous communities.
Along with honoring the pope, distinctively branding Izamal as "the yellow
city" turned out to be marketing genius and continues to pay off decades
later.
Uzmal flourished a one of the major Mayan cities in the Yucatán Peninsula
during 600-900 AD. It has still more large intact buildings standing along
with those in my photos here.
Uzmal's rival for tourists is Chichen Itza which is also phenomenal but
is much closer to Cancún and during the high season becomes packed with
15,000-18,000 tourists daily (!), while Uzmal — as you can see in my
photos — remains peaceful and uncrowded.
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Cenote photos above from Wikipedia
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The Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico is famous for its thousands of cenotes,
which are natural, water-filled sinkholes. And the word cenote of
Mayan origin sounds far more appropriately beautiful than the English
word sinkhole!
Cenotes are created when porous limestone bedrock collapses and
reveals underground rivers, pools, and groundwater. The cenotes that I
saw were different from the ones above that I'd seen online.
On one day trip, I visited these cenotes by the old hacienda Mucuyché.
Lower left: Enter down steps to a cenote under a ledge and open.
The owners have built a path here.
Upper left: Next you swim
through a channel to this cenote that is entirely open to the sky.
Right side: The grand finale is this adjacent cenote that is
almost entirely enclosed as a cave with stalactites. It was fantastic to
float around quietly for about twenty minutes in this otherworldly
pool.
I don't usually mention my modest lodging but
El Pueblo was
special — only six spacious rooms in a grand setting filled with
brilliantly curated collection of paintings, sculptures and photographs,
often by well-known Mexican artists. And El Pueblo is perfectly located in the
heart of old Mérida.
Antonio and Jonny prepared great Mexican breakfast dishes to order every
morning. My favorite was their chilaquiles with sala verde.
P.S. Where did the word "Yucatán" come from?
At the Museo de la Ciudad de Mérida, I started laughing out loud when I
read that most historians and linguists believe that when explorers speaking Spanish asked the name of the land, the Mayans replied "u kah u
tan" which means roughly "what the heck are you saying?"!!!
😂😂😂
