Progresso

We finally made our trip to see Progresso, the city on the gulf.  We traveled by bus about 45 minutes at a cost of $1.25 one way and saw some of the city and surrounding area we had not seen before.  Once at Progresso, we walked about three blocks to the water.  The beach is much like Texas and the Galveston Bay, but the sand is finer and felt wonderful on our toes.  We were somewhat disappointed that the water wasn't more like the Caribbean coast near Playa del Carmen or Tulum. We strolled along the boardwalk and enjoyed the sea breeze.  Wayne actually walked in the water, but it  was a little cool for swimming!  We had dinner at an outdoor cafe with our feet in the sand, enjoying the feel of salt air and the sound of sea gulls and pelicans, while sipping margaritas and cerveza. The full moon rising over the water completed a relaxing, restful day before the bus ride back to Merida.

Mayan History

After the Spanish conquest of the Mayan people, as the streets were laid out in the city, many symbols were used to help the Mayans learn the Spanish language.  Ambling around Merida, we have noticed the many symbols located by the street signs.  The original ones, of course, decayed long ago, but the city created new ones to preserve the history. We read about one that shows a headless man;  he was unlucky enough to walk under a piece of falling glass and lose his head!! We have not yet spotted that one.

The Tiger

The Monkey

The Theater

Eating in Merida

One of the pleasures of Merida is the many wonderful cafes and street vendors from which to choose delicious food!  We have eaten desayuno at Cafe Pop's several times and really enjoyed huevos Motueltonos (see picture).

On every street corner one can find street vendors preparing fresh food, and the aromas waft through the air enticing me to try every one of them!

Since we have a casa, we do eat at home.  Susan and Bill arrived Christmas Day, and we have enjoyed several meals at Casa Claire prepared by Chef Susana and Chef Ana.  Last night we had poached salmon in lemon caper sauce, roasted broccoli with parmesan, and savory tomatoes with goat cheese.  This morning we prepared pancakes with bananas foster!  Yum!  

Susan and Bill have already adapted to the slower pace of Merida. Good to have friends join us to share our experience here.

  

Feliz Navidad!

We wish all a very Merry Christmas!  We hope that everyone had a great time with family and friends at home.  Last night we listened to the Texas Christmas story that John Henry Faulk recorded for NPR years ago. We have listened to it every Christmas for the past several years, and it still brings tears to my eyes.  Then we listened to David Sedaris' Santa Land Dairies to lighten the mood before reading the traditional Night Before Christmas. It is neat to be able to stream KUT and NPR on the laptop.

It has been very quiet today at our casa. The electricity went out for about an hour to remind us that we really are in Mexico. Today, after yoga on the rooftop, Ann made a nice lunch with ham, zucchini, potatoes, and some nice French bread with tomatoes, queso, and fresh cilantro.  We found the bread at a bakery run by a Frenchman who has been living in Mexico for many years. Fantastic pastries: good thing it is a long walk from here. Also found a tiny hole in the wall coffee place where husband and wife roast their own beans from Chiapas and other places. Bought some strong Cubano coffee, and it is superb!  We are having drinks later this afternoon with a young couple from Austin we met yesterday while out shopping. Susan and Bill Lawson arrive this evening from cold Pennsylvania. It is almost 90 today in Merida so they should thaw out quickly!

Facetimed all the kids and grandkids yesterday and this morning. It was so wonderful  to see their faces at Christmas even when we can't all be together. We are blessed.

Picture is our unusual Christmas decorations; only ones Ann could find in the casa!  Love and Christmas wishes to all. W

Strolling through Merida

One of our chores here at Casa Claire is to feed the rooftop gatos, a part of life in Mexico.  We have one Siamese, one calico and one tiger striped! (Who is a bully)

We serve their dinner on the rooftop terrace around five every evening.  Check out the photo and see if you can spot the calico to the right of the Siamese! We can't really befriend the cats as the house is open air, and the owner doesn't want them wandering around below the terrace.

We strolled down to Paseo Montejo (the Champs Elysees of Merida) and stopped for ice cream at Dulceria y Sorbeteria Colon. I enjoyed lemon sorbet, and Wayne tried guanabana!! (a tropical fruit found here) Both were delicious.  Check out the Mayan mural on the wall of the store. The menu didn't look much like the ones at home in Texas:  durazno, tamarindo, mantecado, mamey, elote??? We wanted to try them all.

One of our favorite places to eat has become Cafe Pop, a very small cafe near our casa.  The wall has a Picasso-esque mural of the three waiters,  Miguel, Jose, and Jorge.  Jose (the center picture) has worked here for 43 years! Miguel, who is in the picture, prepares the fruit and appears on the left.   Very friendly people and wonderful food.  Our new favorite breakfast is Huevos Motulenos, a speciality of the Yucatan: fried eggs over black beans on a tortilla with salsa and fried plantains and queso fresco.  Muy delicioso.

Domingo en Merida

On Sundays in Merida the zocala is closed off to traffic for several blocks and hundreds of food vendors, artisans, musicians, clowns and thousands of locals and a few dozen gringos fill the space.  We didn't buy anything but it was fun to look and the smells from all the different types of food were wonderful.  Our friends who appreciate jewelry would have loved it, but we aren't really shoppers.

We were able to help three young Swiss guys find their hostel tonight. Made us feel good that we actually knew something about how to get around in the city. They had been traveling in circles for some time and were very grateful to find someone who spoke English who could direct them. I know the feeling, I can assure you!

We hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas, we miss you all!  Feliz Navidad.

Today in Merida

Ann buys eggs from the local market, she will bring her own cartoon next time!

Nice way to start the day on the roof.

Old gringo can't resist kids singing in the square. They were singing Rudolf in Espanol.

Palacio Municipal, just like Belton city hall!

Nativity scene in the square.

Buenos Dias

Britta's VW

Wayne in Front of Britta's House

If you read the previous post, it was obvious that merde occurs in Mexico when it seemed everything that could go wrong was doing so. However, we think we have fixed our problemas. It is a beautiful morning here as we sit on the rooftop listening to the doves and other birds.  We will try to post pictures today since we seem to have things sorted out.  I must share my masseuse story.  Britta is a native of Germany who has been here almost half of her 50+ years. She has raised three children, youngest is 18, by herself for the past 16 years.  She loves to travel and has seen much of Mexico in her little VW bug (very worn out bug). When we told her where we were from she couldn't believe we were really from Texas because we were too "laid back".  We took that as a compliment but sad so many have different view of us. When we asked her if she had every visited Texas, she said "no, it is too scary."   We all think of Mexico as unsafe, she definitely had the same view of parts of US, especially Texas.  After my massage, I asked her where we could get purified water for my sleep machine. "Sure, I'll take you. I need to buy groceries anyway."  I told her that wasn't needed, but she insisted. All three of us piled into her bug and away we went.  The first hard left turn we made, my door came open, thank goodness for seat belts. She apologized, said it was hard to get mechanics to do a good job when you are a woman in Mexico and no matter how long you live here you are still a bit of an outsider. We wound up at a supermercado owned by Lebanese immigrants where no one spoke English, interesting shopping experience.

Ahhh, Mexico!

Just to remind us that we are not in Texas anymore, this has been our latest adventure: Ann's ATM card is lost, Wayne's ATM card will not work, the phone provided in the casa isn't working and the wifi in the casa went out this afternoon....other than the few million or so mosquitos in the casa, everything has been perfect!  If this is the Mayan's way of teaching patience to an old gringo,   not sure it is working.  I am sure we will resolve all these issues manana, or at least the day after manana. But we are having a good time....really!  I had a great massage today and she took us grocery shopping and to buy water afterwards. Full service masseuse.  Also found that you can't buy alcohol in a store before noon any day of the week, even when you really need it!

Lazy day

I would love to tell you all  the exciting things we have done today, but as you can see we were so worn out after the last two days we just collapsed and spent most of the day reading. There are several activities going on in downtown today. On Sundays the City of Merida shuts down all traffic in the heart of the city so people can walk and bike without traffic, but we didn't make it that far. Last night we walked along the Paseo de Montejo (about 20 minutes away on foot)  which is a large boulevard flanked by beautiful colonial architecture where there are some nice museums and mansions. After seeing the prices of several restaurants, we settled for coffee and something called chocolate fondant. It was much like a chocolate souffle, almost as good as the ones Ann make at home.  For lunch today we went to Cafeteria Pop, which sounds strange, but it is actually a very nice little cafe with wonderful murals on the wall.  We ate there in 2010 when we were here before and the food was excellent and cheaper than Bobby's Taqueria.  Yucatecan food is generally less spicy and greasy than the Tex-Mex we are accustomed to in Texas. However, some of the sauces that they serve on the side are HOT. I am not sure even Bill West could eat much of the habanero sauce that I tried yesterday.
Tomorrow we are off to buy a few more essentials so we don't have to eat out for a few days.   If you are reading this, I am trying not to bore you with mundane details, but if you have questions we would be glad to answer them. I will try to post more photos manana.

Buenos dias from Merida!

Sleeping in a 250 year old casa has its own unique charms. Upon our arrival, the property manager reminded us to keep the big ceiling fan on all night because "it discourages the bats."   It seems that there is a an open air section of the casa that connects one part of the casa to the other section and the bats who (like us gringos) winter in Merida sometimes like to swoop down to the fountain located in the open area and catch the bugs.  Just as he was telling us this a large gecko scrambled for safety behind a pretty  hanging flower pot full of small blooming pink flowers.  Obviously neither the bats nor the geckos caught all the bugs, but the house is clean and very charming. Being typical Mexico, we were awakened to the sound of church bells ringing. It looks like it will be a beautiful day in Merida, wish y'all were here.

HEADING SOUTH

We leave Friday morning at 7 am to travel to Merida, Mexico, the capitol of the Yucatan State. We will stay in Casa Claire in downtown Merida near El Centro! Please share our adventure as we experience Christmas and New Year's with a different culture and join the Mayans as they wait for December 21st and the end of their calendar! Hopefully, when we return, we will speak fluent Spanish, have wonderful stories to share, and a blog full of pictures.