February 7, 2008
Merida
The cutest little open-air bus picked us up for our city tour of Merida. The Mexican guide had excellent English skills and imparted information to us for over 2 hours. I did not have anything with me on which to take notes so here goes my memory of the morning. The State of Yucatan is flat, having no mountains, no rivers and no lakes. They get water from underground springs and within the City of Merida there are 19 such natural springs and 18 of those are built within private residences. Merida has been such a contrast from the remote little villages we?ve seen. A huge Mall is within walking distance of our park and has an ice-skating rink inside as well as a casino. Today I saw many familiar stores Simmons mattress, Pirelli Tires, Wal-Mart, Sam?s Club, Burger King, KFC, Pizza Hut and we were told that Taco Bell does not operate in all of Mexico.
The houses are such a contrast in styles from each other. Tract housing does not exist here. One modest little house can be right next door to a mansion. The City was founded in the mid 1500?s so as you might imagine some of the homes are real ?Fixer Uppers.? There is a strong French influence here and the main street is built to look like the Champs Ellysee in Paris. Many of the mansions are French in style but we saw a Chinese home, several Moroccan style and of course the Spanish Haciendas. Many of the commercial building that are now Banks or insurance companies had a history of housing Governors, hospitals and even a prison. Recycling the buildings is evident. The city bus dropped us off for a short stop at a Park dedicated to all the Countries in North and South America. A tower is carved with the name and National symbol of each Country. I captured a picture of Mike and Eileen, our Canadian friends, beside the monument dedicated to Canada. Our guide told the 3 stories of how Yucatan got its name. They were similar but here is the one I can recall. When the Spanish explorers landed and asked the Mayan people ?Where are we, what do you call this place?? The Mayan Indians could not understand the language of the question and answered in their language ?I don?t understand what you are saying!? That answer loosely translates into Yucatan. Another stop was in the Mercantile for Handicrafts. Many of us have new dresses, shirts, hats, tablecloths and snakes. We are true tourists at heart. Of course Terry had 3 carnitas tacos from a street vendor. The Meridian people are very friendly with happy faces. Note my last photo, which captured some curiosity of our busload.
When we returned to the ?Trailer Park? (as RV Parks are known in Mexico) we made a run to the grocery store and walked to the mall next door. The evening was capped off with an ice cream social provided by Eileen and Trish who won the Super bowl Pool. Oh we had Thunder, lightening and it poured rain during our evening. We know why all the buildings have mold on the sides!
Statistics:
Motorhome Miles Driven: 0
Temperatures: High 92 Low 72 Humidity 95% .76 inches of rain
GPS Coordinates: N 12 02.494 W 89 37.821