Merida, Mexico
Mark Bittman has a post on his blog and a column in the New York Times about visiting Merida, on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. Jess and I visited Merida in the fall of 2006 and it was one of the best trips of my life. Merida is an old colonial city in Mayan Mexico and the capital of the State of Yucatan. The streets are narrow and paved with brick. The architecture is exactly what I though of for a colonial Mexican city. The people are friendly and life revolves around the main square (or zocalo).
Although not a huge tourist destination, there are a ton of things to do there. A couple of my favourites:
- Strolling down the Paseo de Montajo - Huge ornate homes line a wide tree lined street that makes for a nice change of pace from the narrow street of the city center.
- Visiting the market - The Marcado Lucas de Galvez is a short walk from the main Zocalo and is full of things to see and buy.
- The Zocalo (Plaza Mayor) - Home to the oldest cathedral on the Continent, this large plaza is the focus of the city. It is a great place to hang out and people watch, to try some corn ice cream, watch the free government sponsored cultural shows. There are art museums, shops and restaurants all surrounding it. It has shaded benches and chairs for relaxing.
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- Eating in the little outdoor cafes - All throughout the city, there are little cafes that set up plastic tables and chairs and serve incredible Mayan food. We had several good meals in full restaurants, but eating from these little places was much more fun. Most of the time, we would sit down, the waiter would come up to take our ordered, we would try our terrible Spanish on him, he would try his English on us and finally we would have him bring us what he recommended. In the Marcado I had the best Carne Asada tacos that I’ve ever tasted. Another waiter near the Paseo de Montejo just kept binging us different mayan dishes to try. It was fantastic and fun. At least once you need to spoon some of the diced habenero salsa on something.
- Uxmal - Although it was about a 2 hour drive from Merida, Uxmal is a huge Mayan ruin. It is less crowded then Chitchen Itza, but still massively impressive. Everyone should see it once.
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As much I liked Merida, there were a couple things you should be aware of if you travel there:
- Most the streets are narrow and one way. Wait to rent a care until you are leaving.
- Some of the touts for the shops can be EXTREMELY persistent. They were all polite, but the will latch on to you if you are a tourist.
- Many craft shops expect haggling and will quote you a price WAY too high expecting you to bargain it down.
But down let any of that disuad you if you are considering visiting. The people are extremely friendly, the city is beautiful and the food is delicious. Here are some links if you are planning a visit:
- Merida - Wikitravel
- Merida - Frommers
- Yucatan Today - A great resource for finding out about what’s going on in Merida
