Turning 57 in Mérida

Age is really about perspective. It is nice to turn 57 in a city that dates back to the mid 1500s. I’m so very young compared to a lot of cities! They aren’t griping about it. They are kinda proud! We spent two days enjoying beautiful Mérida where the buildings have seen generations, revolutions, cultures and birthday celebrations come and go.

We got settled into the Hotel Reforma. We were only a few blocks from the central plaza, tons of restaurants, beautiful Spanish colonial buildings and a bustling outdoor market. It was hard to pick out a restaurant for dinner but we ended up at Las Vigas to check out what the reviews said was “great food in large portions.” It was a great meal and we had to walk around a bit to recover. Street musicians and street vendors made the walk interesting and streets seemed full of locals enjoying the evening.

Saturday we got started by walking through the central market. Every conceivable product was on display. The meat market had cuts of beef and pork but the most eye catching items were turkeys, skinned but with head and claws still intact. We bought some sweets and then decided also to have lunch in the market area I ordered the lime soup, a traditional meal in the area, which seems identical to tortilla soup.

Michelle was often making sure my birthday did not go unobserved. She told a street singer about my birthday and he sang a quite long song to me while nearby shoppers filmed the entertainment. I didn’t understand a word but it was beautiful to be serenaded in the Mérida market.

We visited the beautiful Cathedral de San Illdefonso. Just like our tour of Chichen Itza, our tour guide made a memorable site even more outstanding. Giobani, head of security, introduced himself while also keeping an eye out for men who failed to take off their hats. He lead us first to a spot in the center of the cathedral’s main aisle. Tapping his foot on what seemed to be a loose stone under the carpet, he said with reverence that this was the spot Pope John Paul kneeled to pray during his 1993 visit to the church. Then, he led us to a picture of this event and pointed at a small figure seated in the cathedral praying along Pope John Paul. “And this is me,” he announced. And then smiled a huge smile.

Giobani also showed us the world’s largest crucified Christ sculpture housed in a cathedral. It was carved from a single piece of wood. Everything about the cathedral was on a different scale from everyday. He also led us outside the church to show us where cannons had marred the walls and bullet holes from past executions had sunken into the walls. He wanted to know what questions we had. Since his tour had been both informative and entertaining, we asked if it was true that many locals still sleep in traditional hammocks. We had been told earlier in the day that hammock sleeping is great for conceiving many children. Giobani confirmed this and explained that in Mexico they don’t have Kamasutra. They have “hammock sutra.” Picture another huge Giobani grin.

Sunday, Michelle started off the day by telling our waiter about my birthday. He wanted to know if I had my id to prove this important fact. I did not but Michelle said there was a husband, a son and a best friend to confirm this information. He smiled and said he would see what he could do. He returned with a big piece of red velvet cake with a single candle. Que amable!

After coffee and cake, we went to the Museum de Musica. The music museum gives visitors the complete history of Yucatan music-making from Mayan flutes and drums to modern day latin pop music. It has tons of listening stations and Jake has been humming along to “Año Viejo.” I spent a little time copying a beautiful museum mural of popular singers into my journal. When I asked a museum staff person if she would identify the people in the mural for me, she helped me with the names and then also asked if I would like to meet the artist. He worked there and was in the building Yes to that! He came around to chat a little about his mural and tattoo art. So fun to meet him!

Earlier in the trip, my sweet traveling partners wanted to know what I wanted to do for my birthday. I mentioned that I really wanted to go to a cenote. So Sunday afternoon we headed to Homún, a town with numerous cenotes. We took a quick dip in the beautiful blue water of Chaal-pek.

Our last night was spent in Izamal, the yellow city of the south, so named because many of the old buildings are painted bright yellow. There is a beautiful Jesuit convent there as well as an old Mayan pyramid which can still be climbed. We had a great dinner and again, upon hearing about my birthday, we were treated to tequila rounds from our waiter. Ya ya ya ya!!!

We toured the convent this morning and realized again that we were following in the Pope’s 1993 footsteps. Jake toured the convent museum which houses a elaborate throne built for his visit. He made a long-lasting impact with his visit to Mexico.

Our Izamal house rental was really enjoyable. It was owned by a Texan with an extensive collection of rock music memorabilia as well as an eclectic art collection. We had tons of room and lots of interesting things to look at. It was a fun weekend and we returned to the boat today tired but happy with the weekend of Yucatan travel.