Last day in Merida
Trip Start
Jul 25, 2007
1
33
49
Trip End
Oct 01, 2007
Merida, Mexico
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
We have had a pretty mellow past couple of days as we both have not been feeling that great due to some virus or something we ate. We had breakfast at Cafeteria Pop as usual and then we decided to go to the artesan market today to try to finish up our gift shopping. The shopping is not as good as we have seen elsewhere such as in San Cristobal de Las Casas and Guatemala, but we found what we were looking for. Merida is known for hammocks, Panama hats (both made of hennequin), and some silverwork as well.
We then decided to go out to the zoo (15 blocks or so from the plaza) & took a taxi because it was hot & we had already been walking for quite a while. The only part of the zoo we saw was from the road though because it was closed. Looked pretty nice though--saw a giraffe and emu! We decided to console ourselves with a cold treat upon getting back in town. The sorbets at the place on the plaza are good! Feeling refreshed, we walked out to the English language library here in town just to check it out. After 30 minutes walking (we overshot it a bit), we discovered it was closed, so we decided to head back to the hotel and see if the pool was open. Pool was still closed (torrential rains a couple of days ago closed it). We did run into the nice Canadian couple we talked to a couple of days ago and hung out with them on the balcony. It started the late afternoon rains, so we stayed in and read for awhile.
Went to Amaroīs for dinner. Nice ambiance & a couple of guys singing but food is pretty average but not bad. There was free entertainment in the plaza--folk dancing with a live orchestra. They do some pretty interesting stuff--some impressive dancing first with a beer on their head and then balancing a whole tray of beers. There was also a dance involving a pole with ribbons and some impressive weaving. Aronīs remark was that this was the way most of the traditional weaving is done.
Sundays in Merida are a great day for visiting the plaza and just hanging out. It seems everybody in the town is there. They close off many of the streets surrounding the plaza and have all sort of food & craft vendors in the plaza with music & entertainment all day. It continues into the night as we walked by 3 bands in the evening on the way back to the hotel after dinner. They also close off a bunch of the streets in the morning for families to bicycle through the city. (There are also bicycles for rent).
