Merida turned out to be one of our favorite places in the southern area. It’s the capital city of the Yucatan and founded in 1542. It is about 60% Mayan and a big mix of cultures. We stayed in this amazing colonial house turned into a hotel. It was a little shabby and the bathroom perhaps Victorian in age but the ceilings and décor sure made up for it.
We were just around the corner from the wonderful theater and we got to see the symphony play one day.
There are loads of museums and city squares loaded with outdoor restaurants. Perfect places to spend the afternoon people watching and evenings dining slowly.
There is also a huge new Mayan museum in the more suburban north side of the city. It’s an impressive building and houses fantastic exhibits about the region including dinosaurs as it was apparently built on the site scientists estimate the meteor hit and wiped things out then. Much of the information is in Spanish but it’s easy to get the main ideas of things just by looking at the wonderful exhibits.
And in the main city there are weekly classical dance shows (every Thursday for the last 50 years or so) and even Mayan ball games set up. Music is always happening and we got to see a big police band playing on the main square. If you are to look closely behind the Mayan ball players there is a familiar face — Jake photo bombing!
This is a great city to just wander in and take in the architecture.
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