Merida has been known in the past as the White City. The grand haciendas, many on Paseo Montejedo, are in various states of repair. The largest have either been taken over by banks, or are now museums. I'll post a photo of one of them soon...Some of the smaller ones (like the one pictured here), though still very large in our view, are either abandonded or undergoing renovation. There are many houses for sale in Merida, many of them with potential to be showplaces. The architecture is similiar; small porch, veeerrry tall ceilings (for cooling), and central interior courtyards. The stone work is ornate, and mostly in good shape. The Paseo Montejedo has been called the Champs Elysees of Mexico. It is in reality more modest than it's namesake in Paris, it is a wide green swath of beauty in an otherwise urban setting. The haciendas lining the street on both sides are beautiful in the late afternoon sunset, causing them to glow.

We walked up that street last night to the 'Nafta' social hour, at a fancy pants hotel north of the city center. The social hour was held in a bar in the Fiesta Americana, with drinks and stale nuts. The popcorn was fresh, however. We met a couple from Ohio, who have been in Merida for two years, and are beginning a tour service; a Polish couple from Vancouver, Canada, who are renovating an old house to live in 6 months/year; a couple from TX who have been here for 5 years part-time and the rest of the time in Florida. The haciendas were pretty in the night light walking home.

Today was tour day...we hoped on a bus, without knowing where it went, and rode it almost to the end of the route. Hey, it's a 75 cents tour of a portion of the city without narration. The buses here are cheap, and comfortable. There just isn't a route map, which means that getting back was not quite as easy. After asking several people where to catch the bus back to 'centro', and getting conflicting directions, I followed my instincts and hopped on a bus heading south. Sure enough, it got us within a couple of blocks of the market. OK, so we're figuring this out! Another grocery shopping stop was required...remember, we're carrying everything we need, so walking 12 blocks with grocery sacks is the equivalent of an hour workout. The truth is, we are very interested in food, and all the beautiful fruit and veggies here! Food is much more entertaining to us than piles of rocks and shopping for tourist treasures.


Tonight, we're having asado de cerdo colita (roast pork with tomato sauce) and chayote rellenos (a squash-like veggie, stuffed with cheese and baked) for dinner, both recipes from my new favorite cookbook, which I bought at the MEL yesterday.