On a baking hot Saturday morning, my walk took me down bustling Calle 64, all the way to Barrrio de San Juan, through the yellow colonial gate and over to the intriguingly named Ermita de Santa Isabel – the Hermitage of Saint Isabel. Built in the 16thcentury, the Hermitage is dedicated to Our Lady of…

Paseo de Montejo is amusingly referred to here as the Champs Élysées of Mérida. Well… I’m afraid to disappoint the people of Mérida, because it isn’t quite that… It is however, an impressively wide grand green boulevard – splendid in the faded kind of way that only the steamy tropics can give you and a…

We were last in Progreso some 30 years ago, so unsurprisingly a lot has changed. In the 90’s it was a relatively small dusty kind of place that had pretty much one purpose – to serve the Malecón, The Pier, supplying cargo and trade as well as being a major cruise ship terminal. At a…

It’s very quiet in Mérida on a Sunday with the sound of the church bells tolling from early morning, the green parrots chattering, trilling and whistling away in the trees with the occasional Auto Progreso bus barrelling down Calle 64, packed full of local day-trippers heading to the beach.  On a hot Sunday in town…

We spent the morning at the El Gran Museo del Mundo Maya, a rollicking cab ride away on the road to Progreso – much further afield than we’ve been before and quite the surprising journey. As you leave the European inspired Paseo de Montejo, the ‘Champs-Élysées’ of the Yucatan (that’s not me suggesting the moniker,…

At the very heart of Mérida is the Plaza Grande, an elegant green square bordered by historical buildings such as the Palacio Municipal, the Palacio de Gobierno and, topping  them all, the impressive Catedral de San Ildefonso, at 460 years the oldest cathedral not only in all of Mexico but also the oldest in the continental…

 Today’s orientation exercise was to explore neighbouring Barrio Santiago, located to the west of the Plaza Grande and a short walk from Santa Lucia.  Santiago is rather different from Santa Lucia in that it has wider, paved streets, is less touristy (not that the other barrios are that touristy) and has the odd modern building, dare…

We’re venturing further and further afield as we ease ourselves into Mérida life, conscious of course that we have three months here, so no point in trying to cram everything into the first few days! So this week is a week of orientation – wrapping our heads around the block grid layout with the Plaza…

Once you’ve pushed your way inside Mercado Lucas de Gálvez, you’ll find densely packed stalls heaving with fresh produce in a riot of colour and smells, though with a mask on the senses were a tad muffled. However, with the market as heaving as it was, I was happy to have the mask firmly on. …

This morning’s orientation exercise was the Mercado Lucas de Gálvez, one of the city’s many vibrant local markets. You know you’re approaching a market in Mexico when the streetscape becomes a touch rougher, a tad down at heel perhaps. Almost always there’s a sudden abundance of car part shops, chain-saw boutiques, plastic toy and sugary…