Merida Travel Blog

B’ix a bèel? Ma’alob’, utz tèech? B’ey xan tèen. **** Ek Balam: Dona Celestina (left) who only speaks Maya Sounds Greek to me, the old saying goes. But, to almost one million people on the Yucatán Peninsula this conversation sounds normal – it’s Yucatec...

Merida: Monument to the Flag, the backdrop for Swan Lake Music and dance performances top my list of fun stuff to do this week when visiting Mérida. Folk, Big Band, classical, and opera music will all be heard streaming from concert halls and public spaces nightly. Monday, March 28, 9:00 pm: Fernando...

Hacienda Yaxcopoil: Double Moorish arch Yucatán’s long and storied history of economic boom and bust cycles is nowhere more apparent than in the haciendas that dot the back roads near Mérida in southeastern Mexico. Built in the century following the overthrow of the Maya in the 1540s or in the...

Merida: Teatro Armando Manzanero This week presents a hodgepodge of fun activities for visitors to Merida. If you’re fortunate enough to be spending a few days in the Yucatan state capital you can choose from events as varied as a parade of horse-drawn carriages carrying local artists and a good...

Merida: Lucha Libre - Psycho Clown and Jack Evans The clown hurtles through the air and lands loudly, crushing the chest of the gymnast who now lies prostrate on the floor. Kapow! Boff! Zap! Whamm! Crash! Watching Lucha Libre – Mexican-style wrestling – is like landing in the middle of a Batman...

Merida: Hennessy's Irish Pub, the Polo Bar ¡Erin go bragh! St. Patrick’s Day in Mexico? That sounds like an oxymoron to me. Along with the rest of the country, Merida celebrates Dia de San Patricio – this year on Thursday, March 17 – and not just for the obvious reason that Irish culture...

“Hey, Mistah! Throw me something!” According to my friend Joan, this is what the crowds scream at the people on Mardi Gras floats in her native New Orleans. Now, they are screaming it at me. But, they’re speaking Spanish, I’m in Mérida and here they call it Carnaval. I oblige. Handfuls of...

Merida: Carnaval 2011, The author in front of a parade float If you’re still standing after all dancing in the streets at last week’s Carnaval parades DON’T STOP NOW! Carnaval continues on Monday and Tuesday and ends, sadly, on Wednesday, March 9. For further information see my Carnaval overview. On...

The best thing to do this week in Merida, March 2-9,  is obvious: Carnaval, the pre-Lenten mad party known as Mardi Gras in French and Fasching in German. Whatever you call it, it’s a non-stop fiesta during the week before the Christian holyday, Ash Wednesday. In 2011, we celebrate Merida’s Carnaval...

Merida: City of Peace Tower “Aren’t you afraid to visit Mexico?” When I talk to my friends and family in the United States this is usually the first question they ask me. My answer is always, no, I’m not. The question is a reasonable one: if the American media broadcasts any news about Mexico...