Ok I know I’ve been promising more from Merida, and I’ve finally got a few minutes to sit down and share. In my last post, I had shown some of the great architecture and our fabulous hotel, El Palacito Secreto (The Little Secret Palace), and today I want share more of the greater Yucatan area we got to see, including a fabulous golden yellow town - a real artist’s dream!
First up is Izamal, a brightly painted saffron colored town. The reason the entire town (not just the square, but all the residences too!) was originally painted yellow was to celebrate Pope John Paul visiting in 1993 so the townspeople wanted to show him they were The Sun City, the light of God, but afterward apparently they liked it (and the tourism dollars) so much they have continued repainting it yellow ever since! Pictures truly don’t do it justice… it’s magnificent!
This is actually a Franciscan Convent built a few hundred years ago directly on a Maya pyramid, so by walking up these steps we are literally walking on a stone structure built by hand hundreds of years ago.
Say Cheeeese! (And also expect to see a painting of this magical place coming out soon!)
Many of the Yucatan towns had these festive colorful signs in their squares, so cute!
And Venkman even got to meet the Pope! What a day!
Have you ever heard of a cenote? I hadn’t! They are these underground crystal clear rivers and waterways accessed by open pits created by sinkholes. There are thousands of them around Yucatan, and when you’re swimming in one you often can’t see the bottom!
Sometimes the cenotes would be 60 feet down in the earth! We swam in this one and it was a bit chilly!
This cenote is from our day visiting the flamingoes and was much warmer since it was at surface level.
The view from inside the cenote in the image above. There were all kinds of vines and stalactites hanging down - such a vibe!
The answer is yes, people do scuba dive in them, but no, I did not. Caving of any kind seems way more terrifying than exciting to this Bird. What can I say? I feel a lil safer in the open air ;)
We also went on a boat trip in an immense biological reserve where there were five to ten thousand flamingoes hanging out, eating shrimp, and generally soaking up the sun. We were so lucky to be in Merida during the time of year they migrate because I have never seen one in the wild, much less gotten to see them actually take off and fly!
I actually got video of them taking off which I will be sharing in my upcoming art+ travel vlog. It’s really hilarious the way they kinda run on the water to takeoff like an airplane!
I feel so lucky to be able to make all these memories with my best friend ever, my mom:):)
And if you’re wondering about the local fare, well it has surely not disappointed. We gushed and exclaimed over meal after meal of the best authentic Mexican and Maya dishes, and some of the freshest seafood around!
We did actually go to Chichen Itza, the largest Maya ruins in Yucatan, as well as some great Maya museums, but since this post got a little long I’m going to tease it out to one more blog post. Also, keep your eyes out for my next YouTube vid to see some of these images get transformed into gouache paintings!
4.14.2022