MERIDA

PARIS OF THE WEST - (THE WHITE CITY) 

T'ho (Merida) was settled in 1842, by Fransicisco de Montejo (the younger), which his father was unable to do. As Merida grew into a succesful city, the wealthy began to fear inteference from outside forces, such as Mexico City. The hacienda owners armed their Mayan servants to protect them, and of course, it backfired. In 1847, the “war of the castes” broke out, and lasted until 1853 when the Mayans took control of the entire peninsula with exception of Merida and Campeche. They remained in control until 1901.

 

This modern Madonna and child statue is a copy of another by Lenoir, which stands in the Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris, France.  In behind is the Iglesia de Jesus, or Iglesia El Tercer Orden.  It is one of the few Jesuit structures still standing in Merida, and was built in 1618.

Driving into the city through the outskirts, you’ll notice men working horses with carts. As you get closer to the centro, the traffic gets thick and crazy with double-wide bikes, motorcycles, buses, trucks that stop in your lane with no notice to unload, horse carraiges for rides, and toxic diesel fumes. As the streets are narrow, and the buildings tall, beeping horns are amplified. Two lanes are best described as three weaving in and out, and never straight.

Revolutionary Passage, Merida

If staying in close proximatey to the city zocolo and centro area, you will enjoy the evenings for festivities in the parks, music, dancing in the streets, sitting on narrow balconies of coffee shops, or down in the alley where Peon Contreras has good location for drinks and guacamole.

 

Daytime can be spent exploring historical churches, galleries, museums and of course, artesan shops, juice-stands, bakerias and grocerias. Day trips outside of the city include Dzibilchaltun, Uxmal, Mayapan and the Puuc Route, to see Mayan ruins, Celestun to see Flamingos, and Progresso to swim in the Gulf, and visit a town catering to Mexican tourists. There is a Convent route, Hacienda route, and Yaxcopil, to visit a henecken plantation museum.

We saw these beautiful children getting ready waiting for a bus, so asked if it would be okay if we took their picture.  They must think us Gringo's are a strange lot, but they were too gorgeous to pass up!

Of course, if we were going to take a picture of the girls, we had to get the boys too...we were just about to walk away when they all started jeering!

 

There are many churches in Merida.  This cathedral was dedicated to San Idelfonso, and replaced a thatched building in 1551.  In 1585, architect Juan de Aguero designed the facade of the building, with the two towers and the Hapsburg coat of arms, and an arch over the front entrance.  The Hapsburg coat of arms was later replaced with a Mexican sheild.

I haven't been able to find out what the story is behind this building, but considering the architecture, I assume it was either a church or one of the Jesuit schools.  I guess now Coca Cola owns it...

The Governors Palace was built in 1892 and now houses the State of Yucatan's executive government offices.  The armed guards are on duty night and day, but don't normally look this serious! 

The Palace itself is beautifully constructed, with a central courtyard, and typical Spanish arches.  The murals on display here are not typical murals, as they are portable, as opposed to being painted directly onto the walls.   

"Hecho de Maiz" or "Made of Corn"

"Venta de Indios" or "Sale of Indians."

Fernando Castro Pacheco was born on January 26, 1918 in Merida, and is a painter, illustrater, engraver, print maker and teacher.  He has illustrated children's books and delved into sculpture, but is known for painting murals of Mexican life and history.

I don't have the title of this painting, but believe it was "Famine."  If anything, the subjects are certainly suffering due to starvation.

"Guerra de Castas" or "War of the Castes"

The War of the Castes was the result of greedy Meridan landowners, and intelligent Mayan warriors.  Merida had become a very wealthy city, and as Mexico had gained independance from Spain, the landowners began to worry about the central Mexican government wanting their share of the prosperity.  The Hacienda owners armed their Mayan soldiers, who were victims of oppression by the very people who need their protection.  The plan backfired, as the Mayans rebelled, and in 1847 the War of the Castes errupted.  Merida and Campeche were successful in barricading themselves against the rebel forces, but the rest of Yucatan Peninsula fell under Mayan rule once again.  It is said that anyone of fair skin who ventured out of these cities rarely returned.  Eventually, the landowners agreed to take orders from Mexico City in return for protection from the State, and in 1901 the War of Castes finally ended.  Many Mayans retreated into the jungle, where the majority of them continue living in Na huts and speaking Yucatec Maya instead of Spanish.  In tourist areas, this is starting to change, but there are still many Yucatec Maya who do not speak Spanish or English.

"Execution of Jacinto Canek"

On November 19, 1761 there was a Mayan uprising in Cisteil, and Jacinto Canek, as leader of the rebellion, was caught and condemned to death, along with several of his followers.  The execution took place on September 14, 1761 at 8AM, in front of Montejo's home.  The Governor was present, as witness to Caneks brutal execution, which was being quartered with hot pokers.  His remains were then burned.

"Triumph of the Republic"

Benito Juarez (top left) was a Zapotec Indian lawyer from Oaxaca.  After many struggles with the Church, Juarez was elected president in 1861, but almost immediately forced to flee due to the take over by the Napoleon III and the Emperor Maximillian.  On May 15, 1867 Queretaro fell to the Liberal Army, and Maximillian was found guilty of 13 charges, including the Black Flag decree.  Despite pleas to spare Maximillians life, which came from Europe, USA, the Vatican and Italy, Juarez insisted that Maximilian would be executed.  This took place on June 19, 1867 on the Hill of Bells in Queretero.  He was 35 years old.  Juarez resumed the presidency until his death on July 18, 1872.

I don't remember the name of this mural, but it always makes me think of Friar Diego De Landa, which is grim expression and judgemental finger.  

Admission is free, and as the Governers Palace is located in the center of Merida, it's a perfect place to escape the heat for half an hour.  There are 31 murals in total, the first 26 of which were painted in 1973, with the latter 5 being completed in 1975.  

I wonder if my nation of Canada will ever commission an artist to create public illustrations of the atrocities that were done to our Indigenous peoples.  Though a Residential School museum was opened in Manitoba last year, Canadians tend to shy away from facing our dark past.  

I do not speak Spanish, and the translation I got from the internet made no sense.  If anyone can translate this for me, I'd appreciate an email!!  This photograph was taken at a political concert in Merida.  Leanne and I found this to be a most interesting event, as there were pop stars at the Zocalo, and everyone was out from babies to the elderly.  There were lots of political posters, people chanting, but for the most part, everyone was in good cheer. 

Standing in the midst of the crowd, an older American fellow caught our eye, and just started laughing.  He said "Can you imagine if America had these kinds of parties to remind youth that it's important to vote?  I've never seen anything like this!"  It's not much different in Canada.  We would not have walked into this crowd of people had it not been a music concert with pop stars and kids.  Despite many posters and chants, the crowd was peaceful, and having fun.  Tourists are always warned to stay away from political events, but this was more like a party than a protest.

Still, once the policia began to infiltrate the crowd, we escaped to a balcony-coffee shop that overlooked the square, and watched from there.  Nothing happened, and at the end of the night, everyone was walking down the roads arm in arm, singing away.

In May 2007, Ivonne Aracelly Ortega Pacheco (born November 27, 1972) was elected as Governor of Yucatan.  She is affiliated with the PRI, and is Yucatan's first elected female Governor, though second to serve after Dulce Maria Sauri Riancho, who served as interim governor from 1991 - 1994.  Pacheco is the fifth woman to serve as governor of a Mexican state, and was inaugurated on August 1, 2007.  She will serve as Governor until 2012.  (I have no idea whether or not she is related to the artist Fernando Castro Pacheco, who painted the murals for the Governors Palace.)

 

  





POSADA TOLEDO

SAFE HAVEN

Step off the busy streets of Merida and into the delightful courtyard of Posada Toledo.  This 19th century colonial home has been a hotel for many years, and has only 22 rooms.  I prefer the rooms that are downstairs around the lovely open garden, as it is a calm and cool place to rest between shopping and exploring, and at night is especially relaxing.

 The rooms downstairs are also more beautiful than the upstairs rooms, as they have heavily carved double doors leading into spacious rooms with high ceilings and carved beds and furniture.  I`ve stayed twice in a room that has a very large luggage area between the bedroom and bathroom, as well a place to hang clothing, which was very helpful for keeping our room clean.  I `think`it was room 8...but if you can ask to see the rooms first, look for it!

 The hotel is fumigated once a year, and we have never seen any bugs here, save a few flies in the bathroom.  I assume this is only because guests are asked not to flush their toilet paper.

This large room was perfect for storage, and also for hanging hand-washing to dry.  This is my favorite room in the hotel, because of this extra space.  It cost us $45, and an extra $5 for AC.  You won`t need AC in February, but we were last here in April and May, and the heat was horrendous.  They do ask that you turn the AC off when you`re not in the room, and I understand this as I`ve met many locals who say AC can cost up to $400 a month for an average home - which is worse than we pay for hydro in Canada, to heat our homes...

This little courtyard is behind the beautiful dining room, and is just another beautiful space to relax.  We never used this space, as we had chairs by the garden outside of our room - but Posada Toledo has many places to find privacey. 

Yet another beautiful place to rest, if you`re staying upstairs.  You can see many of the church-tops from the top floor, and at night, this would be a cool place to catch the breeze. 

Everywhere you look, Posada Toledo is just a beautiful place to be.  If you get chatting with the staff, they may be willing to show you the French suite, which is not available to guests - but is reserved for the owners family.  Merida was once referred to as `Paris of the West`-so it was very fasionable to have a Parisian style sitting room in your home.

The rooms here are fairly basic.  There is no mini-fridge, but we purchased a cheap cooler at a store around the corner.  Some guests have panned this hotel because it`s very noisy - but if you want to be in the center of Merida where all the action is by day and night, that`s the price you pay!  The noise doesn`t bother me, as it means we`re in walking distance of the main zocalo, parque hidalgo, the best of restaurants, shops, and banks.  There is a parking lot almost directly across the street that is inexpensive, and has a day guard, then is locked at night.  That said, if you arrive late, there will be someone who can unlock the gate for you.  Similarly, the hotel is also locked at night, but the staff at the front desk are always there to let you in.

Paula has worked at the Posada Toledo for many years.  I first met her in 1996, then again in 2006 and 2007.  Last time we were there, she said she was thinking about moving home to Veracruz, so we'll miss her on our next visit.  She collects all sorts of things, including english books and fancy pens.  Her father lived in Vancouver too, which is very close to where I live - so she knew all about the First Nations of the Northwest Coast.

The most recent review for this hotel warns guests not to stay here because they had items stolen from their room.  I don`t doubt that their story is true - however, this happens all over the world, and in my opinion, is not a reflection of the owner, nor the staff she normally employs.  My family has stayed here 5 times, and never had anything go missing, and there is only one review with such a claim, which leaves me to believe it was likely an isolated event.  I think it's common sense to refrain from leaving substantial amounts of cash in any hotel, in any country as poor as Mexico.

THE STORYTELLERS

CINQO DE MAYO?

I felt as though I'd dragged my friend through the back door of a disorganized garage, rather than through the welcoming gates of Merida.  Having driven through fire for hours, then getting lost in what felt like an unsafe area, we were quite happy to be at our hotel.

Carlos at the front desk told us we'd have a wonderful time in the shops the next day, and that the markets are usually open until midnight. As the sun sets early in Mexico, and we'd had such an exhausting day, we decided to have a simple evening.  We left with only enough money to purchase dinner and some drinks to bring back to our room.

At the first corner, a man was pointing us towards the market.  "Only another hour, and then the market is closed!"  We thanked him, and said we'd come back tomorrow.  He kept insisting "No, the market is closed tomorrow for Cinqo de Mayo, you must come now."  I didn't have a map with me, and wasn't sure where the market was - and as we'd brought little cash, we decided it best to just head for the restaurant.

Silly me got us lost, having forgotten where Parque Hidalgo was.  I was trying to avoid the salesmen, so when we saw a childrens sports team, thought they'd be safe to approach for directions.  A man in a uniform came forward, and instead of giving us direction, insisted on taking us to his favorite restaurant.  His name was Jose.  Ironically, it was the Cafeteria El Meson, which was where I was hoping for - only, much to our horror he said: "I'll just wait here while you eat, then I take you to my brothers store."

Didn't see that coming!

 While we were eating, a waiter served Jose drinks, while he worked the restaurant, taking different groups down the road, and returning.  We were trying to time our meal so we could run off while he was gone, but ended up going to his brothers store.

If one could compare an art gallery to a can of sardines, this place is it.  One could spend days in this place, and still not see the entire inventory.  We loved a lot of art that we saw, but as we had no money on us, came back downstairs and explained that we'd be back the next day.

The man in charge said, "No, no.  We closed tomorrow for Cinqo de Mayo, but if you want, we stay here and you go get money.  We can stay open late tonight for you."  I thought about Carlos, who'd said we'd have a wonderful time in the shops tomorrow, and felt convinced that surely he would have mentioned that the entire city would be closed the next day, if it were true.  Then again, we'd been told this more than once, so I was perplexed.  I asked him, "So, during Carnaval, only parts of the city were closed in the morning, but were open in the afternoon, so why is everything closed on May 4th, when Cinqo de Mayo isn't until May 5th."  He told us that they had to close on the 4th, to get ready for the 5th.  At this point, we were both feeling like it was a bit of a tall tale, so we said our thanks, and told them to have a nice evening.

Across the street, the young man told us "the store you were in, they don't have as good quality as we have here."  He then handed us an old edition of the Lonely Planet, and showed us that his store had a good review.  He likely had good quality, but Lonely Planet does warn about this sales pitch.  He also told us that everything would be closed the next day for Cinqo de Mayo.  At this point, I was feeling really bad, as Leanne hadn't been to Merida before, and the whole reason we'd come here was to shop.  Not only had we had an exhausting day driving through fire, but I'd also gotten us lost in a sketchy area, then again on our way for dinner - and now it looked like our chances for shopping were shot.

Guess what?  Everything was open the next day.  We also smiled about the fact that everything was also open on May 5th, which was the day we left.

We found this lovely shop of Chiapas handicrafts, and ended up doing quite a bit of our shopping here because not only were the prices very reasonable, but when we didn't barter, she simply shook her head at us and said "No barter?" - then subtracted 40% from our bill!  This meant a blouse that would have cost me $40-$50 in Canada only cost me $6. 

After wandering all over Merida, we found the rest of our money was spent at this shop, called Casa de los Artesanias.  It's a government-supported business, and the quality was much better than most of what we saw in other shops, and the prices were much cheaper than what we could barter for elsewhere.  The other benefit to Casa de los Artesanias, is that they packaged our pottery very well.  

 Alas...guess who we ran into on our way back to our hotel?!  This is Jose scolding me for not shopping at his brothers store!!  I explained to him that we would come back to his brothers store later, but that "In Canada, honesty is best policy."  It's uneasy shopping somewhere where people are putting on pressure and actually lying to get money out of you.

I still feel bad that we had to run into him with bags from other stores, but would have felt worse had we actually shopped there the night before, to discover we'd been lied to the next day.  Nobody wants to feel like they've been taken for a ride - and we did return to his brothers store the following year, and found it very expensive compared to other places.  It is still a fascinating place to browse, and were I ever looking for fine textiles, it's where I would go, as they had very high quality and lots of information about the women who make the quilts and wall hangings.

  

And for the record - we highly doubt it was really his brothers store...but that part we consider a harmless fib that seems to be used a lot in Mexico...

This artesans market is behind Lucas de Galves market - and was being renovated in 2007.  All the shops here sell pottery and trinkets, though we found the prices were still higher than the Casa de los Artesanias, and the quality was not as good.  Perhaps this will be different in future...they were still fun shops to look through.