A Magical Night in Merida

After nearly five weeks tromping around in the rainforests of Mexico and Belize, we have finally come to a real city. Merida is the capital of the state of Yucatan, and with over 1 million population, is a bustling old colonial town on the northwest edge of the Yucatan peninsula.

After checking into our hotel this afternoon, I cleaned up and then rested long enough to let the heat of the day pass. By about 7:00pm I was in need of some dinner and so headed out into the street with my map and an appetite.

The streets of Merida are narrow and paved with cobblestones. Most of the buildings are two and three story with oversize colonial style windows and doors. Ornate scroll metalwork often flanks doorways and the houses sparkle blue, green, yellow and pink. It's a lovely city.

I turned right off Calle 57 onto Calle 60. Lots of people were walking about and music floated by on the light breeze. I came to a small plaza adjacent to a small cathedral where workmen were setting up a stage. It looked like a street concert was in the making. Across the narrow cobbled street from the stage was a lovely old colonial buildings with several small balconies hanging over the sidewalk. It was a restaurant. A man was setting up tables and immediately he started talking to me in both Spanish and English. Although the restaurant was not yet open, he showed me into a courtyard with a blue tiled mosaic fountain and explained that the building dated back to the 18th century. He said that at 8:30pm the street in front of the restaurant would be closed off to vehicle traffic and people would begin dancing in the street.

I told him I would return when the restaurant opened and headed off down the street to see what else I could find. Within a couple blocks another plaza opened up with lots of vendors and little Maya girls hawking hand made jewelry. Music played from each of the cardinal directions and buskers worked the crowd in clown costumes. I walked around, pausing to listen and watch the sights and sounds. A Maya woman was selling herbal remedies and I talked with her at length about the ingredients in each of her concoctions. She had something for arthritis, hemorrhoids, flaky skin and asthma. I almost bought the asthma brew but decided against it at the last minute. Some of her remedies contained tobacco and she proudly displayed a tobacco plant along with her bottles of potion. I didn't want to go down that road.

After leaving the plaza I headed back down Calle 60 until I found a cement bench parallel with the sidewalk. It was people watching time. I must have sat there for about 30 minutes watching the beautiful youth, the gentile middle class and the gringo tourists pass by.

Many people greeted me on the street and several Maya girls asked if I wanted to buy a bolsa. No gracias. Pretty soon it was time to go to dinner. When I made it back to the restaurant the four piece band had started playing on the stage across the street. I planted myself at a table on one of the overhanging balconies and ordered eggplant parmesan. When in Merida, order something you haven't eaten in a long time. The food arrived and it was excellent. The music played and pedestrians swirled around the tables and chairs, tracing colorful patterns with their bodies. Children toddled with ice cream cones in their hands and lovers held each other in the calle. Some fireworks erupted in the night sky behind the cathedral. Could the evening be any more perfect than this? Yes. Porque mi espouso esta en Estados Unidos y el was not sitting on that lovely balcony with me.

It was a magical night in Merida but I am missing David.