A Delightful Weekend In Colonial Mexico

When most people think of going to Mexico for a long holiday weekend, they probably picture themselves on a sunny, tropical beach sipping a Margarita with a mariachi band playing in the background.  While that may appeal to many, we feel that there is a far more rewarding side to Mexico than spending a few days in a tropical beach resort.  One of our favorite cities in Mexico is Merida, the capital of the state of Yucatan.  Located in the south-east of the country, Merida has its own international airport with non-stop flights to Houston on United Airlines, as well as direct flights to major cities in Mexico and easy connections to the rest of the U.S. and Canada.  This makes it perfect for a long weekend trip to a lovely city where you can experience the ‘real’ Mexico for a couple of days.  Here’s an example of a three-night weekend to Mérida using the convenient 2 hour flight from Houston on United Airlines.

 

Day 1 (Friday) –

You leave work early in order to catch your mid-afternoon flight to Houston on United.  After an easy connection there, maybe enjoying a quick drink in the airport bar you

board the 7pm flight to Mérida.  Being just on the other side of the Gulf Of Mexico, Mérida is an easy one hour and fifty minute flight, but a world away from where you came from.  Landing in the thick, humid tropical air, you quickly clear customs formalities and meet your guide who escorts you to your hotel in the city center.  

You’re staying at the delightful Rosas y Xocolate, a uniquely designed luxurious boutique hotel a stone’s throw from the colonial center.  Your room is cool and modern featuring touches of traditional architecture and a lovely bathroom with a private, open-air bathtub and shower.  It’s now around 10:30pm and you can choose between exploring the bustling colonial center, still full of life even at this hour, or enjoying a cocktail or two on your hotel’s rooftop patio bar while listening to the live jazz band playing.

 

Day 2 (Saturday) – 

Following a delicious Mexican breakfast in your hotel including eggs, refried beans, tortillas, chilaquiles and the finest coffee from the nearby state of Chiapas, you are met by your guide and given a private guided tour of Mérida.  This is one of Mexico’s finest colonial cities and a real jewel filled with colorful buildings, historic Spanish architecture, narrow, bustling streets and beautiful central plazas.  The Plaza Grande in the center of the city is one of the country’s prettiest squares shaded by huge laurel trees and is a hive of activity all day long.  The

San Ildefonso Cathedral dating from 1598 dominates the east side of the square and houses a huge crucifix called the Christ of Unity, a symbol of reconciliation between those of Spanish and Maya heritage.  On the northern side of the square, the Palacio de Gobierno houses the Yucatan state government’s offices.  Completed in 1892 on the site of the palace of the colonial governor, the palacio features huge, impressive murals depicting a symbolic history of the Maya and their interaction with the Spanish settlers.  

After an al-fresco lunch of classic Yucatecan cuisine your tour continues this afternoon to the Paseo de Montejo – an attempt by Mérida’s 19th century planners to create a wide boulevard to rival the Champs Elysées in Paris.  Here you see the fine mansions built in the latter part of the 19th century by the city’s elite before visiting the fascinating Regional Anthropology Museum.  This evening, explore the atmospheric cobblestone streets of the safe historic center on foot and see where your curiosity takes you.

 

Day 3 (Sunday) – 

Today you get to experience rural life in the countryside south of Mérida, along the delightful ‘Convent Route’.  After a leisurely breakfast, you are again met by your guide  who takes you off the beaten path into the real Yucatan, away from modern development and shows you what life is like for the modern day Maya as well as how life was for colonial Spanish settlers in the region.  The area is full of cultural and historical riches, and as the route meanders through the west-central part of the state, you have the opportunity to visit Mayan villages, archaeological sites, colonial churches, cathedrals and convents in a part of Yucatan where you hear the Mayan language spoken more commonly than Spanish.  Lunch in a local restaurant gives you a taste for the unique and delicious cuisine of Yucatan, sampling such recipes as Cochinita Pibil, a thousand year-old recipe of pork cooked with sour oranges and achiote for hours in an underground oven, and Sopa de Lima, a light broth based chicken and lime soup. 

 

Following lunch, a visit to one of the area’s beautifully restored haciendas gives you a fascinating insight into 19th century colonial life for the elite landowners and local workers.  Returning to Mérida this afternoon, you relax by the hotel pool for a couple of hours before returning to the city center to enjoy ‘Mérida en Domingo’, a weekly Sunday street party in the heart of the colonial center where an outdoor food and handicrafts market sprawls over the Plaza Grande and surrounding streets are closed off to traffic, restaurants place tables in the street for outdoor dining and live music is heard everywhere.  Returning exhausted to your hotel after an evening of dining and dancing in the streets, you fall into a blissful sleep having enjoyed such a rewarding day.

 

Day 4 (Monday) –

This morning an early start is required to be at Mérida’s airport for your 7am flight to Houston and connecting flight home.  As you arrive at work straight from the airport, your co-workers ask if you did anything interesting over the weekend.  Now is your time to brag…