Hello All,
We are in Merida. We arrived on Wednesday. It was once ( 1800´s) said that you could get to Paris easier from here than to Mexico City. And in fact, European influence is much stronger here than other parts of Mexico. They created their own version of the divided, tree lined main blvd of Paris (Champs Elysées) right here in Merida. Funny thing is, its a show place blvd. You go 2 blocks back, and you have the basic, single story Mexican village type structures.
But Merida is a beautiful town, lovely large plaza in the middle of town (Grand Plaza), fun place to stroll at night. And since the day time temperatures reached over 100 Deg F here, its the night time when things come alive.
Yesterday was a day trip to the second most important Mayan ruin site to see in this area. Uxmal, is about an hour drive south of Merida. What an incredible place! Another World Heritage site, this was my favorite so far. Uxmal is in the Puuc hill area, and its architecture is characteristic of the Puuc Hill Mayan region. Beautiful beveled layers, flat facades with intricate frieses, and many carvings. I hope I can capture it with a few pictures.
Its getting hot here now though, so couldn´t stay out in the sun too long.
Driving here in Mexico has been interesting. The Mexican drivers in this region are good drivers, they aren´t crazy fast paced ´weavers´like the Italians or other places in the world. The roads are good and well marked, the main danger is the crazy rules. Any time someone can just park in a lane of traffic. Particularly the police, just stop and open the door!! But all in all its been smooth.
Gotta run, need to beat the heat for today, will be back with you in a few days
Bill
