Merida - The Capital of Yucatan State

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

Arrival - Valladolid, a little City in the heart of Mayaland

Hello All,

Well we are here at last. Left at "Ohh- dark 30" on Monday morning. Off to SAN and then to Phoenix then to Cancun. Rented a car in Cancun to head out west over the Yucatan Peninsula. Customs took 1- 1/2 hours, seems agents were off for Easter :( but all in all it went smooth. The first night´s stay was in Valladolid, a small town about 2 hours west of Cancun. Long story about car arrangements, but ended up with a stick shift. No problem until you come to a stop and forget you don´t have an automatic. The car bumps higher than it does on the speed bumps!!

We arrived at our B&B guest house, The Casa Hamaca (hammock) and it was beautiful. (See picture and night time in this small town) Denis Larsen, our host, American from east coast has lived in Valladolid for several years. He has built a wonderful guest house (see píctures in gallery, click here plus more trip pictures) in Valladolid. Enjoyed chatting with Denis and learning more about the area and the Mayans.

Approximately 1.5 million Mayans still speak their native Mayan language. In fact, many only speak Mayan in the small villages! 25 years ago Mexico discouraged speaking Mayan, forced Spanish only, now after about 10 years ago, they encourage native languages, so many are practicing it again; and it´s coming back to life.

Tuesday morning, off to Chichen Itza, a world heritage site and when you see it you will know why. This was the principle town about 900 AD, then Itza people moved in. Then the Toltecs (from near Mexico City) either conquered the city or influenced it through trade and exchange because many Toltec influences are present (so the archaeologits say!)

The El Castillo, is the principle temple and stands out as probably the most famous ancient structure in Mexico. It is impressive. Someone was killed climbing down from the top, so the temple is now closed to climbing.

On Wednesday, left the wonderful hospitality of Denis, and drove about 3 hours west to Merida, after first visiting the site of Ek Balam, the Black Jaguar (in Mayan). This site is rarely visited, and proved to be remarkable. The main tower is one of the tallest in the peninsula, and was a great site ( you could still climb it!) to see what the Yucatan region looks like. the scene from up there is probably the same as it was 1000 years ago.

1/2 way up the tower, was an amazing frescoe that helps you visualize what the Mayan temples looked like when they were built and used. The frescoe shown here was hidden behind a totally bricked in wall, and was discovered about 10 years ago by accident!! Note the 1- 1/2 inch thick stucco plaster covering the rock. This was probably typical of the sites, and in many cases was painted many colors. Look at what shape the carvings are in after 1000 years!

Well hot today, about 100 deg! so will stay inside here in Merida (siesta!) and walk the streets tonight. Thats what they do here! no one is out mid day!

We will be in touch again in a couple of days. I´ll try to have more pictures in my gallery for you to see, just click on the link here in the blog.

Yours in travel,

Bill & Phyllis

Yucatan - The land of the Mayans

Hi Friends and Family!

I'm off again to see another part of this amazing world while I still can. This year it’s the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. Phyllis is joining me on this trip. We are excited to see the Mayan Ruins. We will travel west from Cancun for a week stopping at some key Mayan ruin sites including Chichen Itza. We’ll visit the cities of Valladolid, Merida, and Izamal.

I'll try to post to the blog including some pictures every couple of days. Check back and travel with us! Click on the posted pictures for a larger view. Past weekly postings can be found in the "archives" here on the blog along with some postings from my prior trips

We’ll see you on the road!! If you can drop me a line, I'd love to hear from you:

email me at: doubleucubed@mac.com

Yours in Travel,

Bill

Sevilla - The ¨Soul¨of Spain?

Hi All, June 8-9, 2008

I´m in Sevilla, and I´m getting the feeling it could contain the soul of Spain. Sevilla was the gateway to the ¨New World¨in the 16th century, it boomed as Spain did. The explorers Vespucio, Magellen both launched their explorations from this city. Hard to believe being so inland, but its river extending out to the sea, was deep enough then for those small draft ships.

In the 19th century, Sevilla was a top spot in Europe, and it shows.
It has a remarkable cathedral that I visited, the 3rd largest in Europe in size, the largest Gothic chapel in Europe and the largest alter ever built. It is impressive. Also near the cathedral is the Alcazar (Al -cath-er), an incredible Islamic palace built in the 12 century, then later, as with all these southern Spanish forts and temples, was rebuilt by the Christian Kings. It rivals the Alhambra Palace in its beauty and intricate detail.

And what of its soul? I was lucky to get in a 1 hour preformance ( it was sold out the night before) of an authentic (ie, not touristy) Flemenco dance performance. This is the soul of Sevilla. Incredible performance by both a male and female dancer, with a 12 string guitar and woman singer accompaniment.

And bullfights. I lucked out, I was there on a Sunday, so was able to make the evening bull fight, although this time of year, the bullfighters are the new guys, they were very good... very brave and showed some amazing ¨soul¨

On to Madrid for my final stop of the trip, its been an amazing adventure.

Ronda - One of Andalucia´s White Hill Towns

Hello All, Ronda, Spain June 5-6, 2008

Ronda, what a picturesque little town. Ronda is a small town of about 40,000, and sits on the white hills of Southern Spain just above the coast. It does have its tourist day- tripper groups that come up from the coast visiting daily, but when they are gone, all that´s left are a small amount of overnight tourists and the locals. It has a great feeling in the evening and fun to explore the maze of small streets, churches and cliff side views. Rhonda sits on a huge gorge, so is high up above the valley below, and the old town is connected by a gorge-spanning bridge. Along the cliffs are restaurants and residences with a scary view below.

I stayed in the old Moorish quarter, a short walk to the bridge. Ronda is also known for the first bull ring. I walked the bull ring museum and got a glimpse of the history of bull fighting dating back to the middle 1700´s. At that time the fights were in the city plaza! Then they decided to build bull rings, too many people dying or injured besides the bull fighters.

Ernest Hemingway made it down here, and one of the streets was named after Orson Welles.

No bull fights when I was there, but had a nice surprise. I went to a local restaurant for tapas, and inside was a large flat-screen TV with a bull fight live telecast from Madrid. Tapas and bullfight..a great welcome to Southern Spain.

Ronda is captivating, it`s a wonderful place to wonder, mix with the locals and get a flavor of small town Spain.

Well I decided to see the new Indiana Jones movie. I´m sure a Spanish sound track hasn´t been made by now....Wrong...I watched the entire movie in Spanish!! not even English sub titles! haa fitting of course, I´m in Spain. I tried, but alas, I could follow the movie but not the cool Harrison Ford funny lines...Gotta see this on again.

Off to Sevilla, where the "soul" of Spain lies. I´ll see if I can find it

Yours in Travel
Bill

Granada - The Incredible Alhambra

Hello again, June 2 - 4, 2008 Granada, Spain

I just left an amazing city - Granada. This was I think the first city I´ve visited on the trip that really exhibited its historical cultural mix from the past. Walking thru the vendor lined streets, and alleys in the Albyzin district, you can see the Islamic past, shops and restaurants with gifts and tastes from North Africa. And high above the city, much like the Acropolis in Athens, stands the Alhambra.

The old city is the best place to stay and visit. Its actually quite compact and easy to see the sites. The old cathedral dominates the center of the old downtown. This structure took some 200 years to build, finished in the 15th century ( I believe). And the main thoroughfare from the old city stretches into the new Granada. It is a wide tree lined street, with a center walkway. Walking this street, allows you to see daily life in the city. Families walking, older citizens chatting on the benches, children playing.

The Alhambra - I spent the better part of a day there, touring this incredible site. The Alhambra is a fortress, a palace and a garden all rolled into place, surrounded by a huge wall and all high above the old city.

The Alhambra, a World Heritage site, dates back to Roman times, but was re-build by Sultan kings when Arabs invaded the Iberian Pennisula from Northern Africa. Upon the existing fortress site built in the 9th century, Sultan kings built an amazing palace around 1260AD up until the time of Columbus. Its palace is breathtaking, exhibiting Islamic writings, carved columns, patios and gardens with intricately flowing water systems. Beautifully colored tile is everywhere.

Later in the 17th century, King Charles who loved the site, built his own palace there as well.

Granada is filled with history, and a cultural past. And of course, representing today, some great food, Tapa bars and restaurants that are fun to visit and enjoy. I stayed in the Albyzin district, in a hostal right across from the Alhambra. Its back yard patio had an incredible view of the palace high above on the hill. The Albyzin, is a maze of small, very narrow streets. Its a challenge just finding your way back to your hostel. But beatiful small plazas, with outdoor cafes and shops. A fun and picturesque place.

I miss the Portuguese pastries, the Spanish just can´t compare in that category.

Well I´m off to Ronda, a small city in the hills above the Spanish coast. I´ll spend a couple of days there.

See you back then.

Bill

Salema - Fishing Village on Portugal Southern Coast

May 31 - June 1, 2008 Salema, Portugal

Hi all, just a quick note to show some pictures of Salema. Shhhhh, keep this place a secret, it is still relatively undiscovered compared to the rest of the Algarve, the Southern Coast of P0rtugal on the Atlantic Ocean.

I´m in Granada, Spain now, will report back soon.

Bill

Evora - The Walled City

Hi All, May 29-30, 2008 Evora, Portugal

I spent two days in one of the most marvelous Portuguese Cities, Evora. Evora is about mid way down the country and out more in the East. Its in the Alentejo region. Great weather, vineyards and great wine too!

Evora has some left over Roman influence as well as Christian dominance. One of the most preserved Roman Temples is here, its stately square of columns (16 of them I think) and Corinthian Capitals look out over a Monestary courtyard with a beautiful view of the surrounding area. I took in a nice sunset here. Funny thing, these Portuguese always find the highest places around to put their castles, walled cities and cathedrals. If you see the walls, some over 20 feet in height and probably 6 feet or more thick, you know why they were so effective in defending the city, in an era with only bows and arrows and catapults. Even in an era with modern weapons they are still are imposing structures.

Also here was the remenants of a Roman aqueduct, amazing structure. Its purpose was to bring water from near by springs, by gravity to the city. The Romans were impressive builders. Its great to see it up close.

Evora was easy to explore, but I chose to do it slow and enjoy it. Two days here was perfect. I got a kick out of my young 20´s something Innkeeper at the hostel in Lisbon. She said, " two days in Evora!! all you need is a 1/2 a day!" Haaaa kids!! I had no problem stretching out 2 days for Evora, seeing the churches, cathedrals and old university, relaxing, eating Portuguese Caldo Verde Soup, great local red wine, and Super Bock beer, sitting in the cathedral, people watching, more eating, and hiking along the Aqueduct.

Evora was an amazing place. I will upload pictures for you soon

I took buses south to the Portuguese Algarve, the Southern Coast. I´ll report back on that next.

Yours in Travel, Bill

Haven´t Gotten Lost - Will be with you soon

June 2, 2008

I just arrived in Granada. I´m now in Spain!! Left Portugal behind. Today has been the most hectic, today I was all day on bus rides.

I went to Evora after Lisbon, small town slim chance for internet. Then to Salema, I mean a sleepy town!! no Interet, then long bus ride. I´m in a big city now and can write.
All is well here, it has been great. The bus rides to Salema, Portugal then from there to Granada, worked like a champ.Two changes and I lucked out with the timing.

Anyway, this is a fascinating city. Just got here, but amazing. Alley ways with Morrocan goods, incense, shops with Bong smokers (Hookahs) and a lot of Hippies. You can really see the Islamic influence here that was crushed 1000 years ago, yet still hangs on.
I´ll try to get another blog out on the last two Portuguese cities, it has been hard finding internet service, and that is good because the small cities are GREAT!!! I relaxed and really enjoyed the walled city of Evora, and the sleepy coast town of Salema.

I was worried, cuz the Algarve coast of Portugal has exploded, it was like a miami beach except worse, 1/2 mile deep of high rise for miles and miles, serving the European ¨sit on the beach¨market. Then I found Salema, still small, fishing village, not affected by it all. It´s on the southern coast of Portugal out West. Now into the big city. I´ll see the Alhambra on Wednesday, an amazing palace, a World Heritage site.

I´ll be back to you with details on my small Portugal City experience, now on to explore Granada

Yours in Travel
Bill

Lisbon - Even the Cook Sings Fado

Hi all, May 29, 2008

I spent 3 amazing days in Lisbon, Portugal. Lisbon is a city that grows on you. When I first arrived by train, then went up to my hostel in Alfama District, the trip was through an industrial area, then past older run down buildings.... I was beginning to wonder what this place would be like. But after entering the Alfama District, the beautiful, quaint narrow streets, old tram #28 winding by my hostel, and my home for three days a beautiful new hostel, the town began to come alive for me.

I took a sight seeing bus, kind of like taking a Greyline tour, all around the city. WOW, this city is truly an international hub, and very cosmopolitan. From a run down north coastal area in the city, they leveled it and built a huge exposition and commerce center, that looks like the location of a world expo. Lisbon has major tree-lined avenues with huge plazas and the usual tall monuments honoring Portuguese notables or the early explorers.

Lisbon is well connected, with a great bus system, old trams that remind me of the San Francisco cable cars, and a nice city wide Metro. You buy a daily transportation pass, and you can hop on and off on any of these systems.

They have regions in the city that are fun to walk through. The Chiado (chee-ah-doh) district, upscale, the locals very well dressed, and designer shops and cafes. The Alfama, where I am staying, a quaint, puzzling maze of narrow streets, all cobble stones of course. The sidewalks everywhere downtown, have beautiful patterns of black and white stone (flat cobblestones) amazing amount of work. (until they have to dig up gas lines :)

I went to dinner at a restaurant where locals go, to hear some more Portuguese Fado. In an earlier post I think I told you about Fado, the Portuguese version of the blues. This was a hallmark evening. The restaurant was tucked in a narrow corridor and right in front of the local church, tall towers rising above. The restaurant was very small, it seated about 15 people tightly. The dinner was fantastic, sea bass in a bed of rice. The fado experience began. Two gentleman with very casual clothes, no uniforms, played acoustic guitar and mandolin. The singer began, then a man from out in the street came in and sang, then the waitress - who was terrific, and then the cook! With her white apron and white hair net, she wailed on. Then it was the guitar players wifes turn. Everyone was involved in this. Dinner and fado, a 4 hour experience. Got enough fado to last a year, but what an amazing cultural experience.

[Can`t seem to post the pictures on this machine, so look for them in a day or two in my next city]

On the bus tour I stopped in the area of Belem, along the coast on the south part of the city. I was able to tour the Monestary of Jeronimos. A world heritage site, this impressive structure was built by King Manual of Portugal in 1515 to honor the explorers ( De Gama, Diaz, Cabral, etc.) It was a place they could give confession, and pray before they set off to sea. Funny part was he financed it with a `Pepper tax`, a 5% tax on the spices and things brought back from their voyages, and `bought` his salvation by building the church/monestary.
It is an incredible place, the decorative elements added to the architecture, animal figures, political shields, and military symbols have now become known as the Manualine style of architecture.

I visited the village of Sintra, and Palace. This is the place the nobles and kings retreated during the hot summers in the city. A beautiful place, and great trip. Also got to Cabo da Roca, the western most point in Europe..wahooo!

Lisbon, although a very large, very busy cosmopolitan city, was a joy to tour. I wish I had more time here.

On to the little walled city of Evora. I´ll send my Lisbon pictures from there.

Yours in Travel

Bill

Coimbra Portugal, The capital before Lisbon

Coimbra, Portugal May 24-25, 2008

Hello again,

After a great two days in Northern Portugal, I'm on my way south. I took the train from Porto to Coimbra, the old capital of Portugal before it was moved to Lisbon. Boy and what a train! Portugal's railway system is excellent. Beautiful new trains, and right on schedule. See picture of my cool fast train.

Coimbra is the home to most prestigious University in Portugal. Coimbra is a college town. Founded in 1290, the University is one of the first in Europe, opening up after the dark medieval days in Europe. I was here in time to see the university grads out on town celebrating. They wear a dressy black outfit, complete with a black cape. The also brandish their book ribbons, the traditional way books were bound to carry. The ribbons are burned in a ceremony celebrating their pending graduation. That was two weeks ago. It was fun to see them out after ceremonies with family and friends.

At the University I viewed an ancient library containing 250,000 leather bound books from the 18th century. Guilded bookshelfs, and large incredible hand crafted intricately decorated study tables. This was a trip back in time.

The University was built from an ancient castle. The Romans were here too, portions of an ancient aqueduct is still evident.

Coimbra is a beautiful little town, full of more red tile roof buildings, winding narrow streets and wonderful friendly people. Despite the rain now off and on since I arrived, its not keeping me from seeing this remarkable place. This is another city built on a river.

I'm off to Lisbon tomorrow on those real, rough old trains (somebody has to do it)

I'll see you in a few days!!

Yours in travel, - Bill

Porto - Where the Port in Portugal comes from

Porto, Portugal May 22-23, 2008

Hello All, I finally got a chance to write. Thank you for waiting. It seems that Portugal is high tech..BUT they also donºt make the Internet easily available. I arrived Thursday, to a special Catholic Holiday, everything closed! Then the hostel where I was staying had Internet problems..on and on.
So I have been touring, and enjoying this amazing country..without trip reports! Gee I retired from that I thought anyway.

My arrival city was Porto, Portugal where I arrived on Thursday, 22 May. Porto is where the "Port" in Portugal came from, originally the name came from the Romans. It is the home of famous Port wine.Porto is a beautiful port city, right on the Douro river, a wide river that flows from Eastern Portugal thru some beautiful wine country. Porto is at the bend of the river and offers a picturesque city high above the river. I really got to enjoy this city. The old part of the city is a World Heritage Site. Wandering thru the narrow cobble-stoned streets, checking out little cafes, and small shops was fascinating. A steel bridge spans the city that was designed by renowned Eiffel. Some pictures of the town follow.

I went across the river to visit the Port Lodge where Port wine is made and tested. The tour was great, tried the infamous Port wine. A picture of the old port boats that moved the barrels of port up the river is shown here (I hope !)

I closed my two day visit here with an evening at Fado (Fah-Doo) This is a Portuguese form of the blues, a woman or man dressed in black, with a quitar chants beautiful songs of lost loves, death or probably bad luck at gambling. Portugal is amazing. I

I´m heading south by train to the little city of Coimbra, will chat with you then.

Portugal and Southern Spain - Launching Pad for Discovery of the "New World"

Hi Friends and Family!

I'm off again to see another part of this amazing world while I still
can. This year it’s Portugal and Southern Spain. I hope to get around
Portugal from Porto in the north, the home of Port wine to the
southern shores where Portuguese explorers first sailed to explore the
“new worlds.” Also I’ll visit parts of Southern Spain – Sevilla,
Granada, Ronda and then end up in Madrid in the north – exploring the
home of the Flamenco Dance, the incredible Alhambra fortress, and the
birthplace of bull fighting. Come along with me, I'll enjoy having
you. Trains, Planes, boats, buses and trams will be my mode of travel
for a few weeks.

Click on the posted pictures for a larger view. Past weekly postings
will be found in the "archives" here on the blog along with some
postings from my prior trips

Talk to you on the road!!
If  you can drop me a line, I'd love to hear from you:

My email during travel:      doubleucubed@mac.com

Yours in Travel,

Bill