Exploring...(finally, some pictures)

Disclaimer: This post is going to have quite a few photos, none of which actually do this beautiful city any justice, but they probably say a lot about my photography skills :)

First things first. Here are a few shots of my hotel:
My room- first door:

my bedroom:





and the pool, just down the hall from my room:
bananas anyone?
I headed out this morning with no plan other than to get coffee and breakfast
that's for anyone coming over here from Deb's blog...I know you all like your food pictures. It was a great breakfast, 2 cups of coffee, a buffet breakfast, all for 49 pesos! Breakfast tends to be my favorite meal and I absolutely love Mexican breakfasts...beans with breakfast-but of course! So yummy!

Then I just wandered around a bit with no destination in mind. The streets here in Merida are numbered...both directions...it's a bit confusing, especially for a girl that is directionally challenged, but calle 60 is the main drag and as long as I could find that I was in business.

It appears the town is getting ready for Christmas, and presume as the week progresses the entire town will be lit up at night

the first thing I stumbled upon was the Museum of Anthropology/Palacio Canton which was built in 1909 and houses artifacts of the Mayan culture. Beautiful on the outside, and pretty impressive on the inside...the museum was quite interesting with everything ranging from Mayan jewelry to burial grounds.



A few houses I saw along the way

after a lot of walking I headed back to the hotel for a dip in the pool and to relax a bit. I headed out again in the afternoon to get lunch (no pictures this time) and do some more exploring. I'm wishing my Spanish were better because many here don't speak English but, we seem to understand each other nonetheless, and they seem to appreciate my attempt to speak the language. I headed to the main plaza where the oldest church in the Americas is located, sat in the plaza for a while and people watched, and learned that this evening at 9pm in the park across the street from my hotel is a culural festival with mayan dancing, etc.! I also went to the museum of contemporary art- odd, and intersting (more later). I'll post more later, including pictures of the cathedral, but now it's time for happy hour at Ponchos- a local bar the owner of the hotel recommended- a couple from Toronto who are staying here already headed down and I'm going to meet them there...then back to see the festivities in the park which start at 9pm. Everything around here seems to start at 9...geez, I feel old. I hope I can stay awake :) I suppose that's why they have siestas!