Merida en Domingo!

Sunday in Merida. I purposely planned my trip here so that I would be staying over on a Sunday, and am I ever glad I did...Sunday is not to be missed here. I still can't get over the fact that these events are weekly...365 days a year! It's not like it's some special holiday so they are throwing a party downtown. They do this...

every.

week.


I started my day with breakfast next door at Cafe Lucia where they had the tv tuned to what I imagine is the equivalent of our "Today" show. It was called Milenia, I think. My goodness their weather portion of the show takes a long time! It had to have been at least 15 minutes long...covering every area of Mexico! I'm horrible with my conversions (it was all in Celsius) but I'm pretty sure she was just saying "it's HOT" everywhere :) That, and I can tell you their weather lady is no Al Roaker!

Then it was off for a stroll down Paseo de Montejo. This is a tree lined street north of downtown (where the Archological Museum is) which was the place to reside in the late 19th century. Wealthy plantation tried to outdo each other and because at that time there was more traffic via sea than across land much of the influence is European. Many of the homes have been restored
But many are still in need of renovation

On Sundays they close a large section to cars and you can rent bikes for the day and not have to worry about traffic. This is hugely popular with the locals because generally there is so much traffic in this city you would never want your children out riding.



Not only is the street blocked to traffic, but every block or so they have different activities set up, including...

(very) loud music and water stations
chess

and numerous activities for the children- this mother and child were painting...i didn't even notice it when i took the picture but they are wearing matching outfits :)
and it continued throughout the day into the evening. Anyone considering visiting Merida should definitely make their plans so as to stay over on a Sunday. One thing I keep forgetting to mention is that in the main plaza they have free wi-fi for the residents! My first day I was walking through and noticed nearly half of the people sitting on the benches had laptops and were typing away. They even have outlets so that you don't need to waste your battery! Could you imagine Seattle offering that to its citizens? It would be like walking through Westlake which currently is full of young hooligans, but instead everyone working on their computers!

Here are a few more shots from Sunday's festivities