Winter is coming
Booking a flight into Belize City, Belize with a long layover in Panama City, Panama seemed like a good idea on paper. The plan was to go out to eat in Panama City in the old swanky part of the city called Casco Viejo upon arrival. I booked a hotel next to the canal so we could wake up early, check out the canal and then catch our connecting flight to Belize. We knew it wouldn’t be enough time to really get a true feel for Panama but this was our best flight options on the points we could use on the days we could leave and return. We were looking at going in-between Angie’s shifts at work so we could be away on Valentines Day. After spending a little time in Belize City we would take a bus up to the Mexican border, rent a car in Chetumal, and explore the Yucatan Peninsula as we made our way up to Tulum. Well the trip I had meticulously planned out wasn’t meant to be…
A winter storm timed itself perfectly and hit the mid-west affecting our connecting flight going into and coming out of Chicago. We ended up rebooking our flight a few hours before we left which eliminated Chicago and Panama and instead put us in Belize a day earlier. So I re-worked the trip by canceling and re-booking hotels, buying ferry tickets to San Pedro Island and researching places we could explore. But again, even though we flew east into Washington DC and then onto Houston, the storm once again affected us because of dangerous winds. We got to Houston late and missed our connecting flight to Belize. Once again I went to work trying to rebook flights to Belize, Panama or even Cancun, but nothing was available until the next day. It was looking like we’d have no choice but to overnight in Houston, which felt defeating. We were willing to look at almost anything in order to not stay overnight in Houston and lose a day of our trip.
In my research I remembered seeing a city named Mérida, Mexico because I had been researching various archeological sites we were hoping to visit. At the time I had decided anything as far west as Mérida would be too far for us to check out by driving from Tulum but maybe I could revamp the trip once again. If we could get to Mérida, then instead of working my way to Tulum from Belize, we’d simply have to work our way there from Mérida. We were in luck. A short two-hour flight was leaving in a few hours from Houston. This would get us to Mexico but now instead of a quick visit to Panama and some time in Belize, our whole trip would take place in the Yucatan, which ironically was what I had originally wanted to do anyway. I had tried to book into Cancun and then fly back out from there as well, but it was going to cost too much in points on the dates we wanted to go. In the end, Houston to Mérida to Tulum and departing from Cancun wound up being a better trip. It gave us more time to experience Mexico instead of the bang-bang trip to Panama, Belize and then Mexico.
sewerPHOTOS BY: Angela Erdmann and Thomas Lonero
The struggle is real
We only had a few hours in Houston to prepare for our trip to Mérida. We had to find a car rental and a place to stay. I also needed to figure out good locations in Mérida that we’d want to be that matched up with were we would be staying but as luck would have it, the Internet on my phone was acting up. The data connection was struggling to recognize I had just popped up in a different part of the country. Nothing was working out and I was feeling the stress. I decided to call a friend in Kentucky who I had just met up with a week earlier in Pittsburgh. Coincidently, he had just mentioned he had spent some time for work in the Yucatan and specifically Mérida. It wound up being a good decision. He was able to direct me to an area of interest we could stay as well as a car rental company he used while there. Booking a car was a little complicated because of the language barrier and our need to pick it up in Mérida while still dropping it off in Cancun. The car rental place we had been directed to said all their cars were booked but that he had a “friend” who could rent us a car. Even though this sounded shady to me, we were really left with little choice. I decided to trust that the human condition wasn’t as bad as the media made it out to be and that things would somehow work out. We decided to take him up on his offer and see how the situation would unfold when we landed and if it didn’t feel right we could simply take a taxi to the place we were staying and then try the next day to rent a car from somewhere else. Upon landing and getting through customs we once again had to reset both of our phones network data connections while rushing through customs. Exiting out to the main exit, we found two smiling young men wearing shirts with the names of their car rental place holding a sign up with our names on it. Our flight, arriving 45 minutes late, put us beyond the time that their rental place closed… and yet they waited for us. Immediately you could feel that things were going to work out with the car situation.
One of the things we also did successfully in Houston was book a terrible AirBnb against better judgment. Arriving at the AirBnb we discovered huge black ants under the covers and furniture and a shower that was falling apart. The AirBnb cost was close to $40.00 US a night. Our AirBnb host, to his credit also waited for us almost two hours. After he showed us the place and left we couldn’t get out of the place fast enough. I called a place immediately named the Hotel Gran Real Yucatan, which had an available room. It was only $10.00 US more a night than the AirBnb. It was just several blocks away from the Cathedral Mérida, the exact location we wanted to be. The hotel, after all we had gone through on a terrible day of travel, felt right. The room had a great balcony and the breakfast, which cost extra, was very good. For value, location and cleanliness you cannot beat this beautiful French revival style hotel.
PHOTOS BY: Angela Erdmann and Thomas Lonero
French and Spanish blended vibe…
plus tacos!
Arriving at the hotel late we were starving. Many restaurants had closed for the evening. The gentleman who checked us in recommended a place that was only a few blocks away so after quickly dropping off our luggage and cleaning up a little we headed out on foot very late at night. Never once did we feel unsafe. We wound up eating at a place called the La Parrilla Mexican-Grill (Centro). It’s a chain restaurant but was perfect for what we were looking for that night. The staff was friendly and the food was good. Ask for the shotgun and hat.
We stopped after we ate to take some pictures at the Rectory Jesus Third Order, which is an impressive Church in the same square as the restaurant. Mistakenly I had thought it was the famous Mérida Cathedral because it’s that impressive. Although not as old as Mérida Cathedral, it’s still pretty old dating back to the 1700’s.
Taking a brisk walk back to our Hotel we settled in for the night. Our intent was to wake up and visit a Mayan ruins site called Uxmal the next day. You can check out our separate blog in the UNESCO and Archaeological sections of this website to see more on that amazing experience.
The next day, after cleaning up at the hotel from our afternoon adventure of climbing the ruins and pyramids at Uxmal, we again ventured out for dinner. Walking the streets of Mérida is its own experience with quintessential French and Spanish architecture on showcase. Many of buildings date back hundreds of years. We again found ourselves only a few blocks away eating great food at a restaurant inside the Hotel Mansion Mérida. A fine example of 19thcentury French architecture, the hotel had been meticulously restored to its former glory. A process that its website says took over 5 years.
In researching the French influence, I was surprised to learn that at and somewhat before the turn of the 20thcentury, Mérida had become one of, if not the wealthiest city in the world. Henequen production,used in the shipping industry for sisal rope, created more millionaires in Mérida than any other city on the planet. Its citizens at that time traveled the world extensively and brought back with them French culture and architecture. Previous French influence had been blended into the Spanish culture through trade and times of war. During the 1800’s, France and Mexico fought in two Franco-Mexican wars largely for economic reasons. The result of all that history is the unique and beautiful city we found ourselves exploring.
Another block or so away from where we ate dinner we finally visited the Cathedral de Mérida. The only church built in Central America entirely in the 16thCentury. It was constructed of stones from the Mayan temple of Yajam Cumu, which was essentially destroyed to create the church. Some of the stones still have Mayan hieroglyphics on them.
There’s much more to do in Mérida than we had time for. It would take weeks to fully explore the museums, upscale shopping venues and eateries. A half hour away there’s a coastal town called Progreso that boasts the world’s longest man made pier that that we wouldn’t have minded exploring. Just west of Mérida of an older civilization than the Mayans called the Toltecs. They left behind mysterious giant stone heads I wouldn’t mind seeing. All in all, we are grateful for the series of events that enabled us to ‘accidently’ discover such a timeless city that we someday hope to make it back to.sewer
PHOTOS BY: Angela Erdmann and Thomas Lonero
