I didn’t sleep well last night and didn’t feel well at all upon getting up. Too much booze and rich food! That’ll teach me to go on vacation! I stayed in until the early afternoon, working on my project. I was supposed to have three days like these this week so I didn’t mind at all and was rather glad that I had something productive to do.
Around 2:00, I headed out with one express goal and one vague goal. The express goal was to visit the shop Uxmal de Taxco of Miguel who just might be the best silversmith in Mexico, or at least in Mérida. I was hoping to find a replacement pendant and was delighted that the shop was so near my apartment. I really love how the streets in Mérida are numbered as it makes it really easy to get around and to know how you’re situated in relation to an address!
I passed an Ontario-plated car on the way.
The shop is in the Barrio de Santa Ana, and this is the Santa Ana church in the square anchoring this neighbourhood.
And here’s the shop across from the square.
I don’t “know” jewelry, but I could recognise that the treasures in the shop were special. Miguel spent some time with me as I stumbled along and tried to explain what I was looking for. We came close, with him offering to convert a brooch into a pendant for me, and I almost went for it until I came to my senses and realised that I was looking for something for daily wear and would be gutted to lose something with that sort of monetary value (400CAD). But I did buy the exquisite handmade brooch and will keep in mind the option of having it converted at a later date. I really don’t buy a lot of jewelry, but I had actually been looking for something like this to secure one of my cardigans, as well as my scarves. So while it was more than I expected to spend on such an item, it wasn’t an impulse buy at all.
I then headed down to the Plaza Grande (main square) not to be confused with the Gran Plaza (shopping mall) to ask a question at the tourist info kiosk. I thought a good way to spend my last day in Mérida would be to take a guided bus tour of the city. I was sent back up to Calle 55 between 60 and 62 to a tour operator that does 1h45 minute bilingual tours of the most popular sites in Mérida. I thought of taking the 4PM one, but still didn’t feel well and just wanted to get home. So I booked for 10AM tomorrow.
One day left in Mérida. Where did the week go?!
Hope you feel better. Rest is good.
Gosh, your week did go fast.
I am interested in tomorrow’s tour. Hope you find some neat places you didn’t know about.
TTYL
I’ve had upstairs neighbours now for a few days and they have been incredibly loud. I slept well my first few nights here, but haven’t in two or three, which is not helping.
I don’t have high hopes for the tour tomorrow. It’ll be on a bus that I bet will have a crappy sound system and I won’t hear anything. 🙂 But I like the idea of getting driven around for a bit. And then, I’ll have ample time to go back to anything interesting if I want to.
Not too long before you come back!
Anywhere from eight to sixteen months…
Taxco is the Silver Handicraft Capital of Mexico. It is near Cuernavaca, south of Mexico City and is another city you must visit. The town of Taxco is surrounded by steep hills and the Centro is full of little silver shops. It would be a day (or two) trip by bus from Cuernavaca, the City Of Eternal Spring where the temperature is 80F 365 days a year. It is the city where the novel “Under The Volcano” was written.
http://croftsmexico.blogspot.com/2009/01/taxco-silver-town.html
There are some beautiful airbnb’s in Taxco for $20 – $50 CAN. 🙂
😀 There is so much of this country to explore!
You are a fountain of knowledge! Did the granddaughters like their presents?
Hello, my husband has just announced to me he spent a month in Merida back before I met him. He liked it. He said some guy was teaching his friend and him Spanish. Enjoying reading about your holiday there, looks like a lovely spot and better than here with the snow, freezing rain, and ice pellets. Welcome to the addition to your family. Thankfully we are heading south in a week or so, packing RV….take care
I can’t believe how many people have been to Mérida! It really is a wonderful place. And, yes, better the heat! Safe journey!
Hi Rae,
I was given your blog address from Helen Vik. I spent 14 days in Merida in Nov/Dec 2015, and totally fell in love with the place. There were 4 of us gals, but I’m the only one thinking I’d like to rent in Merida for a few months in the early winter of 2016. We stayed @ Hotel Del Gobernador and we visited pretty well all of the sites you’ve mentioned and a few others. Merida really is easy to find one’s way around in. We did a great deal of walking and we loved it. We attended a 9:30 am coffee party with the International Women’s Club, at a residence not far from where you describe you are staying. The gal, Linda Lindholm, who invited us when we met her on the street a week earlier, is an author. She was house sitting the residence. It was quite an upscale home inside the wrought iron and large oak door. She wrote “Widow’s Key”. It sells on Amazon. I only know this because I checked it out. I’m wondering why you are changing your mind about relocating to Merida.
Hi Carol,
Glad to know you also had a great time in Mérida!
I haven’t “changed my mind about relocating to Mérida”… I’ve just spent two winters in Mazatlán and am ready to try somewhere different. I have itchy feet and can’t stay anywhere long! 🙂