On November 27th we loaded a small UHaul (which brother-in-law Kim drove to Markham) and then made our way to St Catharine's to stay with younger son John and Laurel for a few days. We had a lovely celebration dinner with son James and Anthea (my x) and John and Laurel and Mabel the dog (Sunday) and I had a few gifts from the house closing for them to open. Monday I bought some new shoes for Mexico and did some banking. On Tuesday, there were problems with the house deed, so Holly (from Brampton) and I met our lawyer in Woodstock to sign an updated submission for the land registry. On return John, Laurel, Barbara and I had planned to visit Niagara Falls and see the lights, but we decided just to go for dinner - In Virgil at Brick's and Barley. The next day John drove us up to Brampton for an overnight at Kim and Holly’s and Kim drove us to the airport the next day. ![]() December 1 Thursday - The Travel Day Toronto - Mexico City - Merida Lines and more lines! Line up to check-in, then a line for security, then line up to get on the plane, then line up for the toilets, then line up to get off, then line up for immigration, then line up for another security check, then line up to get on the plane (short flight no washroom break needed), the line up to get off - but, low and behold - no line to go through customs, We picked up our luggage and walked out the doors (no one asked to see if they were our bags or what might be in them). It was a long and tiring day. AeroMexico has much better inflight service than Westjet or Air Canada - lots of food and drink. The only minor hitch was that as we were at the back of the plane (to Mexico City - we connected there for Merida) the overhead storage was full so they put our carry-on luggage in the belly of the plane. They assured us that the luggage would make it to Merida. It all happened quite quickly and I managed to grab our passports and boarding cards for the next flight. All our luggage made it to the final destination with no damage. ![]() December 2 Friday - Stock-Up Moira, our host, drove us about - to Costco and then a Zhers-like grocery store for some supplies. Then we tried to get money out of the Scotiabank ATM’s but they didn’t want to cooperate. Finally, we stopped at Moira’s bank and had success. It was a good learning experience as there are additional questions the machines ask - “do you want to donate” (decline) and “will you accept your bank’s conversion” (decline). Moira commented that never again would she shop on a Friday afternoon - the traffic is like in any big city. In Mexico, there is a very limited social safety net - no old age pension. If a man helps you back out of your parking space, it’s polite to give him a few pesos. Currency - to convert $1000 pesos to something you can understand - move the decimal once to the left. $1000 becomes $100. Then divide by 2 and you have $50 American dollars or about $68 Cdn. That night we drank a bit too much, but it was fun. December 3, Saturday - we took the day easy - ha! Unpacked more and organised our space. December 4, Sunday On our first day, we were walking about. Our destination was a Scotiabank ATM, and we hoped not to get lost. The streets go by numbers - even numbers go one way and odd numbers are perpendicular - the city is a grid. The streets go up and down by two. We are on C49 (C - means central area) The next streets parallel to us will be C47 and C51. There appear to be a number of C49 roads, so I’m assuming you need to add your neighborhood. When telling a taxi driver your address you say C49 between 78 and 80. We are “Centro” which means the center of the city. Started yoga today. December 5, Monday Another day out with Moira, to get fish and coffee. We stopped at the Merida English Library for information on a walking house tour. After we walked to the local vegetable stand beginning to get our bearings. I tried the pool for the first time - lovely! ![]() December 6, Tuesday Back to the old town center - the church and the statue Manuel Cepeda Peraza was a Mexican soldier, and defender of the republic in the time of Benito Juárez. He was later Governor of Yucatán. He was born in the City of Merida, in the year 1828 and died in the same place in 1869. He liberated the City of Mérida from the French Imperialist troops on June 15, 1867, and for this reason, he was declared Meritorious of the State of Yucatán. The French were brief interlopers during the American Civil War. December 7, Wednesday Shopping - located the closest large shopping store December 8, Thursday Mayan Museum - long taxi ride there, short one back - ha! Taken as the tourists we are, but we are learning. The Museum said to be the premier Mayan Museum in the world - was just ok. You can do a tour for free by following this link. Museum Tour ![]() December 9, Friday An easy day. We walked to a drugstore and then tried some street food. The sample was great, but what he put in our takeaway was not as good. Did some yoga (five days straight now) a dip in the pool and tried some of the large scallops for dinner. They were “fake” scallops and really not edible. The shrimp however is better than most of what we get up north. ![]() December 10, Saturday We did a long walk, just over two hours - from where are staying to the main avenue and up to the giant memorial Mayan wall and back. We toured one of the old homes - “El Minarete”. FTW: “built by Dr. Álvaro Medina Ayora in 1908. His brother, Engineer Miguel Medina Ayora, who served as Director of State Public Works, directed the construction of the work. In 1971, the heirs of Dr. Medina completely remodelled it, still maintaining the plaster decorations on the interior panels, which draw attention due to the agricultural theme of flowers and corn, perhaps alluding to a time that thanks to cultivation reached such splendour. The porcelain toilets and the spiral staircase that leads to the viewpoint have also been preserved.” If you follow the link to my photos you will see a number of large homes along the avenue. All these “mansions” were built in the early 1900's at the height of Merida prosperity. ![]() December 11, Sunday Moria took us and a friend - Kathleen - for an hour's drive north to Sisal. Sisal was an old port city that was an export point for the main product of the area - rope. This would have been in the mid-18th century when sailing vessels needed a lot of rope for the rigging. FTW: Sisal was historically the main port of Yucatán from the 16th century until the beginning of the 20th century when it was replaced by the port of Progreso, founded to absorb the management of the then main industry of the state, which was the henequen industry. Historically, however, the port of Sisal was founded by the Mayans who used it during the Ah Canul chiefdom as detailed in the Calkiní Codex . During the colonial period, inclusive, a fort was built to defend the port, to which a lighthouse was added in 1845. Both the fort and the lighthouse remain to this day, constituting a tourist attraction. Following the independence of Mexico, Sisal, freed from colonial trade restrictions, flourished further, which would contribute to the political tension that led to the separation of the state of Campeche from Yucatán in the mid-19th century. Later, when the new port of Progreso was established, officially called Progreso de Castro, Sisal declined significantly until it became the small fishing town that it is today. ![]() December 12, Monday We went looking at a new shopping store but was not really good. Bought some BBQ chicken at a local store. They are not really stores as we know - but small kiosks or single rooms open to the street. December 13, Tuesday We went back to the Super Aki (food store). It’s not as good as the bigger stores which are the same regarding selection as what we have back home. The Super Aki is just ok but it is within walking distance - about 15 minutes. Seems we do a lot of shopping but close stores with everything are not common around where are staying. We wonder what Cuba will be like. December 14, Wednesday We went off on foot downtown to a Walmart. We had a little trouble when we approached as it does not have the same big store sign as we are used to. I stopped a man and said “Walmart”. He pointed then indicated to follow him - that’s where he was going. We had walked right past, as I mentioned - the signage is different. December 15, Thursday A lazy day - social media, yoga, and reading. ![]() December 16, Friday We’ve been doing a lot of yoga (about an hour a day, most days) but tried doing it in the morning rather than the afternoon - much better. Will try to keep that up. Found a new pair of headphones on a walk downtown and back. We walked to the main square of the old town, about 20 minutes away. Stopped for ice cream and watched the tourists. Beginning to feel more comfortable and can take in more of the activity. We have not gone to Chichen Itcha yet, it’s quite expensive - around $250 Cdn each. This includes a two-hour bus ride in both directions, two hours at the site, and then another stop on the way back. Looking at other options and other sites - there are many Mayan ruins in the area. December 17, Saturday The adjustment period continues. Often in the past, a holiday was a week or two. You had an agenda - to see this and that, and time was limited - you would often cram things in. That is/was the way I travelled. Now even though we are away, we are not travelling, we are living. There is a difference and it requires adjusting one habit and expectations. Walked to the local zoo today - lions, tigers, hippos, apes, snakes, giraffes, zebras, flamingos - very interesting. The above video is walking back from the old city center (Thursday Dec 22nd) where we had gone to purchase bus tickets for our next location - Campeche December 18 - 21, Sunday - Wednesday After coffee and a light breakfast, we both spend time on social media. Around 10:30 we do yoga till noon. After a brief rest we have some lunch and then scout about for food or supplies. We return and I often take a dip in the pool. Then a nap, more social media, a cocktail around 5, and then dinner. As many will know, the sun goes down every day, all year long, around 6. We have yet to venture out at night. I am working on transcribing one of our cottage log books. When I have all the words I will begin designing the book - asking my siblings for appropriate photos which pertain to the entries. Composing some music but those efforts are slow. One of the main reasons is that we are both experimenting with AI-generated art. There are many sites and each is a little different. It’s addictive and fun. ![]() December 22 - Thursday On Thursday the maid comes to clean our room, and we decided to walk down to the old section and purchase our bus tickets to our next rental. I made a few videos that have been posted on my Facebook page. Our next rental is in Campeche, about 2 hours southwest. We have yet to visit any Mayan ruins. December 23 - Friday It rained hard the night before and was partly cloudy in the morning. We decided to buy groceries for the weekend as most shops would be closed Sunday, Christmas Day. On our way back it started to sprinkle. It rained hard in the evening. December 24 - Saturday Moira, the owner of where we are staying, headed out to Progresso on the coast, to spend Christmas Eve with friends. It was overcast all day and drizzled. It stopped in the afternoon so headed out for some BBQ chicken to get us through a few days. December 25 - Christmas The rain continued and it was cool. I did a Facebook face chat with James, John, Laurel, and Anthea - they were all in St Catharines. Southern Ontario had a bad storm but didn’t hit the driving corridor from Mississauga to St Kitts too badly. We stay hunkered down in our room for the day, only emerging for meals. ![]() December 26 - Monday Boxing Day was again overcast and we stayed put. We did yoga, and played with AI art generation. Last week I’d posting a 1959 photo of Mum in front of the Christmas tree (of that year) on a Facebook group - “Mid Century in Color - Amateur photographs and prints, 1932-1965” As of this entry, there are 1,003 likes/loves and 63 very nice comments. December 27 - Tuesday My sister Holly’s 64th birthday. We walked to the Super Aki and visited the Zoo again, to see the big cats. The last time the park was closing so we missed them. We shopped and back to the house. December 28 - Wednesday The heat fully returned and we did yoga. At 4 we left for Moira’s brother - Stephen’s - birthday party. We picked up Cliff on the way. Stephen was turning 72 (I think) and he and his wife Elaine have a very nice home. Turned out Cliff, Elaine and Barbara are all retired nurses. There were about 25 guests, mostly Americans, some staying for a few months and some permanent residents. Later we stopped at Cliff’s home - a gorgeous place, and we met his partner Joe. Joe is a retired librarian. They are an interesting couple. December 29 - Thursday We walked to the tourist district, looking for the hairdressing shop where Barbara got an appointment through one of the party guests (last night). We found it and found the prices for her appointment, then strolled home - about two hours and 10,000 steps. December 30/31 OK, down to the last few days of blog entries like this. I feel it's probably tedious for a reader and will only mention highlights next month. We walked back to the hairdressers for Barb's 12:30 appointment. Friday and Saturday we ate as much of our food stock as we could, we also packed and cleaned up our space. We stayed in on New Years Eve as we were too tired to venture out. Sunday - January 1, 2023 would begin a new adventure. Stay tuned! Pictures from our Merida stay linked here
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AuthorI believe we are what we think. What we think depends on what we feed our brains. This is a partial record of what my brain has been eating. Archives
February 2023
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