Mérida: A Mayan legacy

Mérida welcomes you the moment you walk in the door. Relax and stay awhile, it seems to say — and near the city's populous main square, we met many a friendly guy — a different one every time — who, after concluding that my wife and I were among the few not from this charming and historic capital of Mexico's Yucatán state, highly recommended (complete with directions) a visit to the Casa de las Artesanias. "It's very nice," he'd say. Or: "They have many beautiful things there."

It is possible you could spend days here without ever visiting the government-run arts and crafts store. Possible — but not likely.

Such encounters became routine, but I didn't mind. It all added to the sense of make-yourself-at-home comfort we felt in Mérida, a stronghold of colonial architecture dating to 1542 on the western side of Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula.

When people think of the Yucatán, they usually imagine Cancún — that spring-break citadel of youthful narcissism and Mérida's across-the-peninsula cousin. This is not that Yucatán. Mérida, with the past proudly evident in its art and its people, its tall wooden doors and ornate balconies, beguiled us with its warm embrace, comfortable climate and homey atmosphere. It was like meeting a lovable, long-lost aunt who's spent years stockpiling family heirlooms.

We'd been drawn by the city's strong sense of culture and history, its proximity to well-preserved Mayan ruins and the Gulf of Mexico coast, its grounded yin compared to Cancún's party-down yang. But mostly we'd come for the food, a paradise of old-school fusion featuring citrus-based sauces and soups, tender meats slow-roasted in banana leaves, and the famously spicy habanero. From bowls of sopa de lima (lime-infused chicken tortilla soup) to the region's signature dish, poc-chuc (pork cutlet marinated in sour orange juice), we were smitten.

A tropical haven

As it often does, Mérida dodged the brunt of the most recent hurricane to drench the Yucatán Peninsula, Hurricane Dean in late August. "It hardly rained, actually," says Ellen Fields, who left California for Mérida six years ago and now runs YucatanLiving.com, a Web site aimed at fellow expatriates. "After living here a while, you start to think the Mayans knew what they were doing when they established this city inland."

A sprawling, tropical city of 600,000, Mérida's palm-tree-lined boulevards gurgle with motorcycles and Volkswagens sputtering past pods of pedal-powered, three-wheeled triciclos. Modest, low-slung neighborhoods proud with color lead the way to the narrow, pre-automobile streets of downtown, wrought-iron-covered windows and doorways awash in walls of sky blue, lime, peach or sea foam green.

The city's heart, though, is the Plaza de la Independencia — a splash of gardened promenades flanked by Mérida's cathedral and government offices, a hub for both locals and visitors. We found ourselves drawn here again and again, taking in the Renoir-like kaleidoscope of horse-drawn carriages, wandering families and community festivals over espresso at one of the plaza's outdoor cafes, or yummy raspberry sorbet from the landmark Dulceria y Sorbeteria Colón, which celebrates its 100th anniversary this year.

A block north is Hidalgo Park, which by night teems with local couples nestled in confidenciales, the Yucatán's signature stone chairs, paired off in cozy S-formations. By day, it's the kind of place you might run into a guy who asks how you're enjoying your visit and then says: "Have you been to the Casa de las Artesanias? Two blocks that way, then go left."

Mayan history

We are glad, then, to meet a regular guy like Victor Luciano Pech Tec, who sees our bewildered faces one evening outside the Iglesia de Jesus, just north of the main square, or zócalo, where hundreds of shrieking birds swarm through trees above a taxi waiting area. The near-deafening cacophony is slightly unnerving.

"Every night they come here," Pech says. "The taxi drivers, they don't know what to do. Every morning, they're out here cleaning."

An older man of Maya and Toltec extraction, Pech is taller than most Maya, a civilization credited with early mathematical and astronomical advances. "The Mayas, they are short. But I wish to be pure Maya," he says, tapping his head. "They have more in the brain."

He points out the Mayan column incorporated into the face of the nearly 400-year-old church. Mérida recalls a time when Spain was king, and a number of its older colonial edifices similarly include the ruins of defeated civilizations, European brawn built on the bones of the past.

Determined to earn our lunch, we walk along Mérida's elegant Paseo Montejo, a wide, tree-lined, Parisian-style boulevard flanked by majestic colonial manors — many of them now corporate offices — as elaborately adorned as wedding cakes. Also here: Some of Mérida's pricier hotels, as well as the Museo de Antropologia, where the $3 admission is well worth the surprise that it was the Maya, and not modern rap artists, who pioneered the concept of jewel-adorned teeth.

The Paseo's more robust intersections are marked by busy roundabouts, none grander than the one at Calle 58, where the Monumento de la Bandera (Monument of the Flag) is a beautiful stone centerpiece honoring the country's indigenous heritage.

Not far away is the magnificent Fiesta Americana hotel, where President Bush stayed during a visit to Mérida earlier this year. Here, the restaurant Los Almendros has built a reputation on traditional regional cuisine, a blend of Maya, Spanish, French, Creole and West Indies influences. After paging through menus bound in woven straw, we start with a pair of panuchos — small, bean-filled corn tortillas topped with juicy shredded pork and avocado — and a bowl of deliciously tangy sopa de lima.

The restaurant, founded in 1962, claims to have invented poc-chuc, which appears as two mighty strips of orange-marinated pork presented on a sizzling "cazuela" — a clay skillet — with salsa, onion relish and a bowl of slurpy black bean broth. We also have the arróz de lima, a fluffy cake of white rice ornamented with lime, peas and plantains. Complete with sangria, the whole meal for two of us costs about $32 U.S.

Into the night

It's dark by the time we return to the zocalo and into the gorgeous Palacio Gobierno, or Governor's Palace, whose key-lime walls pulse with Yucatán's proud, if painful, history. Inside, families stroll a vast, tiled salon where towering paintings by Mérida's Fernando Castro Pacheco depict the broad sweep of the past, the bloody clash of cultures, the blending of conquerors and conquered, and the enduring, visible presence of native peoples. Outside, city street names honor native resistance leaders and today's plentiful Mayan descendants apparent with dark skin, thin noses and high cheekbones. A number of women wear huípiles — traditional, white, embroidered dresses — as they go about their daily business.

The largely relaxed nightlife and moderate tropical evenings are custom-made for sipping margaritas in the romantic outdoor courtyard at La Bella Época or taking in one of the free weekly music shows offered by the city at its public parks.

But there's much to see beyond the city, too — Cancún is a five-hour bus ride away, for starters, but if that isn't your shot of tequila, there's Valladolid, a placid, colonial-style town to the east, quiet fishing villages like Progreso to the west and north, and, mostly to the south, Yucatán's Puuc Route, featuring some of Mexico's most impressive Mayan ruins.

Having visited Chichen Itza on a previous visit, we took a bus to the ruins of Uxmal, 90 minutes south of Mérida, for an overnight trip; another day trip took us to highly recommended Celestún (see sidebar), where a short boat ride along the Gulf Coast took us to a shallow lagoon where hundreds of flamingos basked in sunlit splendor.

But back in Mérida, we finally visit the Casa de las Artesanias, where we see the same ashtrays, wall hangings and mini pyramids we've seen all along. (A more authentic choice for visitors is the Mercado Lucas de Galvéz, a few blocks off the main plaza, a jungle of bargains where you can haggle for requisite Yucatán hammocks and more.) But Casa de las Artesanias is spacious, well situated and government-run (perhaps the reason behind its mobile marketing crew) — all in all, a nice spot to pick up reminders of a place that for a while, felt not much different from home.

Marc Ramirez: 206-464-8102 or mramirez@seattletimes.com

If you go to Mérida

Where to stay

• Hotel Caribe ($55-100 U.S.). This simple, budget hotel, charmingly crafted from a former convent with a rooftop pool and courtyard, is centrally located near the main square. Rooms are small and no-frills.

• Casa del Balam ($85-150 U.S.). Two blocks away from the main square, this art deco-style hotel has clean, spacious rooms, smatterings of pre-Columbian art and helpful staff.

• Fiesta Americana ($130-220 U.S.). Luxury hotel 13 blocks north along the elegant Paseo Montejo from the city's main square and one block from the U.S. consulate. The hotel is home to Los Almendros, featuring authentic Yucatán cuisine.

Traveler's tips

From Seattle, flights to Mérida connect in either Houston or Mexico City. Winter months are preferable for travel, as summer weather is tropical and hot. Looking for cheap entertainment? The city offers free cultural music performances that rotate between various city parks and the main square. Excursions to attractions outside of Mérida, such as Celestún and Uxmal, are available through many hotels.

More information

www.yucatantoday.com

www.yucatanliving.com

www.travelyucatan.com/merida