Mérida hosts free cultural shows essentially every night of the week, either in Centro Histórico or a nearby park. We did not go out every night of the week, but selectively made our way to a few events.
On Thursday night we stopped by Parque Santa Lucía to see the Yucatecan Serenade, an hour of music and dancing. Seating is set up on a first come first served basis, and is standing room only by the time the show starts at 8:00 PM. Arrive early if you want a seat. Of, if you prefer, reserve a table at one of the expensive tourist restaurants that are around the park. Your view won’t be as good, but you will be comfortable with a beer or wine in hand.
The main event on Friday evenings is the light show in which the history of the region is projected onto the front of Catedral de San Ildefonso. The show starts at 8:00 PM, but expect the prime seats in front to be taken at least 45 minutes early.
The show is narrated in Spanish, but the imaging is pretty easy to follow: Spanish galleon; cross; Spanish flag; construction of the cathedral; and so on. We stayed for about the first fifteen minutes of the show before heading across town on a Va-y-Ven bus to a very different and much more enjoyable light show.
Several nights a week a light show is put on in Parque de la Paz, projected onto the front of the old penitentiary building. The show is set to music, not a narrated history lesson. The building is ten times larger than the cathedral and the crowd is less than one-tenth the size.
There is also an interactive component to the visuals as, via a QR code, one can design images to display on the building during the light show. A nearby water feature with colored fountains complements the light show.
While the video show at the cathedral is worth seeing (particularly if you know Spanish and can follow the narrator), you’ll probably enjoy the light show at Parque de la Paz more.
On Saturday night, the place to be is again at Plaza Grande, in front of Catedral de San Ildefonso, for Pok Ta Pok, a traditional Mayan ball game with all of the grandeur and ritual, except for the potential sacrificing of a player or team at the end.
We showed up at 7:20 PM for the 8:00 PM start. The seats were filled. We got into a decent standing room only area directly behind two rows of seats. When the show started, the standing room only areas were at least 10 people deep. This was a much larger crowd than for the Friday evening light show. You probably need to arrive at least an hour early to get a seat.
Not long after the show began, I managed to get light headed and faint. Down and out, just like that. I knew pretty quickly what happened, as getting light headed is not new to me. After I came to, sitting on the ground, it did not take long to convince everyone that I was not having a heart attack or stroke.
I figured I’d rest for a minute, allow my blood pressure to rebound, get up, and enjoy the game. Nope. I rested for a minute, got up, and promptly fainted a second time. Oops. Now it is going to be a bit more difficult to convince people that I’m okay.
A nurse was nearby. She and Stephanie helped me walk out of the crowd and find a seat. I got a lot of questions from the nurse. Name, age, place, and so on, mostly to ensure I was mentally with it. Which I was. Stephanie went to 7 Eleven and bought me a Gatorade to drink. A paramedic took my blood pressure, confirming that it was low, which I knew.
I was very insistent that I was not going to a hospital or clinic. No way. After several minutes everyone seemed convinced that I was okay and I finally got some peace and quiet. After resting a bit more, Stephanie and I called and Uber and headed to our Airbnb. By the time we arrived back at about 9:00 PM, I was perfectly fine.
If I’d only fainted at 7:30 PM, we’d probably have been able to see game. Later Stephanie told me that she was tired of standing and didn’t really want to stay for the game anyway. So I guess I did her a favor. Although we didn’t get to enjoy the game, we did get a good story out of it. If you want to learn more about Pok Ta Pok, we can’t be of any help. You’ll have to check it out on YouTube.
By the way, the convenience stores sell a wide variety of electrolyte drinks, which you will see locals drinking quite often. Probably a good idea.
Mérida is about the same size as Memphis (population about 1.3 million), so we could not help but make some comparisons between the two. Without question Mérida is much more walkable, definitely safer, and has infinitely better public transportation options.
Centro Histórico is beautiful, there are wonderful outdoor restaurants and markets, many free cultural activities, and fantastic parks. Mérida is also near several Mayan ruins, cenotes, and beaches if you want to get out of town for the day or overnight. It’s a more affordable city, too.
Restaurants in Centro Histórico and along Paseo de Montejo, basically the touristy ones, charge about the same as typical restaurants in Memphis. Plan on spending 45 to 65 pesos for a taco, 180-300 pesos for an entrée plate, and 55 to 75 pesos for a beer. (In January, 2024, 100 pesos is about $5.85.)
For lunch, skip the touristy restaurants and walk a few blocks away from Centro Histórico to Mercado Lucas de Galvez. It’s like the Walmart of mercados, selling everything you could ask for: fruit; vegetables; pets; pet supplies; leather goods; candy; clothes; hats; phone cases; knives; flowers; plush toys; and, much, much more.
Around back (coming from Centro Histórico) are a number of outdoor restaurants, all of which pretty much sell similar dishes at similar prices. Here tacos and tostadas cost 22 to 30 pesos each and a large Coke is 25 to 30 pesos. Lunch easily costs under 100 pesos per person, including a tip. Good food plus excellent prices equals a great lunch. The same goes for small restaurants out in the residential areas of Mérida.
Keep in mind that smaller, outdoor restaurants are typically cash only. If you need to use a credit card, go to a touristy restaurant in Centro Histórico.
Tip: Always know how much cash on hand you are carrying. You don’t want to be caught short. Trust me, it is no fun running over two miles roundtrip to your Airbnb after eating a plate of tacos and downing several beers in order to get enough cash to cover your bill. Which, by the way, gets more expensive because while I’m running through the streets at night Stephanie is at the restaurant drinking more beer.
After being in Mérida for a month we decided that this is probably not the best vacation destination unless you really want to explore Mayan and Yucatán history and culture. But if we had to pick a place to actually live in México, it would for sure make the short list for consideration.
It is now time for a change in scenery, as we are heading to the beach for a week’s vacation for an early celebration of our 25th wedding anniversary. (On our actual anniversary date we will be on a train in Europe. Even though I splurged for first class train tickets, Stephanie decided that was not a sufficient anniversary celebration. In hindsight, maybe I shouldn’t have bought the fancy train tickets after all.)
But before we go, a wrap up of our beer tasting is in order. As this is our second trip to Mexico, we already knew Tecate Light is it. But in Mérida new contenders emerged: Bohemia Clara (a pilsner) and Bohemia Cristal (a lager). At restaurants, we order bottles of Bohemia. At OXXO, it’s usually a twelve pack of Tecate Light in cans.
Garrett and Stephanie
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