Merida, Yucatan

This morning we got an early start in order to make it to the free walking tour of Merida that they do every morning. While in our Uber, it started raining like crazy! Our driver dropped us off where I thought the tourism center was supposed to be, but it was nowhere in sight. It took about thirty seconds for us to be completely soaked, and we decided that even if we could find the office, we didn’t love the idea of an outdoor walking tour. So we headed to an Oxxo for breakfast! Chocolate cupcakes count as breakfast, right?

Bailey was feeling sick and we both liked the idea of dry clothes, so we decided to go back to our Airbnb to take a break and dry off a bit. After our break we went to Parque de Santa Ana where we watched pigeons for a minute and then grabbed a tasty lunch. We both tried the sopa de lima, a Yucatecan special. It was really delicious! By then the rain had cleared up and it was super sunny and hot outside. Not sure why hot soup is such a trend in that kind of weather!

We then walked up Paseo Montejo because apparently it is a must see in Merida. We did see some gorgeous buildings, but I wouldn’t say it was a highlight of our Merida experience! We ended the walk at a Walmart where we bought drinks and real Kinder Eggs. Bailey had never had them before! We had fun just sitting there and waiting out the second rainstorm of the day.

We then hit the Grand Plaza to see Casa de Montejo. It was interesting! I wish that there was more house to see, I thought that part was exceptionally interesting. The photo galleries were cool too. It was nice to be in air conditioning for a minute!

We also enjoyed some air conditioning paired with ice cream in a Dairy Queen before heading to the Palacio Municipal. We loved climbing to the top of the Palacio and seeing the view from there! What a gorgeous place.

We were going to also hit the Palacio del Gobernador but they had closed by that point. So we did some more sitting and and resting (we’ve done a LOT of sitting and resting today - we are exhausted!) before heading to dinner.

We decided to give La Chaya Maya another try just in case we had ordered the wrong things or something. Bailey was not disappointed by his meal - he ordered some delicious pork!

I decided to try a Yucatecan specialty - queso relleno.

It was terrible! I usually love all Mexican food, but my friends, this was not Mexican food in my books. It was a ball of Dutch cheese stuffed with ground, compressed pork. Maybe I shouldn’t say it was terrible, because I would totally eat it all if I was super hungry. I just wouldn’t necessarily enjoy it. I opted instead to eat 2/3 of it and finish off the bowl of chips with salsa, along with a little bit of Bailey’s food. He’s so nice!

We called it a night at that point. We have to be up at 4am for our flight tomorrow! We are bummed that our vacation is over, but we are also looking forward to being in our own bed. I’m most excited to go home and snuggle little Warden!

Overall we have really loved Mexico. We were a little bit worried about safety before our trip, because of all of the things we have heard about the country. Well, we felt completely safe the entire time and I would recommend a trip to the Yucatan for anyone! The Yucatan is statistically the safest part of Mexico, though of course it is always a good idea to take some extra precautions. We are huge money belt fans! I love my SPIBelt!

I love the food in Mexico, I love the culture, and I love the people! Everyone is so nice! Everyone was so kind and patient with us travelers, even with me who can only understand a little bit of what they’re saying. Let’s just say I am SO grateful for Bailey and his serious Spanish-speaking skills. I really had to depend on him to help get us to the right places and order the right food (very important!) He doesn’t think his Spanish is that great, but you should hear him just chatting away with our Uber drivers. I’m so proud of him!

We counted this as our 2 year anniversary trip/my 21st birthday trip. Really, we just couldn’t resist the $250(!!!) rountrip tickets to Merida when they came along last year. It wasn’t necessarily a destination I had on my radar, but that’s part of the fun of grabbing random flight deals. There’s so many adventures out there that we don’t even know about! I’m so grateful for this one Bailey and I got to share!