We had seen plenty of photos of the largest pyramid called "El Castillo" at Chichen Itza, but to see it in the flesh was truly an amazing moment. After walking through the gauntlet of vendors, our guide Felipe and we came to the base of the huge and intricate structure. It´s made of stones, set in specific places and in sequence determined by the calendar. In short, it is set up to parallel 18 months (of 20 weeks each) with a 5 day month at the end and an extra step at the very top to equal 365 days in their calendar year. This, one of the seven wonders of the world, has 9 levels, divided into two sections by an enormous and very steep set of 91 stairs. We stayed for the light show in the evening which showed how the pyramid looks during the equinoxes in March and Sept. The sides of the stairs on the north side have large snake heads at the bottom, and when the sun hits them on the days mentioned, the light and shadow forms the tail of the snake (looking like triangles set side to side) which reaches the top of the pyramid. It´s really hard to imagine; I had trouble with it at first, until I saw how it worked with the lights. It´s a fantastic work, for sure, especially considering how much planning went into the design, and all this in the years around 900 AD.
But El Castillo isn´t the only beautiful structure; there are many, many others including an enormous ball court, an observatory, a throne room, a place where sacrifices were made, and a temple of 1000 columns. And, added to this, archaeologists aren´t even finished with it. They have uncovered only about 10%. Our guide was excellent and took us around every inch of the area. By the end of the day, we were exhausted but had to wait for the evening light show.
When that ended, we then had to find a taxi to take us to a little town called Piste where we, fortunately, arrived just in time to catch a bus the hour back to where we were staying in Valladolid.
Today we are in Tulum, but it is raining, so, rather than be on the beach in the rain, we are going to continue south and return to Tulum at the end of our trip at the end of Feb. I hope we can shake the rain!
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Merida, the city of art & music
To leave the rain and land in a place of bright sun and cloudless skies is truly a marvel. Flying over Cancun in an arc that took us out over the Caribbean Sea, looking out the window and seeing the beautiful turquoise water below us made us eager to see the rest of this beautiful landscape.
By the time we caught our bus to the center of Cancun, the sun was almost down, and we quickly found our hotel and asked for a recommendation for a place to eat. We were guided to a lovely restaurant called Labna´ where we both had specialties of the Yucatan. Terry had grouper baked with peppers and a herb that tasted like it had anise in it. Mine was grilled with a lemon and butter sauce. Both delicious and it remains our favorite dinner, so far.
Next morning, we caught the bus to Merida. We passed 4 hours through scrubland that went on forever! Then, finally we entered the city and took a taxi to our hotel Luz en Yucatan. I love to enter places that have a very plain facade and a big surprise when entered. Once we opened the door, we could see through the outdoor square, filled with plants surrounding an oblong tile walkway, almost like an outside hallway, back to a second house which was the office and several of the rooms. There was tile everywhere, and farther back, we glimpsed another courtyard with a pool. Beautiful. Our room was large and cozy with a double bed, single bed, hammock (which we tried and found to be very comfortable) and a huge shower.
We set our suitcases down, and off we went to the main historic area, Plaza Grande. Along the way, we passed many buildings of colonial architecture, painted pink, green, coral, all trimmed in white. The cathedrals that were close to the square were beautiful. The oldest one in the state was San Ildefonso, and it was very stark, no tiles or paintings but enormous and austere. A huge cross hung at the front altar. The next one was Inglesia de Jesus which was the opposite. It was small, with beautiful hand painted murals of various designs and colors, all with gold trim. The altar was piled with white flowers. We ate at Villa Maria, a restaurant that had a huge skylight through which we could see stars as we dined. That evening, as we returned to our hotel, we passed by Parque St. Lucia where there was a fiesta featuring bands and dancers. Very entertaining and fun.
The next day we took a walking tour and saw some more of the colonial architecture, ducked into some museums and art galleries, and took in the ballet which had a full symphonic orchestra. Everything is far less costly than it would be at home, which is a wonderful addition to the enjoyment.
On Sat we went to our first ruins. Uxmal is one of the most important sites in the Yucatan. It is oriented to the North Star so that it casts special shadows and light at the time of the two equinoxes in June and December. There are four major structures one of which they allow you to climb. So, we took the opportunity to climb the pyramid up to the top. I wish I could add a photo here to show the angle of the stairs. Pretty steep and narrow and very amazing especially considering it was built around 800 AD. We then went to a second ruins called Kabah which was a smaller version but also with some amazing carvings of Chac Mool the rain god of the Maya.
Now we are preparing to catch a bus to Valladolid which is also a colonial city with much art and music. We´re eager to see some more of this beautiful architecture.
By the time we caught our bus to the center of Cancun, the sun was almost down, and we quickly found our hotel and asked for a recommendation for a place to eat. We were guided to a lovely restaurant called Labna´ where we both had specialties of the Yucatan. Terry had grouper baked with peppers and a herb that tasted like it had anise in it. Mine was grilled with a lemon and butter sauce. Both delicious and it remains our favorite dinner, so far.
Next morning, we caught the bus to Merida. We passed 4 hours through scrubland that went on forever! Then, finally we entered the city and took a taxi to our hotel Luz en Yucatan. I love to enter places that have a very plain facade and a big surprise when entered. Once we opened the door, we could see through the outdoor square, filled with plants surrounding an oblong tile walkway, almost like an outside hallway, back to a second house which was the office and several of the rooms. There was tile everywhere, and farther back, we glimpsed another courtyard with a pool. Beautiful. Our room was large and cozy with a double bed, single bed, hammock (which we tried and found to be very comfortable) and a huge shower.
We set our suitcases down, and off we went to the main historic area, Plaza Grande. Along the way, we passed many buildings of colonial architecture, painted pink, green, coral, all trimmed in white. The cathedrals that were close to the square were beautiful. The oldest one in the state was San Ildefonso, and it was very stark, no tiles or paintings but enormous and austere. A huge cross hung at the front altar. The next one was Inglesia de Jesus which was the opposite. It was small, with beautiful hand painted murals of various designs and colors, all with gold trim. The altar was piled with white flowers. We ate at Villa Maria, a restaurant that had a huge skylight through which we could see stars as we dined. That evening, as we returned to our hotel, we passed by Parque St. Lucia where there was a fiesta featuring bands and dancers. Very entertaining and fun.
The next day we took a walking tour and saw some more of the colonial architecture, ducked into some museums and art galleries, and took in the ballet which had a full symphonic orchestra. Everything is far less costly than it would be at home, which is a wonderful addition to the enjoyment.
On Sat we went to our first ruins. Uxmal is one of the most important sites in the Yucatan. It is oriented to the North Star so that it casts special shadows and light at the time of the two equinoxes in June and December. There are four major structures one of which they allow you to climb. So, we took the opportunity to climb the pyramid up to the top. I wish I could add a photo here to show the angle of the stairs. Pretty steep and narrow and very amazing especially considering it was built around 800 AD. We then went to a second ruins called Kabah which was a smaller version but also with some amazing carvings of Chac Mool the rain god of the Maya.
Now we are preparing to catch a bus to Valladolid which is also a colonial city with much art and music. We´re eager to see some more of this beautiful architecture.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Adventures in Central America
Our next cultural adventure (we don’t call them vacations anymore since we’re retired and don’t need vacations as such) will be to Central America in just 3 weeks. So, we are busying ourselves with reading about the Maya and all the architectural wonders, their religion, the food they ate, their lifestyles, etc. that have been attributed to them. It’s an amazing period of time that spans thousands of years, and we are excited about seeing a tiny portion of that time period.
We are also hoping to catch some sun in that gloriously warm part of the earth, especially since we’ve just experienced the most snow in this part of Washington in many, many years, certainly the most since we’ve lived out here.
Happily, we will be able to celebrate the inauguration of our new president, Barack Obama, before heading south the very next day. What a happy occasion to send us on our way; we hope that people we meet will greet us with a different view of the US. I have positive feelings about our new and improved standing in the world.
We are also hoping to catch some sun in that gloriously warm part of the earth, especially since we’ve just experienced the most snow in this part of Washington in many, many years, certainly the most since we’ve lived out here.
Happily, we will be able to celebrate the inauguration of our new president, Barack Obama, before heading south the very next day. What a happy occasion to send us on our way; we hope that people we meet will greet us with a different view of the US. I have positive feelings about our new and improved standing in the world.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)