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.