Next Stop: Merida, Yucatan Peninsula


One of my favorite regions of Mexico is the Yucatan Peninsula,which is brimming with vibrant history and a rich culture that's on display on every level, from the food, to the language and traditions. I'm excited to finally be visiting La Ciudad Blanca or the White City, as Merida is called because of the white limestone buildings. I'll be exploring the archeological sites of Dzibilchaltun, called the Temple of The Seven Dolls and one of the oldest Maya sites, dating from 300 BC and Uxmal, a Mayan town founded in A.D. 700 and declared a World Heritage Site. I'll also be dipping into a cenote or underground pool,which is a hallmark of the region and they always supply a magical experience. Of course, I'll sample the traditional food, music and fashion so look out for some interesting posts in during the next couple of weeks!

Comments

Phylis Stoller said…
We are so glad you wrote about the Yucatan and Campeche. The Women's Travel Group is going there in December and will include all the hidden places never seen by the cruise crowds. The Yucatan is also famous for chocolate and jalapenos! This is an under visited area for American tourism.
June 17, 2016 at 8:18 AM
Fly Girl said…
Phyllis,
Thanks so much for your comments! Yes, Americans don't go to Merida in large numbers but hopefully hearing our stories can change that!
June 28, 2016 at 12:55 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Traveling Through A Liberian Childhood

Image
I like to explore the world with books as much as I like to actually travel. A well-written narrative can transport you to places that you'd never experience with just superficial details like photos and descriptions. I've been interviewing writers about the criteria they use to select books for Summer reading and it made me think about my own general reading criteria. As a journalist, I'm really drawn to biographies, autobiographies and memoirs more than fiction. There's something about using the facts to entice readers into your world that gets me. It's no coincidence that some of my favorite writers--Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Zora Neale Hurston, Hemingway, started out as journalists. So when I glimpsed The House at Sugar Beach , at my local bookstore and saw it was a memoir written by a journalist, it was pretty much a done deal that I would buy it. Now it wasn't only that the author Helene Cooper was a journalist, it was that she was a Liberian journalist chro
Read more

Puerto Rico's Taino Culture

Image
The original inhabitants of the Caribbean region of North America were the Arawak, Taino and Carib  native peoples.  The Tainos are a subgroup of the Arawaks and are recognized as the founders of the island of Boriken or Puerto Rico.  These were the people who offered a peaceful welcome to Columbus in 1493.  They didn't know the cruelty and violence that would follow his so-called "discovery" of the land that they had cultivated for centuries. Despite official government pronouncements that the Taino have been killed off by the massacres and slavery that followed in Columbus' wake, they live on.  As demonstrated in the photo above by  members of  the Puerto Rico Folklorico Dance & Culture Cultural Cente r, Taino traditions, food and names remain strong. Throughout Puerto Rico, town names like Mayaquez, Utuado and Caquas echo the Taino language as do the musical instrument maracas and hamaca or hammock. Legends of Taino warriors, like Hatuey, who organized the ba
Read more

Switzerland's Fete Des Vignerons

Image
                                               Once every generation, the centuries-old viticultural festival, Fete des Vignerons, unfolds in Vevey, Switzerland. Watching this spectacle of music, dancing, wine and fanciful costumes, felt like I had been transported to something out of a Dr. Seuss story. With a law that prohibits the fest from taking place more than five times in a century, I felt incredibly lucky to witness this celebration of Swiss wine traditions dating back to the 17th century.  Some of the fetes 5,500 performers in costumes strolled the narrow streets of Vevey after a show that featured fairies, bees, royal courts, playing cards and 17th-century wine growers. The performance was in French but the drama transcended language barriers. It's a difficult experience to describe but if I had to sum it up, I would explain it as the magic of Cirque Du Soleil combined with the pageantry of the Olympics, topped with the history of folk celebrations.  Take a peek at my v
Read more