Merida Day 3 - Wal Mart

I ended yesterdays blog in late afternoon. We were pretty lazy, made supper,

Avocado and tomato, note the lovely Mexican plates

and then took the 20litre empty jug of water to be exchanged for a full one at the corner store (23 Mexican Pesos - $2.30) and wandered the neighbourhood. I am embarrassed to say I was in bed by 9pm.
After 10 hours sleep we had a quick breakfast and then to todays goal - explore Paseo de Montejo. This is described in Yucatan Today: the tourist guide (we have 2 copies, one to read and one to write all over the maps) as the "Champs Elysees" of Merida. We walked along Calle 47 until we reached the Paseo,  and then walked up as far as Wal Mart. George is loving the numbered system of the roads, in Paris he struggled with the names but here he is tossing off the directions with no trouble. Even numbers run North-South, odd run East-West.
The Paseo Montejo, was developed around 1888, because of the affluence of those involved in the henequen industry. Some of the mansions have fallen into disrepair,



This mansion had boarded up windows and cracking stucco







This one,right next door, was beautifully kept and the sign indicated

it was a private bank (whatever that is)

others had been reused as Museums and offices and have been beautifully renovated. The Paseo also has modern office buildings, restaurants, bars and hotels and half way up - Wal Mart. Which of course we had to go into. For us the most important purchase was the litre of Kahlua for 130 Mex Pesos ($13). It was worth carrying it home in the back pack.
We are quite proud of ourselves because today we rode the public Autobus. We waited, with a group of local people, at the corner of Calle 62 and Paseo Colon and paid our 60 Mex Pesos to stand, crammed in with everyone else for a ride down to Calle 47, where we got off "Aqui, Por Favor" - I hope I said "Here, please", anyway he stopped and let us off.
Hot and tired we were home by about 1:30 to swim, have lunch and lounge. I read in the hammock while George wrestled with the bus route map on the internet and in the Yucatan Today guide. He thinks he's got the hang of it.

George in the hammock, checking out bus routes. Hammock is hung

in the courtyard between the living room and the kitchen. The kitchen

is a separate building.

Tonight, around 9 (if I can stay up that late) we are going to head out to free music in a local Plaza, I will blog about that tomorrow.