Here's a Color to Write Home About

I discovered this renovation while taking a peek at a friend's new home several weeks ago. I'm not sure if it's a home or a business, but it's huge and bright lavender. A really lovely facade.

Could this have been a place where horses were once kept?

The building stretches along a good length of the entire block

Not sure how to describe this pediment, but to me it appears to be neoclassical
with a touch of art deco

Mérida - One of the World's Most Underrated Cities...

 This is from a 2011 article in Travel & Leisure Magazine. One of 26 cities throughout the world T& L has named underrated, Mérida, Yucatán shares the honor with a few well known places, such as Philadelphia and Denver, Bordeaux, France and Valencia, Spain, as well as a number of less well known cities like Durban, South Africa and Nara, Japan.  Other cities in the southern hemisphere include Montevideo, Uruguay and Valparaíso, Chile.

It's not likely that we will ever make a trip to South Africa or Nara, Japan, but Uruguay and Chile are certainly in the realm of possibilities, when we soon make our permanent home in Mérida.

Spring maintenance

We had planned on changing the color of the fachada of our house on our trip to Mérida in late April and had arranged for the painter to come early on in our visit. We had also asked our property manager to have the pool drained and the sarro (buildup of minerals) scrubbed away. The price for painting the facade was 1600.00MX, or about 112.00US. This is, literally, a tenth or less of what we would pay for the same amount of painting here at home. I figured the pool cleaning would not be much either, even though scrubbing a quite large concrete pool in the hot sun is work. I was not wrong. The cost was 1700.00MX ($119.00) and included in that price was some woodwork cleaning inside the house by the wife of the contractor.

I have been told that the mini-split A/C units should be cleaned and serviced at least once a year to keep them operating efficiently. We have seven units, one in each room. The cost 2450.00MX ($172.00 or about $25.00 per unit). In February, one of the units needed a part replaced ($2200.00MX or $154.00).
We've about decided that if other units breakdown, with the exception of the two bedrooms and the studio where our computers will be located, we will remove them and patch the walls. This is an expense that we will want to avoid once living on retirement income.

I suppose the point of this post is to just say that, even though the labor costs in Mérida are quite low (sometimes embarrassingly low), all these little maintenance costs add up. Pool pumps, filters, fountain pumps, water softener systems, water purifiers, tenacos -all require maintenance with some degree of regularity. In January, a tenant complained that the dishwasher wasn't working properly. It had to be removed, taken away and cleaned to remove all the mineral deposits (875.00MX or $61.00). Dishwashers are nice if you entertain frequently (we don't), so if after we move down and it fails, out it could possibly go -one less appliance to drain the costly electricity and break down. Besides, they don't sell automatic dish washing detergent in our local grocery store. Time to experience the Zen of hand washing our dishes.

With all expenses for the month, including management fees, weekly housecleaning, once a week pool maintenance, bi-weekly gardener to keep the small garden (literally) hacked down to manageable levels, salt, chlorine, gas, phone and internet, April was an expensive month -over $1200.00. Thankfully, every month is not that bad. Owning a home in another country, with the cost of airfare to Mérida now over $800.00, can be challenging. It's still  worth all the expense and I don't regret a thing, but I do want to hurry up and move.

Yaxcopoil

Once a grand hacienda, Yaxcopoil is now operated as a museum of sorts by descendants of the original owners. The grounds are dry and dusty and very little has been done to restore the buildings. For an admission price of 50 pesos, you can tour the main casa, filled with old furniture and artifacts from its heyday. The property is of a grand scale and at least one of the buildings, possibly a huge work building, was closed for viewing. Wandering through the casa can be fun, if nothing more than to take a peek at the collection of furniture and other household items. I was primarily interested in photographing architectural detail and found Hacienda Ochil and Yaxcopoil equally photogenic.

First building

Garden

View from behind a gate

Colorful and inviting

Peeking over a wall

Post and pulley

Moorish-inspired window arch

Hacienda Ochil

A short drive south of Mérida, past Uman, is a lovely faded gem of a hacienda with walls of arches in the Moorish style. You enter the grounds through a grand arch  followed by a walk through a stand of tall Royal Palms on either side. The old rail tracks that were used to carry hennequen from field to work area are still intact, running through the beautifully maintained grounds. This hacienda is primarily operated as a restaurant, but there were few customers during our visit.

The faded colors blend together in shades of ochre, coral, umber and terra-cotta.

The area around this window has decayed to reveal the indestructible mamposteria wall

This arch is truly stunning

Moorish arches are seen throughout Yucatan in many of the haciendas and in colonial style homes in
el Centro. When we first visited Mérida, we were surprised to see the extent of Moorish-inspired architecture.

Workroom

A tree at the opening of this small cenote
at the rear of the hacienda

If you are hoping to see sweeping vistas in my photography, you might be disappointed. I tend to look for texture, color and detail that leaves the viewer wondering what's behind the image. Hacienda Ochil is well worth the 177.00MX admission price, if just to stroll through the beautiful, shaded, multi-terraced landscape.

An Afternoon in Uxmal

Templo del Adivino

We spent Thursday afternoon visiting Uxmal, Ochil, and Yaxcopoil. Trekking through Uxmal in the early afternoon can drain your energy very quickly. Next time I will go in the early morning for better light. The site closes at 5PM, which is when the best light begins. None the less, we got some good shots. Alan has my older camera and has really taken some great photos. I'm still working on learning the ropes with my new camera. With the newer digital cameras, if you have a poor exposure, blame the photographer not the camera.

Stay tuned for a few shots from Hacienda Ochil and Hacienda Yaxcopoil.

Templo del Adivino -side view

Detail of wall

Detail

Detail II

Lone out-building

Black and White

Today (Sunday) was cold, gray and misty - a perfect day for a few colorless photographs. I found a street downtown, with few people to get in the way, and captured these images. Digital photography is amazing. You have a choice of color or black and white without having to change the film.  And no time spent in a darkroom or sending to a film processor. Sweet!

is this tree really as tall as a 25-story building?

the library window

lion heads and fleur-de-lis

someone mutters and the street lamp gutters...

...and a bit of color

New York Times - 36 Hours in Mérida

Pastel mansion
photo with point & shoot Jan 2011

Elisabeth Malkin spent 36 hours in Mérida and managed to pack quite a bit into her brief visit to our city. The 3/4-page article appeared in the December 4th issue of The New York Times. One has to agree that such a prominent spread in the Times is not to be taken lightly. Three colorful photos at the top of the page include a table full of food at Chaya Maya, a folk dance presentation, and a group of people bicycling on the Paseo de Montejo. She describes Mérida as "a languid city of pastel mansions and evening promenades"and states that "the city, now one of the safest in Mexico, is an architectural jewel."

I couldn't agree more. In fact, it has been said that Mérida is THE safest city in Mexico.
Will a feature article in the Times generate increased tourism? Let's hope so. Tourist dollars are good for Mérida and for Mexico. Narco violence has taken a toll on the tourism industry and without help from sources like Nancy's blog The Truth About Mexico  (Mazatlán) and videos like the one below, Mexico will continue to suffer. I found this video on You-Tube and it had only 118 views. Feel free to help spread the message.