A little background history to start

I grew up in Texas and should have left a decade before I did but that's a long story. When I did move I was a struggling artist living in Tribeca and working for Hamilton Gallery on 57th street.  When the gallery closed I went to work for John Saladino where I met a lot of young designers in the D&D building who come in and out of my life over the next 30 years. I went to Europe on vacation and didn't come back. I lived in Paris from 1985 to 1995.  While painting for decorators I was 'discovered' by Tomas Maier for Vogue Hommes and I threw away my brushes and started modeling.  I left modeling to work with my boyfriend Herve Van Der Straeten who was an already well known jewelry designer.  On a whim designed a group of buttons that I later sold to houses like Hermes and Christian Lacroix.  A blizzard in New York changed the course of my life again.

One  Christmas holiday in New York I went with my best friend to Mexico after a blizzard canceled my plane back to France.  Tulum was a little dusty truck stop between Cancun and Belize with 4 tiny hotels on the beach and a few huts with hammocks one could rent for $5 usd.  I came to Merida to see the ruins of Uxmal and Chichen Itza and I didn't really pay much attention to the town.  I moved back to New York that year to attend film school and ended up opening a design/antique store in Soho called Naturemorte.   In 1997 I met Josh Ramos and we started traveling to Paris to shop for antiques and to Mexico to shop for crafts and real estate.

Josh and I traveled around Mexico for three years in an old Jeep we bought on ebay.  We've pretty much had a flat tire or bust radiator in every state of Mexico. We fantasized about buying a hacienda or a hut by the beach and in 2001 we spent a week in the Yucatan and bought two houses. Our life in New York is a distant memory.  Josh continues to design furniture and houses.  His masterpiece is El Portico de la Candelaria.  We share duties at Urbano Rentals which is thankfully a seasonal occupation which allows us both to travel in the Spring and Summer.

Our friends from New York come to visit us or come to their houses in Merida.  Most

summers I go to Europe and visit my friends in Paris and then travel around with them when they go on vacation in July and August.  

 This blog is for our friends and guests to help them sort out what they would like to do while visiting the Yucatan.  It's in no way meant to be comprehensive or inclusive.  It's opinionated, like me.

A little historical background on the Yucatan

Any history of the area must start with the Chicxulub crater which was discovered in the 1970's while drilling for oil in the Gulf of Mexico.  The impact of the Asteroid is credited with wiping out the dinosaurs.  Until Christopher Columbus happened upon a canoe of Mayan traders in 1502 no one gave much thought to the Maya except perhaps the other indigenous tribes that traded with them. When Hernandez de Cordova asked the 'Indians' the name of this land they told him "you speak to rapidly, we don't understand a damned thing you are saying" which he understood as Yucatan.  

Wikipedia is as good a place as any to start your study of  the Yucatan but no one should come without reading John Lloyd Stephens Incidents of Travel in the Yucatan  which chronicles his adventures with his side kick the illustrator Stephen Catherwood.  They are credited with rediscovering the Maya ruins in the 19th century.  What you're going to notice in Merida is the old historical center laid out in a grid like the Spanish cities laid out and built buy the Moors.  What's left from the Colonial period which technically ended in 1810 are mainly the churches. Most of the old houses were remodeled or destroyed.  The big beautiful casonas may date from the 16th to 18th century but the wealth of Merida in the 19th century put a Belle Epoque veneer on the old city.  There also seems to have been a big boom in the early 20th century and there are many art deco facades plastered on the old houses and of course some real deco treasures like the Teatro Merida on calle 62.

The cenotes theoretically date for the Asteroids impact and they are mostly scattered around the area from Merida to Valladolid ending at the Ruta Puuc hills.  The haciendas were first built on Maya sites using the stones from the ruins and these old haciendas are in line with the stars as were the pyramids.  The newer haciendas that were built in the 19th century with the henequen (sisal) fiber profits were grander and more fantastical structures.  Any vacation in the area should include a day or two exploring the cenotes, haciendas & ruins.  The current boom in renovation of the historic center of Merida began with a few Gringo's moving into the area to buy cheap real estate as seen here in this article from 1999 in the Wall Street Journal.  

photo of a gate at the Hacienda Yaxcopoil

A little bit of press goes a long, long way

In the winter of 2014 I spent a week with Joanna Weinberg who wrote about our experiences for Conde Nast Traveler.  Joanna is a food critic from London who has a cooking school and blog in Somerset. In the winter of 2012 Sara Ruffin Costello came and wrote an article for the New York Times where she called me Merida's social conduit. That same year Catherine Watson wrote about Merida in the LA Times. Sara James came to Merida and she wrote an article for the September 2011 Departures Magazine about the food scene in Merida.  This year David Sterling won two James Beard awards for his cookbook titled, YUCATAN.  Rick Bayliss did a season on the Yucatan for his cooking show in...Martha Stewart came to test the sorbet in 2009. the famous chefs Jeremiah Tower and Rene Redzepi spend as much time as possible here and both have been interviewed about their favorite place for tacos.  Guy Saddy's wrote about the spirit of Merida for Enroute Magazine in 2010. But for us it was the David Keeps article for Travel+Leisure Magazine that put Merida on the map.  It was David's idea that we rent our homes to vacationers and we were the first in Merida to do so.   

Here is your path 

to the latest articles about Merida and the Yucatan.

I've compiled links to the best articles written about the areas for visitors and new residents alike.

photo of a secret passage through and old irrigation tank

at a private hacienda near Izamal designed by Jorge Pardo.

A little advice on where to eat

Food seems to be important to a few more people than me but it didn't always feel that way in Merida.  I cook a lot and I don't like the restaurant experience so much at night or for lunch but duty calls and when friends are in town or it's too hot to cook I do eat out.  For lunch I really think the best food, not to mention the best value, comes from a few little mom and pop (well mostly mom) cocina economicas and small restaurants (dives) that are thankfully mostly found in the centro historico. I'm a pescatarian on the verge of vegetarian who could never be a vegan because....cheese.  Most of my friends are carnivores and so I rely on them to tell me what's good on that side of the menu.  I have a phobia of vegan veggie homeo bio health food store like places so you won't risk running into me at one of those places or at a steakhouse. Naturally the visitor to Merida will want to try the 'Maya' cuisine or the famous 'Yucatecan' cuisine but you'll never find me in one of those places either.  You'll have to rely on trip advisor or take a market tour with Los Dos if you are in search of the perfect Panucho.

I am a food snob

who worked in restaurants through my college years and never saw a fresh vegetable until I left Texas at the age of 27.  I earned my proud title after a decade in Paris sandwiched between a decade in New York.  I cut my teeth on Mexican Food and I can say for a fact that there is none at all in Merida worth wasting your salsa picante on.  Forget that quest right now.  Neither do you want to come here for the excellent Italian food in the numerous excellent Italian restaurants so I've made two guides for you.  One is more critical than the other.  One tells you what's available in each neighborhood and the other just sort of rambles on about what my experiences have been over the past 14 years of eating out in the Yucatan.  

photo of Alessandro Porcelli at Apoala when he was staying

with us at Urbano Rentals for the Cook it Raw events in Yucatan

which you can read about at Yucatan Living or watch at Vice.

a little more advice on where to eat, what

Santa Lucia square is the place to head to if you are new in town and want a meal.  The recently restored colonial park is surrounded by the best and most mediocre but popular restaurants in the historic center.  I've had good experiences at Bottela Verde and great experiences at Apoala on the square. I've had awful experiences at La Chaya just off the square and my one experience at the Chaya Maya was, my one experience.  Also in the square is Ki Xocolatl the excellent Belgian chocolate shop and they are a ruthless frozen frappe.  There are two ice cream shops nearby Pola on 55 x 62 & 64 & xxx on 62 x 55 & 

 I like the mole and the chile rellenos at a little pink dump called Reforma on calle 72 x 45.  I like the fried fish filets and octopus at a little dive calle Marlin Azul on calle 62 x 57 & 59. 

photo of the kitchen at Hacienda Yaxcopoil

Get Centered

One of the first things you should do upon arriving in Merida is take a ride in one of the horse and buggies that you can get on the main square beside the Cathedral de San Ildefonso.  They are going to take you up Calle 60 to the Paseo de Montejo.  From this level and at the pace you are going to notice some of the grandest architecture Merida has to offer and some of the most perplexing 20th century buildings on the planet.  They are going to take you up to the Monumento de la Bandera where they will assume you want to get out and take photos.  Now you are going to head back into town back down the boulevard to Calle 62 and back to the main square.  This whole trip takes about an hour and costs about $250 pesos last time I checked. Granted it's touristy but it's really the best way to see the details in the architecture and get a sense of the scale of the city. 

On Sundays Calle 60 and Paseo Montejo are closed for the biciruta and you can ride a bike down this same route but it's extended to the south along calle 64 all they way down to Ermita de Santa Isabel. This neighborhood has some of the oldest houses in town.  The poverty of the barrio outside the gates of the old city probably saved the area from the 19th Century but unfortunately couldn't save it from the 20th.  Still it's a beautiful little neighborhood for a bike ride or a walk and I've lived here for the past 14 years undisturbed until the real estate agents came prowling. 

On foot you should start by walking along the Plaza Grande or Zocalo.  Visit the decorative arts museum in the Casa Montejo (which has a nice gift shop). The Olimpo museum has nice contemporary shows and the Macay across the square has a permanent collection of contemporary mexican art as well.  You can pop into the Governor's Place and see the murals on the second floor and get a nice view down onto the square. The cathedral is a good place to cool off.  You could sit and have a flavorless sorbet at the cute little Sorbeteria Colon but the popcicles at Juanitzio are actually better.  

A short walk up to the Parque Santa Lucia will take you past ... to be continued

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