Counting down the days...

Only three days left before we head back to Merida! 

What's left of the tulip magnolia....

After the last post about the unseasonably warm weather, Mother Nature reminded us why it was called "unseasonable."  Last night dipped to the high teens Fahrenheit.  The magnolia blooms are a mess, and I'm guessing that throwing old sheets over the shrubs and vegetables will not have been enough to save them from the freeze.  One thing that the cold has accomplished, though, is to get us more excited about heading back to someplace warm.

This will be our sixth trip to Merida.   When we decided that we wanted to find a place there (somewhere around our second trip), one of the biggest concerns was whether we would want to keep visiting the city to the exclusion of other potential vacation spots.  So far though, this hasn't been an issue.  Whenever we find ourselves with some vacation time, Merida just seems like the natural answer.  We think that this will continue to be true, especially once we manage to build a place of our own there.  During the last few days of being trapped inside by the cold, I've been thinking a lot about why that is.

One easy reason is that Merida manages to seem familiar really quickly.  We seem to run into friends and acquaintances (both expat and Yucatecan) out and about every time that we visit, even though we haven't spent a lot of time there in the grand scheme of things.  Merida is a big city but it feels like a nice small town.

Likewise, Merida is relaxing.  There is nothing like a hammock and a breeze to calm you down.  When we are there, I sleep like a baby.  It slows me down as well....I take the time for morning walks and can always dedicate an hour to sitting in the shade in Santiago Square or the Plaza Grande, something that I would rarely do at home.

Finally, our time in Merida is easy.  We don't need to book attractions or take tours to see the sights and sounds of the City...everything that you would plan to see just turns up while you are out running errands, whether it is a weekend market or a festival, or the lights on the Cathedral, or food stalls and regional dancers.  The whole city is one giant E-ticket, so unlike other vacations we don't end up stressed and exhausted.

Oh, and we love the food! Three days and counting...