Pages

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Our first (Merida) carnaval!

We arrived early this morning on the Aeromexico flight from Mexico City...a little tired, but glad to be back.  The morning involved breakfast, a grocery run for the weekend, and then a nap.  By the afternoon, I was ready to go out and see what Merida's Carnaval was all about!

Today was the day of the Children's Parade.  The parade begins at 4 p.m. near the Plaza Grande, and by 2:30 the streets were packed with families, tourists, and food and trinket vendors.  The streets are lined up and down both sides with chairs, and there really isn't any place where you can just stand to watch.  Given my non-existent Spanish, I watched the crowd long enough to figure out that you could buy tickets from the ladies in the orange shirts (30 pesos), and that if they were selling tickets in a particular spot then there were seats left there.  I bought a ticket (on the left side of the picture below) and settled in!
The parade was excellent.  There was a cool breeze and you could see from all the faces that everyone was having a great time, adults and kids alike.  I was completely charmed.  The costumes were surprisingly elaborate, and the paraders (at least most of them) seemed to love being in the show.

The rest of the week's parades aren't likely to be able to match this one for its ability to make a person smile, but I'm looking forward to them all the same.  Until then, some pictures from today's parade are below.












4 comments:

  1. These photos are exquisite. Some of the best I've seen of Mérida Carnaval.
    Great work.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks! It was my first outing with a new longer lens, so I was pleased that they came out so well. Of course, the kids were so excited and enthusiastic that it was hard to take a bad photo.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Darren & Wade,
    We have recently purchased a home in La Ermita that we plan to restore. Meanwhile we need someone to keep an eye on it. Do you know anyone you might recommend that manages properties. Our place is not even habitable at the moment but would like to know that it is looked after. Any advice you may have would be much appreciated!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Marie Louise. Congratulations on your house...that is very exciting! We haven't had to find anyone to manage our place yet since it is just an empty lot, so I don't have a personal recommendation. Our real estate agent, LeAnn Roberts (mominyucatan@yahoo.com) manages a number of properties and might be able to help. You might also find recommendations in the yolisto forums. Good luck with the house and we hope to see you in Merida!

    ReplyDelete