On Wednesday and Thursday of this week, Alfredo and I travelled to Merida (a three hour drive), to renew Alfredo´s federal tourist driver´s licence. On Wednesday night, we stayed at a 48 room hotel en el centro (the downtown area) of Merid, Hotel Maria Jose. While there is lots to tell about the trip, we could not get over our hotel, so clean, yet so peaceful and tranquil in the hustle and busyness of Merida. We felt we had struck it rich. The members of the ¨Ballet de San Petersburg Russia¨were staying at the hotel , but we felt like we were the only guests. The ballet was performing when we arrived at the theatre and I only saw them depart on Thursday morning at breakfast. Upon our arrival, we were ready to book a room. It is traditional in Mexico that you always look at several rooms, before choosing the one you want. Well, when we decided, the manager said we could have the master suite for the same price. We paid 600 pesos ($55.00 CDN) for the night. We had a separate room, with chairs and a sofa. But, for me, the highlight was the outdoor patio, with sliding doors. The patio opened up to the heavens above! The front desk turned the swimming pool lights on just for us as we wanted a late night swim! As always, for me, the Mexicans can create such beauty and quietness in a country and city that is so noisy. Merida is a very large, old city full of hustle and bustle. Yet, we found this gem. I have about 20 pictures to share with you, ranging from the quiet settings this hotel created, to the entrance to our room, the hallways, parking lot and exterior shot of the hotel. I hope the pictures tell it all. There were others things I could share about our short trip, but we were struck with the hotels´peacefulness. Oh yes, the hotel allowed us to stay in the room until 2PM the following day, as Alfredo needed to go to the government office in the morning.
Nativity Scenes are a plenty in Mexico at this time of year, in hotel lobbies, in the town centres, in windows, in homes, in front of homes, in shopping centres... The displays come in all sizes. The question I have is how did the wise men travel to the Bethlehem? All the nativity scenes in Mexico that I have seen have the wise men arriving on an elephant, a horse and a camel! I wish everyone a Merry Christmas of comfort and joy!
