Life's a Beach | Expat Life in Playa del Carmen : Merida, Yucatan

Travels in the Yucatan - More Merida Real Estate Adventures

Rob Kinnon — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 04:48:00 GMT

After resting up from our long but fun day in Tizimin, we jumped right back into real estate recon mode on Monday morning. Having considerably narrowed down not only our selected neighborhoods but also the physical characteristics of the properties we wanted to view, the showings were far more productive. Rob went to meet with the owner of a lovely boutique hotel for sale, completely renovated, fully occupied, very well reviewed on TripAdvisor and priced well below comparable properties that we had seen listed. This was more for our investors than ourselves but certainly gave one a good vision of just how much is possible in some of these raw spaces. In the right property, a good sense of style and a little elbow grease can be rewarded with amazing results. (Sorry no pics of this one. It's a secret)

After an early lunch at the Gran Hotel we continued on and visited several single family homes and a recently retired hostel and finished up our day with a fabulous sushi dinner at Campay a bit further north on Prolongacion Paseo Monteo. It has been so long since I've seen proper sushi, I wanted it all! We settled on some gyoza, a few fancy rolls and an enormous sashimi platter. Heaven!

Good night Merida.

Back to: Day 1 - Travels in the Yucatan

Travels in the Yucatan - Tizimin and the Feria de Caballos

Rob Kinnon — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 13:59:00 GMT

In addition to visiting the Merida Zoo, we had a special day trip planned for the kids, a road trip to the village of Tizimin to see the Feria de Caballos (horse fair) during the Festival de los Reyes, one of the 5 largest annual festivals in Mexico. Birdie's trainer, Paco, had mentioned the fair to me a few weeks back, thinking it might be fun for all of us to see now that we were reentering the horse world. Tizimin is located north of Valladolid but even though we were traveling back west from Merida, the trip turns out to be about equidistant (time-wise) from Playa del Carmen. Taking the road that runs parallel and to the north of the Cancun-Merida cuota was fast and easy and only took us about 1.5 hours. Once in the town of Tizimin, finding the fairgrounds was not difficult. There was a LONG line of cars all headed (at a snail's pace) in the same direction and hundreds of buses bringing visitors from across the country. It is fair to say the town was filled to capacity!

Once we finally got in, we made a beeline for the covered arena where an equine exhibition was taking place. Ranchers had brought their finest breeding stock to show off and hopefully capture the interest of other top quality breeders and equine enthusiasts. Right away, we ran into a friend and fellow horse-nut from Playa and the only other gringo in attendance. She has kept horses in Cancun and along the Riviera Maya for some years and knows a lot of the breeders and trainers. One of the horses she had once considered acquiring, a feisty Friesian, was on display this day and we had the opportunity to meet him and his handler. There were so many beautiful creatures there.

Feisty Friesian

Look at the beautiful markings on this unusual wall-eyed Quarter Horse.

Pretty Palomino

Handsome Arabian Stallion

It was love at first site for me and this fine fellow. It's difficult to show the scale but let's just say this horse could easily manage Rob.

Prize winning bulls

Lisa found another friend!

"Life's a Beach" readers certainly know by now that I have a very adventurous palette. I am a true devotee of the nasty bits and all things offal! There is almost nothing I won't try, but here, I was faced with a real W.W.M.D. moment. There were things on la parilla that even I couldn't find appetizing and I am not referring to the whole head slow roasting over the hot coals. Rob snapped a few choice photos on his iPhone to send off to our friend Mike in Chicago, showing him all he was missing. Next year Mike....Kinnon-Lopiano culinary road trip to Tizimin! You in?

Ultimately, we ordered and shared a large mixed grill (over cooked and over priced) with frijoles charros and queso fundido and hurried back to the festival to check out the rides!

Yup. They're cute.

More standard carnival food.

Cute carousel.

This is Birdie's very favorite carnival ride, as you can probably tell by the look on her face. As if it isn't fast enough, the ride operators run from car to car and whip them around randomly. Huge fun!!

After the first ride, Cole has already had enough. Birdie is just getting warmed up. Where does my daughter head next? The horrible, plunge-to-your-death roller coaster. Super.

Stop.

Think.

Why am I the only one in line for this?

Even the ticket-taker looks skeptical!

Off to certain death.....

Can you hear me screaming?

Grateful to have escaped with our lives, we passed on "Angelo the two headed baby" and made a b-line for the always popular bumper cars. This was by far the best set up we have seen so far in our Mexico-Central America travels. The cars were in great shape with only a minimal amount of sparks raining down from above. There were lots of other drivers dashing and smashing about making big fun for everyone. Of course, the kids took several turns!

Another favorite, the Himalayan Plunge made even more exciting when the safety bar kept popping open!

Uuum. Barf. No thanks.

Going to have to pass on this one too.

Carnie folk, Mexican style.

Back in the arena, a riding demonstration was going on for a standing room only crowd. These were very good riders and very well trained horses. Birdie was amazed as the "cues" given very practically invisible. These "dancing horses" were a huge attraction for this crowd. I took a short video of some of the antics.

After the demonstrations, we made one last pass through the rides so the kids could try out this attraction. Brilliant actually, this was probably the most fun they had all day and the guys running the show seemed to be having just as good a time!

I am totally getting one of these!

One last look at the livestock on the way out.

This is NOT how you want your day to end.

By the time night fell, we were tired and passed on the rodeo and other night time activities as we had to drive all the way back to Merida. It was a great day and a great "authentic" experience, the kind that seems harder and harder to find at least on the Riviera Maya. The Feria de Caballos is already on our calendar for next year!

Go to: Day 5 - More Merida Real Estate Adventures

Travels in the Yucatan - Parque Centenario and the Zoo

Rob Kinnon — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 21:01:00 GMT

Six years ago, the first time we visited the Merida Zoo, the kids were not much more than babies. We were in the city doing some exploring and celebrating Cole's 2nd birthday so a trip to the zoo seemed like the perfect way to spend the afternoon. It turned out to be the perfect time for both little one's to spike a fever and come down with some sort of horrible virus that landed us in our hotel room for a few days. Two words: diarrhea and tights. Not a good combination especially in a public restroom at a playground.

This visit was entirely more pleasant with two happy healthy children set loose in acres of fun! The Parque Centenario is free and open to the public 7 days a week. Within the perimeter of the park you will find a small but well kept zoo, a sizable playground, gardens and walking paths and a variety of vendors peddling everything from palomitas to pony rides. First on the list were the bumper boats, always big fun. Who doesn't like a stinky hot boat motor perched precariously between their thighs

First stop at the zoo was a walk through the aviary. I snapped the Peacock photo required for all zoo visits but was pretty uninspired by the rest of the inhabitants which amounted to a few ducks and some chachalacas. In separate enclosures there were a few birds of prey, toucans, parrots, guacamayas, oscillated turkeys and other birds indigenous to this area. I think I was pretty impressed six years ago.

We continued on to the primates and saw several species of baboons, spider monkeys, capuchins and two large, old chimpanzees. As you know, Rob is a big fan of all things monkey so we lingered for quite awhile. The two chimpanzees, an adult male and female were obviously tired after a long day of being gawked at and ready for the front gates to close on the last visitors. The female was quite agitated and, while most of us were giving the cage a wide berth, one small child was lured close to the cage by her antics. This was the moment she had been waiting for. She reached back, grabbed a large handful of poo and hurled it at the unknowing young boy. Great thunderous laughter exploded from the crowd of onlookers who had been waiting as patiently as the chimp for this grand finale. Primate 1. Fragile ego of small child 0.

The big cats were really something to see. It was just before feeding time and they were all really riled up in anticipation of their supper. I don't think I have ever seem tigers quite this animated. I took a quick video of the tigers but I'm not sure it's very good.

Feeding time!

Why so nervous?

Clever use for any old planes you might have laying about.

Less carnival attraction than vocational training methinks!

As the street lights turned on across the park, we returned to home base to wash the nature off and get spruced up for dinner. I had read a restaurant review on my favorite website for all things Merida, Yucatan Living, that had piqued my interest. Slavia, located on Paseo Montejo just across from the Monumento a la Patria, is not exactly the obvious choice for a family friendly meal but I had faith that the Kinnon kids would totally dig this place and the eclectic menu. My only concern was whether the staff at Slavia would welcome our motley crew. Rob didn't have any long pants, strongly recommended in the dining rooms of Merida's more formal dining rooms and the kids certainly didn't look like the typical young chic professional crowd that flocks to Slavia's funky restaurant and lounge on any given evening. Turns out my worries were for naught. The smartly dressed maitre d' greeted us warmly, welcomed us inside and settled us in to a cozy table in the front room.

This dinner falling squarely in the "special occasion" category, I requested the wine list We were presented with a nice list of wines, spirits and after dinner specialty liquors but, even better, I was invited to join the sommelier in the small temperature controlled wine vault to hand select a bottle. Joy! From their well thought out (if pricey) inventory, I selected a Cabernet-Temperanillo blend from a favorite Mexico wine house, Casa Madero, which at over 500 years old, is apparently the oldest operating winery in the Western hemisphere. This line of wines are named for the original San Lorenzo Winery, which was founded in its current location in the Valle de Parras region in Central Mexico in 1597! So far, so good.

The menu, as eclectic as the decor is dominated by what I refer to as "small plates" with a few "platos fuertes" and some fondue offerings. We had a tough time deciding what to try but settled on an array of appetizers including balsamic grilled asparagus wrapped in bacon, carpaccio, thai spring rolls and an ensalada caprese. We also tried a traditional fondue which the kids loved and a delicious grilled tuna dish. Everything was fantastic in taste and presentation with the exception of the caprese which came with edam cheese rather than the customary fresh mozzarella. It wasn't bad, just not what I wanted. The fondue was the best I have had in a long time with the perfect balance of cheeses and dry white wine and the tuna was fresh, moist and flavorful.. Yummo! We all left happy and satisfied and I wouldn't hesitate to go back, either with the kids or as a couple for a romantic evening.

Tomorrow, the feria de caballos in Tizimin. Joy!!

Go to: Day 4 - Tizimin and the Feria de Caballos

View Video
Format: ???
Duration: 1:02

Travels in the Yucatan - Exploring Colonial Ruins

Rob Kinnon — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 05:40:00 GMT

As this trip was planned to be for work as well as pleasure, we did our best to get the work out of the way first. In all honesty, even the kids have grown accustomed to and now find the fun in poking around old ruins...even the ruins of Colonial Merida! It was interesting to see what we would find behind the grand facades and elegant entries. Considering our price point, we were looking for the most part at buildings that were quite dilapidated and would require both imagination and renovation. Some of the best building we toured were those that had been virtually untouched since they were first built. In other words, no one had gone in and screwed them up yet with awful new tile and drop ceilings. Uugh.

Our real estate focus on this trip had a two pronged approach: we would we looking for well located historic homes, requiring a full overhaul that could then be either flipped or held as income generating vacation rentals AND buildings in any condition that could be converted for use as a hostel, guest house or small hotel. Suffice it to say we started out with a lot on our plate. After driving around and acquainting ourselves with the historic centro and the popular surrounding neighborhoods, we were able to cull our list to just a handful of the most viable options. This was my favorite of the day.

The real estate agent we were working with recommended lunch at Los Almendros, one of the most traditional local restaurants serving authentic Yucatecan cuisine such as queso relleno, sopa de lima, lomitas, pavo en escabeche, salbutes, panuchos and more. I was pleased to see that we were the only gringos in the place despite the desirable location on the pretty Parque Mejorada which commemorates the 6 “niños heroes” who lost their lives defending the Chapultapec Castle in Mexico City during the Mexican-American War of 1847. While the dining rooms are bright and lacking in much charm, the food and the service are both top notch. Rob and I split an order of panuchos and tried out the spicy pavo en relleno negro and the juicy cochinita pibil.

After lunch we returned to Casa Esplendid to catch up on email, relax by the pool and generally get our bearings for the evening. Lunch will still sitting pretty well with us all so we opted for a stroll through the Gran Plaza and in and out of the nearby shops. The kids each grabbed a sweet sorbet while Rob and I sat and enjoyed some coffee, reviewed our viewings from the day and watched the zocalo come to life.

After coffee in the park, Rob and I were looking for a light dinner so we ended up stopping in to the restaurant at Hotel Casa Lucia located close by the park of the same name. They had some good Italian and middle eastern menu options which kept us all happy. The coup de gras was the incredible chocolate cake the children ordered for dessert.......

.......which I gladly helped them finish when we returned home. Hey, it's my vacation too, right?

Go to: Day 3 - Parque Centenario and the Merida Zoo

Travels in the Yucatan - Merida Day 1

Rob Kinnon — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 01:03:00 GMT

We have been to Merida several times in the six years that we have lived in Mexico. One of Cole's annual Tae Kwon Do tournaments is hosted here and we are looking forward Birdie's first qualifying horse show that will take place at the Hipico del Sureste at the end of March. It's a great city and I am enjoying it now more than ever. We are here on a recon mission, looking for investment properties for ourselves and for buyers looking to expand their portfolios, so it's not as much of vacation as I might like. Still, the kids are coming with us so we will be looking for opportunities for fun when we are not picking our way through old colonial ruins.

As always, we are taking the route south through Tulum and then up to Valladolid before heading west to Merida. The road is now smooth and fast and the connection with the Merida cuota is well marked. We particularly enjoy seeing all the new shops and restaurants that have sprung up between Tulum and Coba. It sure has changed in the past six years!

Future bloggers?

PEMEX cracking down on scamming attendants!

Current cuota fares from Valladolid to Merida

While we usually stay at Luz en Yucatan, our very favorite small hotel in Merida, we decided to treat ourselves this time and rent a house and give ourselves some room to spread out a bit. We are spending nearly a week in the city so personal space will be important. Rob selected Casa Esplendida, a sprawling four bedroom colonial located just across the street from the Merida English Language Library, in a super neighborhood that seems to be a haven for Merida expats. The house was fully refurbished about a year ago and is a perfect place to call home base as we explore the city. Perfectly situated within a ten minute walk of both the Gran Plaza and the south end of Paseo Montejo, we couldn't be in a better spot.

Day 1 was a travel day and we did little more than arrive, check in, get settled and wander into the main square for a stroll and some dinner. Touristy but always good, we chose Pancho's for our first meal. Rob had never been before but the kids and I gave Pancho's two (or rather three) thumbs up when we were last here at the end of October. Pancho's did not disappoint despite being jam packed with (primarily gringo) tourists, like ourselves. The kids both enjoyed the arrachera quesadillas while the grown ups devoured a salad of octopus, avocado and arugula and the pate rustico followed by a beautiful piece of sea bass served with wilted spinach and rice in a mild chile sauce and, for Rob, the cowboy steak with a serrano chile sauce and mashed sweet potatoes. Delicious. I would be remiss if I did not mention that the service at Pancho's is perhaps the best I have received anywhere in Mexico. I am looking forward to trying either Trotters or La Tratto, the other two venues in the renowned restaurant group headed by Paul Trotter.

Birdie enjoying the steak quesadilla

Mayan Coffee - Always a crowd pleaser!

After dinner, we took a stroll to the Gran Plaza to check out what festivities might be going on. On the south west corner a stage had been erected and several thousand people were seated and waiting for some sort of convert to commence. I would love to say we decided to move on because the kids were tired but, in reality, it was the grown ups who couldn't hang. ;)

In the north east corner by the cathedral another stage held a dozen or so Municipal VIPs backed by a large screen. The city's accomplishments of the year were being announced and celebrated followed by a brief fireworks display. Good timing on our part! The kids grabbed some marquesitas for dessert and Rob and I sat in the park and enjoyed an after dinner coffee, a quiet end to our first day in the city. Tomorrow is jam packed full of buildings to tour. Curious about what we will find....

Must finish the night with Marquesitas....

and coffee at Peon Conteras.

Goodnight Merida.

Go to: Day 2 - Exploring Colonial Ruins