Sunday, February 18, 2018

February 17, 2018. Brunch – Chava Maya. Uxmal Dinner – Tacos al Pastor and Recova at Santa Lucia Plaza

February 17, 2018. Brunch – Chava Maya. Uxmal
Dinner – Tacos al Pastor and Recova at Santa Lucia Plaza

We slept in a bit getting out at about 10:00 to eat breakfast.  We decided to try Chava Maya.  I ordered Chillequilles with black mole and turkey. Although I would have enjoyed some eggs, I found the chillequilles surprisingly satisfying.  I have decided that my system seems to be benefited by consuming chocolate and black mole is a good source of chocolate.

At 11:30 we finally left town after cashing $100.00.

We drove to Uxmal, stopping first across the highway at the chocolate museum, where we bought chocolate slurries, chocolate mixed with ice and sugar.


We then entered Uxmal, which seems to be larger and more developed than Chichen Itza.  We walked around the site which has several different platforms from different epochs. We loved the Puuc architecture from around 800 a.d. with its sharp angles at the edges of temples and highly articulated masks in part due to the builders’ mastery of the use of mortar and stucco.

Uxmal is a really beautiful site.  Perhaps the reason I liked it better was because there were no vendors inside the archeological site’s perimeter, which gave it a more undisturbed tranquil atmosphere for me. I felt I was in more direct communion with the
Mayan spirits that inhabited these buildings a 1000 years ago.

After visiting Uxmal for several hours we drove back toward Merida but turned off the road at Cacao to swim in a cenote.  There were actually three cenotes on the commun property of San Antonio.  The one  we chose was very natural without any of the commercialization of Ik Kill.  The natural vegetation was wonderful, although in one area the guppies nipped at my dead skin, which I did not like, so we swam to the other side of the cenote there were fewer large guppies.

The water temperature was warmer than Ik Kill.  Today’s cenote’s water temperature seemed to be around 80, compared to 80 or 81 at Celestun and 76 degrees at Ik Kill (which made it too cold for us to enjoy swimming).

Let my emphasize how completely different our experience was today than yesterday due to the absence of commercialization.  Yesterday I experienced everything I dislike about Mexico, mainly the crass commercialization of vendors plying their wares at every turn and the total commercialization of a beautiful cenote to accommodate masses of people, where we spent 200 pesos before you ever got to the water and then discovered it was too cold to swim in..

We lingered for a half hour in the San Jacinto cenote with four to six others until 5:00, the designated closing time, and then drove back to Mérida convinced there were lots of things to see and do around Mérida that were relatively untouched by the hand of total commercialization

We changed clothes and walked down to the north end of the Zocalo and turned left and walked to the Tacos al Pastor restaurant, where we ordered two tacos and a coke each.  Suzette thought the tacos were dry and wanted some real food since she had not eaten much during the day, just a bit of my breakfast and a tangerine and a few bites of apple.

I suggested La Recova at Santa Lucia Plaza and Suzette googled it and saw that it featured crispy duck in tamarind chili sauce, which was enough to convince us to walk the three or four blocks to La Recova.

When we arrived we were offered and took a table under the portal next to the park.  When we sat down and were given menusSuzette immediately saw two interesting appetizers, Shrimp Papazulle, which is several shrimp stuffed with scrambled egg served on four enchiladas filled with egg and chopped shrimp and drizzled with a white pipian sauce.  I chose an appetizer of grilled breaded sweetbreads served on a sizzling platter with grilled onions with a wooden box of hand made tortillas.  I loved both appetizers although the sweetbreads were too stringy and doughy for Suzette, not the elegant deveined, thinly sliced, lightly floured, and sautéed that my mother made and most French restaurants make.  Suzette ordered the crispy duck which was served with an inverted ramekin of Mexican rice seasoned with tomatoes, peas, and carrots.  The dish included ½ duck, which was not crispy, but more stewed like the turkey used in many dishes.  We ate bot without objection, being firm believers of “when in Mexico, eat like the locals eat”.

 After the filling appetizers, we could not come close to eating all of the duck, so we had our waiter pack the remaining duck and tortillas, wine and the artesian water that cost 100 pesos per 750 ml. into plastic bags to take home.

When I drank the artesian water I had a Déjà vu experience of drinking the water in the building where my father’s office when I was growing up. It was built over an artisan spring and all the fountains spouted artisan water just like the water we were served tonight.  How cool is that!

We walked back to the Gran aHotel and sat down on a bench in the park facing 60th St.m which was alive with people and activity.  The block between the Zocalo and the end of the Park in front of our hotel was closed to traffic.  The restaurants beside the park were allowed to place tables and chairs out to the middle of the street for dining while the rest of the street on the park side of the street was a pedestrian walking street.  The half block between our hotel entrance and the Zocalo, where there were no restaurants, was open across the entire street and street entertainers gathered in that area to entertain the crowds of people. We enjoyed the festive Saturday night’s activity for several minutes and then went to our room around 10:30.  We ate José Cuervo tequila filled chocolates and the two macaroons made by Kuuk as Suzette read and I blogged while listening to a street performer play jazz on a tenor sax until we dozed off.

Bon Appetit

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