Strolling Along Paseo Montejo

In the late 19th century, when the henequen plantations were supplying the world with rope, and the landowners were amassing huge fortunes, a new boulevard was being laid out on the northern outskirts of Mérida.  It was modeled after the Champs Elysee in Paris... broad and tree-lined.  Here the Yucatán's new class of millionaires could build their lavish townhouses.  Today a number of those old houses still stand in between more modern buildings.  A few of them are still private homes, but most have been put to other uses as the offices of banks and other businesses.  Here are a few of the old mansions of Paseo Montejo that we saw yesterday as we took a walk along the boulevard...

The most impressive of all the houses along Paseo Montejo is the Palacio Cantón.  It was built between 1901 and 1911 as the home of Francisco Cantón Rosado, a wealthy politician and businessman.  Later it became the residence of the governors of the state of Yucatán, and still later it housed the Museum of Archaeology.

In 2012 the new Mundo Maya Museum has opened on the northern edge of the city, and most of the collection from the Museum of Archaeology was transported to the new museum.  However, the Palacio Cantón is still being put to good use for special exhibits, and is still worth visiting.   We went in and saw an exhibit of photographs of Mayan ruins taken in the 1960s.  For Fred and Nancy it was particularly interesting to see the photos of Uxmal and compare them with what they saw when they visited the ruins earlier this week.  A lot has been uncovered and reconstructed in the last 50 years.  Accompanying the photographs were a sizeable number of excellent Mayan artifacts from other collections.

We walked up the boulevard as far as the busy intersection where Walmart is located.  I am not a fan of Walmart.  I could probably count on one hand the number of times I have been in one in the United States.  But I have frequently been to the Walmart in Mérida.  And, as odd as it may sound, I take my friends that are visiting the city to the Walmart.  Or perhaps it's not so odd... I once read a travel article in which the author said that when you visit a foreign country you should visit a local supermarket.  My friends found it interesting to go to the grocery section and see the similarities, and the many differences between the Walmarts at home and the one here.  They saw fresh fruits, vegetables, cheeses and canned goods they don't see at home.  There is a large bakery filled with typical Mexican baked goods and several aisles of liquor (something you would not see in our Walmarts in Ohio.)

And lest anyone object to taking my friends to a Walmart and not to a traditional Mexican marketplace, on the way to Paseo Montejo we did walk through the little marketplace in Santa Ana!