Zocalo | Hole In The Donut Cultural Travel

Built Atop the Ruins of Ancient T’Ho, Merida’s Main Plaza is the Wellspring of its Culture

Published July 22, 2010 | By Barbara Weibel

I pressed my nose to the bus window as we rolled into Merida, one of the places in Mexico that I had yearned to see for years. My brow furrowed in disappointment; the city looked nothing like I had envisioned. With its location in the northwestern corner of the Yucatan, just inland of where the Gulf of Mexico meets the Caribbean, I had expected to see palm trees and sun-splashed cottages dripping in tropical colors. Instead, unbroken lines of flat-fronted buildings stood so close together that it was difficult to tell where one ended and the next began. Like haughty neighbors, they turned their backs, forming fortress walls that made claustrophobic canyons of the streets. As I climbed into a taxi, the unbroken row houses flushed briefly gold in the setting sun and then skulked into shadow.

Flat-fronted buildings line the streets of the historic district

Although I’d felt completely safe traveling around Mexico solo for the past few months, I was suddenly anxious about exploring this large, unfamiliar city after dark. By day the city had been intimidating; by night its dark streets seemed positively ominous. Fortunately, the hostel owner assured me that Merida is the safest city in the Republic, handed me a map, and told me to be sure to check out the artwork inside the Palacio de Gobierno on the Continue reading →

Posted in Mexico travel |

Tagged blogsherpa, cultural travel, culture, Merida, Mexico, Travel, travel stories, yucatan peninsula, Zocalo |

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Mexico Trivia: Zocalo, Plazuela, Jardin, or Plaza Principal?

Published July 19, 2010 | By Barbara Weibel

I hopped in a taxi at the bus station and asked the driver to take me to the Zocalo. “Perdon?” he replied. Thinking he hadn’t heard me I repeated my request, but he still seemed perplexed. “La Plaza Principal?” I tried. That did the trick; we were instantly on our way to the main square in the historic center of Veracruz.

Plaza Principal in Veracruz, is filed with vendors and music every night

Almost every city in Mexico has a large open square in the center of town, usually anchored by a cathedral or parish church. Before I began this long-term backpacking trip around Mexico I believed that these squares were all called Zocalos, but I was soon to discover that the naming of these public spaces wasn’t quite that simple.

My confusion began at my first stop, Mazatlan. In the center of the historic old town I found Plazuela de la Republica, the city’s main square, which is surrounded by the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Municipal Palace, and the main telegraph and postal buildings. In La Paz, capital of Baja California South, the Plaza Principal was called Jardín de Velasco (Velasco Gaden). In Zacatecas it was Plaza de las Armas; in Guanajuato the Jardin Union; in Queretaro I found another Plaza de las Armas. But no Zocalos.

Plaza de las Armas - the Plaza Principal in Chihuahua

I Googled the term and hit the Mexico forums, but research further muddled the issue. Even Mexican nationals were in disagreement on the subject. Although most concurred that to be considered a Zocalo a square must have both a cathedral and government building on its perimeter, many also insisted that the term is barely known throughout much of Mexico. Yet I was quite sure that the main square in Acapulco, which I had visited more than 20 years earlier, is called the Zocalo, as is the main square in Mexico City. Continue reading →

Posted in Mexico travel |

Tagged blogsherpa, cathedrals, centro historico, cultural travel, culture, main square, Merida, Mexico, Plaza principal, plazuela, Travel, travel stories, yucatan peninsula, Zocalo |

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Giving in to Temptation in Merida

Published July 17, 2010 | By Barbara Weibel

Somehow the man in the Chihuahua park knew I was easy prey. From a distance he slouched against a hand cart and looked me over. His first pass was casual, just a slow saunter past my park bench, without even a glance in my direction. Old addictive thinking patterns resurfaced, patterns I thought I had long ago conquered. It was my birthday. Surely I deserved a treat? My desire transmitted through thin air. He reversed direction and approached a second time, until he stood on the sidewalk directly in front of me, his glittering onyx eyes boring through me.

“Que tienes?” I asked. What do you have?

“Ah, muchas cosas,” he replied. “Que quieres?” Many things; what do you want?

“Tienes coca?”

He tried to suppress the grin that crept onto his face. “Coca?” he repeated.”No, pero tengo coco.” No, but I have coconut, he corrected, as he reached into his into his ice cream cart for a tube of coconut ice cream. Apparently, I wasn’t the first gringa to mix up the word for coconut with the slang for cocaine, though I might have been the most embarrassed.

I don’t even like ice cream. I can accompany my friends to an ice cream parlor and watch them devour sundaes without experiencing the slightest twinge of desire. But Mexican helado is unlike any ice cream I have tasted; it is sweet seduction, nectar of the gods. I’d first answered the siren call in Cabo San Lucas, where I watched a heladero struggle his ice cream cart down a rocky sand path leading to the harbor entrance. Gnarled, dust-caked toes protruded from his decayed leather sandals and his canvas trousers and white shirt hung on his emaciated frame. I would have bought something even if he were selling pork rinds.

A vast smile slit his leathery brown face when I stepped up and asked what flavors he had. Wait, he signaled with an upheld finger, then opened the cart lid and ducked his head through the ice fog to rummage around in its depths. Triumphantly, he emerged with a frozen foot-long plastic tube filled with a white substance. “Usted debe probar este. Es hecho en casa – mi especialidad!” You must try this. It is homemade – my specialty! I tore a corner of the rubbery plastic with my teeth and tentatively sampled the icy treat. Rich, delicious coconut ice coated my mouth and slickened my teeth. Like a greedy baby I sucked on the tube, forcing the frozen cylinder up from the bottom with my thumbs, not willing to waste a single drop.

Girls lineup to buy ice cream from a Zacatecas street vendor

Though I tried to resist, the siren call of Mexican ice cream continued to lure me into its clutches. In tiny Dolores Hidalgo, the town where Mexico’s independence movement began, I rushed through the old jail and cathedral, anxious to get to the main plaza, where some of the country’s most famous ice cream vendors hawk a bizarre lineup of flavors. Our tour guide led us to his favorite stand. Immediately, spoons Continue reading →

Posted in Mexico travel |

Tagged blogsherpa, central plaza, cultural, cultural travel, culture, El Colon, guitarists, guitars, ice cream, Mamey, Merida, Mexico, Music, musicians, serenades, sherbet, Travel, travel stories, yucatan peninsula, Zocalo |

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Lecheros and Danzon at the Zocalo in Veracruz, Mexico

Published June 3, 2010 | By Barbara Weibel

Although I had been assured that it was not difficult to find last minute accommodations during Mexico’s Cinco de Mayo holiday, upon arriving in Veracruz I was informed that every single hotel room in and around the Zocalo was sold out. Initially, I was surprised, since Veracruz is hardly a prime tourist destination; as Mexico’s largest port, its Malecon runs past cargo and military ships rather than gorgeous beaches and the city offers very little in the way of museums or other attractions. But I hadn’t figured on the Zocalo, the city’s central plaza, being such a cultural mecca.

Palacio Municipal, the oldest government building in Mexico, anchors one end of the Zocalo

Outdoor restaurants line pedestrian-only streets around the Zocalo

Even in the middle of the day, the tree-filled Zocalo was a feast for the eyes. On one side of the square, worshipers stopped into Virgen de la Asuncion Cathedral for quick devotions; on another, people streamed in and out of the brilliant white Municipal Palace, the oldest city government building in Mexico. Waiters stood in pedestrian-only streets choked with dining tables, enticing passers-by with promises of discounts and fresh seafood, while a string of dance troupes performed on a portable stage in the plaza. Phoning around, I’d found a hotel room a mile away, but that simply wouldn’t do; I had to stay on Continue reading →

Posted in Mexico travel |