Merida, Mexico - Day 2

a map of the Yucatan for orientation:
After almost 24 hours (3 flights, a visit to a Cancun beach, a corrupt Mexican traffic cop, and one 3-hr car ride), we arrived in Merida in one piece. Leigh was exhausted beyond words, but Andrew held up pretty well. Kay, Eric, and Brian got to the Cancun airport after a delay in Philadelphia (disfunctional plane toilets) and a medical emergency (passenger with a seizure) on their first flight.

Cancun beach:

After one day's exploration, Merida seems to be an interesting town. It reminds us of a mix of the architecture of Cochabamba Bolivia and Arequipa Peru, with the economy of Mendoza Argentina. The air quality is much better than we expected despite the ubiquitous VW buggy.

We spent our first day exploring the city - the Plaza Mayor, the Catedral de San Ildefonso (surprisingly clean and empty - built in the late 1500s and looted during the Mexican Revolution), the Museo de Arte Contemporaneo Ateneo de Yucatan (featuring local artists' work and a room intended as a refresher course for Art History 101 including a replica of the Mona Lisa under glass), the Palacio de Gobierno (with historical murals by Fernando Pacheco), and walking the fancy street of Paseo de Montejo.

relaxing on the Paseo de Montejo


Christmas in the tropics:
Mona Lisa print behind protective glass:
a house along the fancy Paseo:

We've arrived... day 1

Upcoming trip to Mexico (12/23/07 to 1/3/08)

Hiya,

We are hoping you can give us some travel tips for our upcoming trip to Mexico where we will be spending one week in Merida (on the Yucatan Peninsula) and about 5 days in Mexico City.

Should we get in touch with anyone you know? Are there any restaurants we shouldn't miss? Are there any museums, archeological, or ecological sites we shouldn't miss? Besides 'the Revenge', anything else we should avoid?!

We eagerly await any advice you have,
the Friedlemen

Oh, Lord, stuck in Lodi again

As we all understand, many northern birds fly South in the Winter. Apparently many of our avian friends find California's northern Central Valley to be a mighty fine place to Winter. In the past two weeks alone, we have sited over a dozen new bird species.

This past weekend, with Frishdad, we went in search of Tundra Swans which migrate from Alaska, Canada, and Oregon to wetlands areas near Lodi, South of Sacramento. Despite the CCR song, Lodi wasn't such a bad place to be 'stuck' for a few hours. The avian migrants arrive in October and overwinter until February.


Apparently, the Tundra Swan and Sandhill Cranes follow the same migratory route from the North. We also saw thousands of cranes:


While driving through the agricultural flatlands, there were hundreds of raptors - many of whom were perched on utility poles like this Swainson's Hawk:


There was even a short-eared owl hunting in the early evening.

At the Cosumnes River Preserve, there were Northern Shovelers and gorgeous Northern Pintails (photos taken through our crummy binoculars):


Andrew, Leigh, and Frishdad:

after a long summer...

the finches have returned.


As suddenly as they disappeared in the Spring, they have returned in November. We think they are lesser goldfinches?

In addition, we have tried attracting hummingbirds with a small feeder, but only on ocassion have we witnessed one - okay, only 3 times. I wonder if they are scared or if our food is tasteless. The following picture is not our feeder, but resembles ours. Most other feeders have a place for the birds to rest. Do you think this is why we see very few?

In other news, it's raining here. No really - it's raining IN here. Our roof has a leak and we slept last night to the delightful 'splop' 'drip' 'plop' of water splashing down into our cooking pots. Luckily the leak is in the hallway and not over 'the beast' or in either bedrooms.

As for a report on entertainment - we saw Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings on Wednesday at San Francisco's Bimbo's 365 Club. The venue was a classic old place that seemed to be a hybrid of New York's Roseland Ballroom and the Bottom Line. Despite the cool venue, the show was fraught with sound troubles for about an hour. Sharon was frustrated with Dwayne, the soundboard dude with the 'no W' sign tattooed on his forearm, but admitted that she hadn't shown up for the soundcheck. So, after an hour, the sound problems were worked out and she and the band were starting to groove. Andrew describes their music as neo-Motown - a great horn section. So, I think on a different night she would have been great, but our show was mediocre. Oh well.



Finally, tonight we are checking out a men's basketball game - UC Davis vs. U Oregon. Last weekend Brown U beat UCD. U Oregon is ranked #17. From this vast knowledge, UCD is going to lose big-time tonight. We'll let you know.