Mérida and Izamal

On Thursday, after a good night's sleep, a record 6 hours, I had a relaxed breakfast on one of the hostel's balconies overlooking the main square. Then I caught the colectivo to Izamal, the yellow city, with its Convent of Saint Anthony of Padua and the Kinich Kak Moo Pyramid.

Back in Mérida, I took a walk around the local market, where I ended up having lunch. I also saw how the tacos were made, which are made from corn and are the local bread, Mexicans don't know how to eat without their tacos. 1kg of tacos costs 24 pesos, about €1.20.

At 4 pm I watched, from the balcony of my hostel's cafeteria, the children's Carnival parade that started at the main square and ended at Santa Ana park.

At 6 pm I went to the theatre at the Mérida Cultural Centre, where some works by the Frenchman Matisse were on display. I also went to see a theatre/comedy play about Carnival.

The story revolves around the city's mayor, who is also the president of the festival committee and president of several other things. The play centres on the party and, at the preparation meeting, there are various representatives of various city bodies and a lot of arguing, but in the end the mayor decides that, to avoid disturbances and fed up with complaints, he'll ban the sale of beer during the festivities. To minimise the protests he promises to bring and offer everyone a drink for free. So, on the day of the party the mayor shows up with the big pot of drink and everyone starts drinking. It turns out that the mayor, fed up with so many complaints, decided to put a laxative in the drink and, during the festivities and dances, you start to hear some “fireworks” and the local representatives start leaving the stage one by one with stomach cramps and desperate to get to the toilet.

At 9 pm I went to Santa Lucía park to hear the typical Serenata Yucateca, with more than 57 years of history. Today was show 2835 with Serenata. There was also a tenor, tap dancing with a tray full of glasses and bottles on the head, poems and bombas.

The bombas are requested by the audience, who shout “bomba”, and then the host delivers a sort of pick-up line, a cheeky phrase with a double meaning.