Armchairshrink
24th July 2007, 01:33 PM
Once we got out of Coba and back on the road, we were surprised to find how much better the road got once we crossed into Yucatan state. Reminds me of California/Nevada! The drive to Valladolid wasn't too bad, although it got a little hairy once we actually got into town. I'm used to narrow one-way streets, but less used to guys on scooters racing past me. We found our hotel, the Meson De Marques, without too much difficulty, and got checked in. For the millionth time I was really grateful for Chris' Spanish, as we quickly learned that even the people at the hotel there did not speak much English.
The garden area and restuarant part of the hotel - a 15th century home - was beautiful. The rooms - we stayed in a "Standard Plus" for 710 pesos/night - were servicable and decent by "rest of Mexico" standards but not as romantic or charming as the hotel itself. And in case you haven't noticed by the rest of my review, I believe in getting the best value for my travel dollar, and I did not feel this was a terribly good value by Mexican standards. The beds were actually far worse than the ones at Hamaca Loca, and the much-touted bathtub (a rarity in Mexican hotel rooms) only had a trickle of water, so I was unable to take my much-anticipated bath. All this said, the area was so charming that I would probably stay here again, anyway, just with lowered expectations.
http://lh5.google.com/armchairshrink/RqLe3FJ2AwI/AAAAAAAAAQE/iuqfHRRX4a8/s800/Mexico07%20014.jpg (http://www.tulum.info/%3Ca%20href=)
http://lh3.google.com/armchairshrink/RqLe2lJ2AvI/AAAAAAAAAP8/lNKx6Y_nWaE/s800/Mexico07%20003.jpg (http://www.tulum.info/%3Ca%20href=)
After checking in and enjoying air conditioning and non-salty, hot showers we went to explore the town. We were hungry at first, so we went to the food court to get some cheap local food.
This was a little harder than I'd anticipated. It seemed pretty simple. I wanted to sample some local botanas, particularly sabultes and papadzules but at this time of day (3pm or so) it seemed the entire town was here and they were all eating comida corrida plates - which was too much food and too heavy for us since we wanted to eat at Meson de Marques later. We decided to pick a place with a line and wait - but when we got to the counter at one, we saw a cockroach scurry right over some prepared food. We went to another place but the lackadaisical guy there took our order, only to inform us 5 minutes later that they were out of everything we'd ordered.
I tried yet another place. I ordered in Spanish (food is the one thing I'm good at in Spanish!). This place didn't have papadzules so I ordered sopes con puerco y sabultes con pollo. I was very confused about whether to pay up front (since it seemed like a counter-service operation, but no, there's still a cuenta, like everywhere in Mexico it seemed) and how to retrieve my food (they brought it to me, but with some people they were just yelling for them - maybe they were being nice to the poor gringa?) but once we had the food, it was tasty and filling and very cheap. Chris, despite promises of being an adventurous eater, was sure our tummies were not yet able to handle the local bacteria and that we'd get sick. He worried for nothing - we were fine and I'd come back here again for a tasty cheap lunch.
http://lh6.google.com/armchairshrink/RqLQcVJ2AbI/AAAAAAAAANc/IISollqfSIg/s800/Mexico07%20131.jpg (http://www.tulum.info/%3Ca%20href=)
After that we walked around the zocalo, in some of the touristy shops lining the zocalo and went to the big cathedral at the other end of the plaza, San Gervasio.
http://lh4.google.com/armchairshrink/RqLQc1J2AcI/AAAAAAAAANk/Vf_s5t_0TAI/s800/Mexico07%20134.jpg (http://www.tulum.info/%3Ca%20href=)
Since it was Sunday, there was a service, so we just lingered at the entrance, appalled by some of the thank-god-it-wasn't-Americans tourists who pranced about taking pictures in miniskirts and halter tops. I know Americans have a bad rep for ignoring the culture and offending locals throughout the world, and part of the reason we visited this part of Mexico is our disdain for the average American tourist, but I have got to say that I saw the vast majority of the objectionable behavior coming from Italians and Germans throughout our trip.
After that we went down Calle De Los Frailes, which was a bunch of beautiful, colorful old homes.
http://lh5.google.com/armchairshrink/RqLQSFJ2AMI/AAAAAAAAALk/i0R0ZDUrEV0/s800/Mexico07%20017.jpg (http://www.tulum.info/%3Ca%20href=)http://lh4.google.com/armchairshrink/RqLQT1J2API/AAAAAAAAAL8/bHVEmKoHlgQ/s800/Mexico07%20035.jpg (http://www.tulum.info/%3Ca%20href=)
Then we arrived at San Bernadino. And...another service, with a lot of people inside and out. Many many people in traditional dress - men in guyubaras, women in hipiles and men in guayaberas. We actually saw a lot of this in the zocalo as well, but since many of the women wearing them were vendors, I wasn't sure if they were simply catering to tourists or not. Obviously not at the church, however.
A man saw our confusion and offered to show us inside the convent. I read later that you can only see the convent if you make arrangements with the priest in advance. I don't think this guy was the priest. He acted official and asked for a "donation for the church" - I have no idea, upon later reflection, if he was affiliated with the church or if he just opened the door for us and pocketed the money.
http://lh6.google.com/armchairshrink/RqLQVVJ2ARI/AAAAAAAAAMM/KIrTkWtbT6Q/s800/Mexico07%20106.jpg (http://www.tulum.info/%3Ca%20href=)
http://lh6.google.com/armchairshrink/RqLQWVJ2ATI/AAAAAAAAAMc/9scE9Gdd4ZA/s800/Mexico07%20200.jpg (http://www.tulum.info/%3Ca%20href=)
But I'm glad we got the chance to look around!
There were several well-like structures that apparently were connected to an underground cenote. The building looked OLD with very thick walls and narrow staircases. It was neat, but dark so a lot of my pictures did not turn out so well.
We walked back a different way we came, through a totally residential, non-touristy neighborhood and shortly before we got to the Zocalo we saw an inviting restuarant/bar (will edit in the name when I get home). We stopped in for some VERY affordable drinks and found the Mexico Vs. Argentina futbol finals to be projected on a big screen. The building itself was another beautiful colonial style building.
We left a couple hours later and strolled through the Zocalo, I guess it was around 9pm now. The place was hopping - Sunday night, so there was a band playing and lots of older couples dancing. We enjoyed the atmosphere for a while, then went back to Meson de Marques, despite still being full, to get some of their famous local food.
Luckily the surly waiter we got would be slow enough that by the time we got our food, we would actually be hungry! This guy was really something. We were seated by the kitchen to begin with, and I thought the other side of the patio looked nicer, plus it was open, so I asked the hostess if we could move over there. Was that our first mistake? The guy took a long time getting our drinks. There were no ashtrays nor did we see anyone else smoking so we asked if we were allowed to smoke (we spoke to him in surprisingly decent Spanish I thought the entire time). He said yes, so we asked for an ashtray. We...didn't get one. 20 minutes later (still no food) we asked again...and still didn't get it. We lit up anyway hoping he'd see the necessity of an ashtray and bring one buuuuuut he didn't. I finally walked over to the bar where I saw a stack and grabbed one. Since he wasn't interested in getting us another round of drinks, I ordered that directly from the bartender as well, who was far friendlier. Yeah, I loved the atmosphere of Valladolid but we really got the sense that it isn't exactly a place that caters to tourists. I didn't mind so much, we just had to reframe our expectations a little.
The food was...mostly good? I had papdzules and they were amazing and delicious. Chris got the regional sausage which was tasty but it was just a bunch of them with some undercooked rice and flavorless steamed veggies. I was amazed the place could turn out a good and semi-complex dish like papadzules (the sauce is made from pumpkin seeds) and screw up rice. We both agreed the sausage would go better with eggs at breakfast.
We finally got our bill and managed to enjoy ourselves despite the unevenness of the food and service, because it was just such a lovely, romantic spot. We took our drinks to the pool (now "closed" I'm guessing as the light was off) and dunked our poor abused feet (between Coba and walking all over Valladolid, they were aching) before passing out in our room. Which had A/C.
The garden area and restuarant part of the hotel - a 15th century home - was beautiful. The rooms - we stayed in a "Standard Plus" for 710 pesos/night - were servicable and decent by "rest of Mexico" standards but not as romantic or charming as the hotel itself. And in case you haven't noticed by the rest of my review, I believe in getting the best value for my travel dollar, and I did not feel this was a terribly good value by Mexican standards. The beds were actually far worse than the ones at Hamaca Loca, and the much-touted bathtub (a rarity in Mexican hotel rooms) only had a trickle of water, so I was unable to take my much-anticipated bath. All this said, the area was so charming that I would probably stay here again, anyway, just with lowered expectations.
http://lh5.google.com/armchairshrink/RqLe3FJ2AwI/AAAAAAAAAQE/iuqfHRRX4a8/s800/Mexico07%20014.jpg (http://www.tulum.info/%3Ca%20href=)
http://lh3.google.com/armchairshrink/RqLe2lJ2AvI/AAAAAAAAAP8/lNKx6Y_nWaE/s800/Mexico07%20003.jpg (http://www.tulum.info/%3Ca%20href=)
After checking in and enjoying air conditioning and non-salty, hot showers we went to explore the town. We were hungry at first, so we went to the food court to get some cheap local food.
This was a little harder than I'd anticipated. It seemed pretty simple. I wanted to sample some local botanas, particularly sabultes and papadzules but at this time of day (3pm or so) it seemed the entire town was here and they were all eating comida corrida plates - which was too much food and too heavy for us since we wanted to eat at Meson de Marques later. We decided to pick a place with a line and wait - but when we got to the counter at one, we saw a cockroach scurry right over some prepared food. We went to another place but the lackadaisical guy there took our order, only to inform us 5 minutes later that they were out of everything we'd ordered.
I tried yet another place. I ordered in Spanish (food is the one thing I'm good at in Spanish!). This place didn't have papadzules so I ordered sopes con puerco y sabultes con pollo. I was very confused about whether to pay up front (since it seemed like a counter-service operation, but no, there's still a cuenta, like everywhere in Mexico it seemed) and how to retrieve my food (they brought it to me, but with some people they were just yelling for them - maybe they were being nice to the poor gringa?) but once we had the food, it was tasty and filling and very cheap. Chris, despite promises of being an adventurous eater, was sure our tummies were not yet able to handle the local bacteria and that we'd get sick. He worried for nothing - we were fine and I'd come back here again for a tasty cheap lunch.
http://lh6.google.com/armchairshrink/RqLQcVJ2AbI/AAAAAAAAANc/IISollqfSIg/s800/Mexico07%20131.jpg (http://www.tulum.info/%3Ca%20href=)
After that we walked around the zocalo, in some of the touristy shops lining the zocalo and went to the big cathedral at the other end of the plaza, San Gervasio.
http://lh4.google.com/armchairshrink/RqLQc1J2AcI/AAAAAAAAANk/Vf_s5t_0TAI/s800/Mexico07%20134.jpg (http://www.tulum.info/%3Ca%20href=)
Since it was Sunday, there was a service, so we just lingered at the entrance, appalled by some of the thank-god-it-wasn't-Americans tourists who pranced about taking pictures in miniskirts and halter tops. I know Americans have a bad rep for ignoring the culture and offending locals throughout the world, and part of the reason we visited this part of Mexico is our disdain for the average American tourist, but I have got to say that I saw the vast majority of the objectionable behavior coming from Italians and Germans throughout our trip.
After that we went down Calle De Los Frailes, which was a bunch of beautiful, colorful old homes.
http://lh5.google.com/armchairshrink/RqLQSFJ2AMI/AAAAAAAAALk/i0R0ZDUrEV0/s800/Mexico07%20017.jpg (http://www.tulum.info/%3Ca%20href=)http://lh4.google.com/armchairshrink/RqLQT1J2API/AAAAAAAAAL8/bHVEmKoHlgQ/s800/Mexico07%20035.jpg (http://www.tulum.info/%3Ca%20href=)
Then we arrived at San Bernadino. And...another service, with a lot of people inside and out. Many many people in traditional dress - men in guyubaras, women in hipiles and men in guayaberas. We actually saw a lot of this in the zocalo as well, but since many of the women wearing them were vendors, I wasn't sure if they were simply catering to tourists or not. Obviously not at the church, however.
A man saw our confusion and offered to show us inside the convent. I read later that you can only see the convent if you make arrangements with the priest in advance. I don't think this guy was the priest. He acted official and asked for a "donation for the church" - I have no idea, upon later reflection, if he was affiliated with the church or if he just opened the door for us and pocketed the money.
http://lh6.google.com/armchairshrink/RqLQVVJ2ARI/AAAAAAAAAMM/KIrTkWtbT6Q/s800/Mexico07%20106.jpg (http://www.tulum.info/%3Ca%20href=)
http://lh6.google.com/armchairshrink/RqLQWVJ2ATI/AAAAAAAAAMc/9scE9Gdd4ZA/s800/Mexico07%20200.jpg (http://www.tulum.info/%3Ca%20href=)
But I'm glad we got the chance to look around!
There were several well-like structures that apparently were connected to an underground cenote. The building looked OLD with very thick walls and narrow staircases. It was neat, but dark so a lot of my pictures did not turn out so well.
We walked back a different way we came, through a totally residential, non-touristy neighborhood and shortly before we got to the Zocalo we saw an inviting restuarant/bar (will edit in the name when I get home). We stopped in for some VERY affordable drinks and found the Mexico Vs. Argentina futbol finals to be projected on a big screen. The building itself was another beautiful colonial style building.
We left a couple hours later and strolled through the Zocalo, I guess it was around 9pm now. The place was hopping - Sunday night, so there was a band playing and lots of older couples dancing. We enjoyed the atmosphere for a while, then went back to Meson de Marques, despite still being full, to get some of their famous local food.
Luckily the surly waiter we got would be slow enough that by the time we got our food, we would actually be hungry! This guy was really something. We were seated by the kitchen to begin with, and I thought the other side of the patio looked nicer, plus it was open, so I asked the hostess if we could move over there. Was that our first mistake? The guy took a long time getting our drinks. There were no ashtrays nor did we see anyone else smoking so we asked if we were allowed to smoke (we spoke to him in surprisingly decent Spanish I thought the entire time). He said yes, so we asked for an ashtray. We...didn't get one. 20 minutes later (still no food) we asked again...and still didn't get it. We lit up anyway hoping he'd see the necessity of an ashtray and bring one buuuuuut he didn't. I finally walked over to the bar where I saw a stack and grabbed one. Since he wasn't interested in getting us another round of drinks, I ordered that directly from the bartender as well, who was far friendlier. Yeah, I loved the atmosphere of Valladolid but we really got the sense that it isn't exactly a place that caters to tourists. I didn't mind so much, we just had to reframe our expectations a little.
The food was...mostly good? I had papdzules and they were amazing and delicious. Chris got the regional sausage which was tasty but it was just a bunch of them with some undercooked rice and flavorless steamed veggies. I was amazed the place could turn out a good and semi-complex dish like papadzules (the sauce is made from pumpkin seeds) and screw up rice. We both agreed the sausage would go better with eggs at breakfast.
We finally got our bill and managed to enjoy ourselves despite the unevenness of the food and service, because it was just such a lovely, romantic spot. We took our drinks to the pool (now "closed" I'm guessing as the light was off) and dunked our poor abused feet (between Coba and walking all over Valladolid, they were aching) before passing out in our room. Which had A/C.