We had an open today with the only set plans being a covid test (required to fly into the USA) and dinner reservations.
We started the morning with a walk up to a bakery that we seen at a booth at the Slow Food Market. We grabbed some breakfast to go and our stroll back turned into a brisk walk in order to hit our appointment time for the covid test at 9:30am.
We had found a pharmacy that offers at home testing when we visited earlier in the year. It costs a bit more for in-home (~$900 pesos) but, especially in March 2021, we felt it would be safer vs visiting a clinic. The company we used was Akulab (WhatsApp +52 999 542 9046). They have been very good for the two times we used them. They set an appointment and, hence the mini-jog back from the bakery, they usually show up a little early. The test was done in our living room and the results emailed a few hours later. I wish United Airlines was as coordinated. I uploaded the results to their website as instructed but was still asked to show the emailed results at the airport.
My wife wanted to purchase a bug zapping racquet to leave in our house for future guests to we walked across town towards the main market. I needed to get some cash from an ATM along the way and this turned out to be much more of a challenge than expected. There is a bank fairly close to our place but there was a line outside the door so we decided to keep walking. That was a mistake because the closer we got to the market the longer the bank lines became. We finally gave in and waited in line at an appliance store that also had a bank in the back. Lucky for us, it was a fairly short wait outside and when we got in the long line continued to the counter but the lone cash ATM was unused. I’m still not sure of the reason for the lines but I’m guessing it had something to do with the first day of the month and either paychecks or bill paying.
Money in hand er pocket, we headed over to Mercado San Benito. This is an amazing place! A giant maze of a market that offers almost everything from chilis, fresh veg, meat, hardware, locksmiths, t-shirts, etc. I’ve even got a nice haircut for .75 cents here.
These are photos from a prior visit:
We went to this bustling market the only photo I took this time was:
In the afternoon we had some chores to run that landed us up near Paseo de Montejo. We decided to stroll around a bit and explore. We walked through Casa T’ho - a collection of fancy boutique crafts and a bar - and had cocktails at Casa Chica - a narrow place with good drinks and snacks.
In the evening we had reservations at Amado By Thebeerbox on calle 47, I was excited to try this place because it had been highly recommended by a blog I read (https://midcitybeat.com). It was nice but not ‘wow’. To be fair it was a Tuesday and part of the restaurant was shut for a private party so we will have to give it another chance on a future visit. We ate a selection of appetizers and enjoyed drinks in the courtyard.
Upon leaving we decided to cross the street and visit a favorite place of ours at Micaela Mar y Lena (https://www.restaurantemicaela.com). It was our first time eating inside a place since early 2020 but they had the tables spread out. We enjoyed cocktails and seafood appetizers and made plans to return for a full meal post pandemic.
The next morning we made sure our documents were ready (see https://gazsoup.blogspot.com/2021/06/another-trip-to-merida-part-1-getting.html ) including our covid results, and took an Uber to the airport.
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