Categories:
Economic Education
Announcements:
1. I’m visiting the Yucatan after Thanksgiving. I’ll be staying in Cancun, Chichen Itza, Merida, and Playa del Carmen.
2. To all my friends in Mexico: If you want to meet up, let me know. ¡Y si solo hablas español, mis hijos pueden traducir!
3. I’m going to be a Visiting Scholar at the University of Texas during most of December and January.
4. I will be on-campus at UT almost all weekdays, and would be delighted to meet friends old and new for lunch during my time in Austin.
5. My house in Austin has a big outdoor TV, so I also plan to do at least one karaoke night, as well as a sing-along of Emo: The Musical. If you haven’t seen it, you must!
6. No joke!
READER COMMENTS
Travis
Nov 17 2020 at 11:48am
The Yucatan is a magical place. Cancun and Playa are normally uninteresting tourist traps but areas in between and south are wonderful. Merida is a charming city although probably less interesting for teenage boys. You didn’t ask but here is my unsolicited travel advice:
The plaza area in Merida is a must see, especially on Sundays.
Also check out the Lucas de Galvez market to find everything from leather goods to live birds. Should be relevant to an economist.
The Hacienda Sotuta de Peon is fun for the family. It includes a tour of the hacienda mansion, historic sisal factory, sisal fields and a visit to multiple cenotes on the property.
For fine dining and the best of Yucatecan cuisine, make a reservation at the restaurant in the Hacienda Xcantun.
Merida has a good size bull ring although I don’t know if it is the season.
For not fine dining, any food stall on a corner or at a market will do very well. Keep an eye out for kibis which are made from ground wheat stuffed with different meats and cheeses. Merida has a sizeable population descended from Lebanese immigrants and the local cuisine reflects that.
If food is your thing, try and book a culinary tour. Adventures Mexico was an excellent local agency although I don’t know if they are still in business.
There was a Mayan museum under construction when I left Merida. It may be worth checking out.
The small port town of Progreso is only about a thirty minute drive from Merida. The beaches are not near as good as those on the Caribbean side but it is a local hangout and a great place to get the world’s best ceviche and sample micheladas.
Chichen is suitably impressive but it is expensive and normally a tourist trap where you will be constantly hassled by vendors. If you are into Mayan ruins, I would recommend the excellent Uxmal and Ek Balam, the latter sporting a large and impressive cenote where you can swim away the heat of the afternoon.
If you are staying in Playa you will probably go to Tulum. Again, a tourist trap but the seaside views are picturesque.
The Sian Ka’an nature reserve near Playa makes for a great escape from the tourist hell that is the Riviera Maya. And it has spider monkeys. Everybody loves spider monkeys.
Safe travels and enjoy!
Brian Combs
Nov 17 2020 at 1:54pm
Longtime reader of EconLib here. First time commenter (I think).
As a nearly lifelong Austinite, welcome to Austin. Even though it sounds like a relatively short stay, I’m sure you’ll have a great time.
Mark Brophy
Nov 18 2020 at 7:16pm
I’m glad your sons speak Spanish. They might prefer living in Mexico or another Spanish country as the government here expands and becomes less tolerable.
Jose Pablo
Nov 18 2020 at 8:20pm
The government here has to grow a lot before becoming the size of the Spanish or Mexican ones.
Not every country in the world (and for sure not Spain) has the very well design mechanism that requires the President and the Congress to agree to enact new regulation and expand the government size/influence.
The benefits of this are about to be clear … if they were not already.
Todd Quillen
Dec 1 2020 at 12:15pm
Welcome to Austin Bryan, hopefully you’ll enjoy your stay. I live in south Austin and I’d love to meet you for lunch. Let me know if you’re interested and if there’s a day that works for you.
Comments are closed.