Family Visits - Gary and Sandra (part I)

My brother Gary had told me two years ago that in April 2018 he had an international conference in Merida. It seemed like a long time in the future at the time, but time flew by just like the afternoon rains come and go here in Merida this time of year. 
He and Sandra arrived via Easterwood/DFW/CDMX/MID around 6:30 on a Friday evening. I had cooked dinner for all of us so we came back to the house and had pina coladas on the mirador followed by our Texas version of poc chuc which is pretty darn close to authentic, with lots of talking mixed in, and even some rest.
Sandra always bears gifts. She brought Terry and I matching Columbia-style shirts embroidered with the TAMU logo. Awesome! I proudly wore mine the following day sightseeing. 

Gary, Yours truly in her new shirt, Sandra

We spent the next two days walking town, taking the turibus down Montejo and other fancy parts of town, meandering through the College of Architecture where Gary visited with students, oohing and ahhing at the Camino de Flores, shopping, eating street food, eating at La Chaya Maya, going through the maze with awe and wonderment at Mercado Galvez followed by a sampling of candy bought at the market and a meal of street food at the mercado. Gary's ability to eat salsa de habanero impressed even the most tolerant diehards. I loved watching their faces as they watched for him to pass out from the heat and they saw nada. This was followed by more pina coladas on the mirador. 

Sandra suggested I paint "our coche" parked directly in front of the house to dress it up a bit. We don't think it has been moved for several months. We don't think it has a motor. We know it doesn't have hub caps nor any mirrors, it has a semi-seat, and the windows apparently don't roll up.
We spent Sunday strolling the Plaza Grande, shopping, and eating marquesitas. The following picture was taken after a dual hat purchase and eating churros and marquesitas.

Aren't these two cute??

I think their take away was that yes, we live in an authentic area of centro. On Monday morning they moved to the Hyatt for the conference. They traveled to points north so they saw the old, the old artistocratic, the new, and the noveau riche.
After the conference, they came back and stayed one more night on Thursday night prior to leaving early on Friday. By then, Terry and I had traveled into Playa del Carmen and caught the bus to the Cancun Airport to meet my sista. That was all on Monday. The three of us stayed one night in PDC and on Tuesday Terry flew back to Houston and my sister and I started our adventure by boarding a bus to Merida. 
More on that next post!