Cathedral Valladolid under-going restoration. |
The road has one well-marked but very gentle s-curve, and one tollbooth stop. Other than that, if we had had an autopilot system we all could have tucked pillows behind our heads and snoozed for a couple of hours.
Valladolid Centro Public Park |
Our favourite restaurante in Valladolid |
We arrived in Valladolid shortly after 12:30 p.m., and drove in a meandering route through the city trying to remember the way on their narrow one-way-only-streets to the Taberna de los Frailes (The Friar’s Tavern). About the time our friends became convinced that we didn’t have a clue as to where we were going, and they were surely going to starve to death, or die of dehydration locked inside the car – we found it! Well darn. The restaurant was closed. I glanced at my wrist watch and realized it was only 12:45 and the lunch hour had not yet started. I popped around the corner to the outside patio where a waiter was setting up for the day and asked him in my really bad Spanglish what time they were due to open. Twenty minutes –perfect.
Convent of San Bernardino de Siena (monaste |
Across the street from the Taberna de los Frailes is a large structure that had been the Convent of San Bernardino de Siena. We decided to walk around it and take a few photos while we waited for the restaurant to open. Much to our delight we discovered it was open, and available for self-guided tours for a small entry fee of 30.00 pesos (about $3.00 CDN).
Built during1552 to 1560 by the Franciscan monks, the Convento (actually a monastery) of San Bernardino de Siena was in use until 1755 when it was abandoned. At some point in time an effort was made to restore the building as much as possible and to use it as a church, meeting hall, and community gathering place. The soft peach-pink tones of the ancient sand stone exterior have been accentuated by the lovely pink colour on the interior plaster.
One of my favourite photos - inside monastery |
To the locals this imposing cathedral is called “Sisal” the ancient name for their small town. Part of the building was erected over the vault of a very large cenote, an underground water-filled cavern that was created millions of years ago in the soft sandstone by rainwater. The monastery was created to be self sustaining with huge orchards, vegetable gardens and fresh water from the cenote. (No mention was made whether or not the monks operated a distillery on the property – strictly for medicinal purposes of course. Maybe Tequila? Or a Tequila-brandy?)
After wandering through the monastery we enjoyed a wonderfully tasty lunch and a glass of wine at the Taberna de los Frailes. I then dragged my friends into my favourite store in the centre of Valladolid. It's a wonderful store - called Yalat - with hand-made linens from various areas in Mexico. Expensive! But fabulous.
Surinder, Lawrie and Jenda - we're waiting for car ferry |
Happy, tired out, and ready to head home we retraced our route - catching the last car ferry from Punta Sam to Isla Mujeres.
Hasta LuegoLynda, Lawrie and Sparky
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1 comment:
Lynda, I'm bookmarking this! We're thinking about taking an off-island trip in a few weeks to Valladolid and some points beyond!
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