Amazing stairways

Tiles San Francisco stairway

Swirls of patterns, flowers, and geometric designs scramble up the stairs, enticing pedestrians to climb higher and higher still. The eye-catching designs make climbing the steep stairway a pleasant experience instead of a hot, arduous task.

Street art is currently very popular in larger cities around the world, cities like San Francisco, California, Seoul, South Korea, Valparaíso, Chile, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, or Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. A quick search on the internet for “amazing stairways around the world” will bring up a plethora of steps decorated with realistic faces, piano keyboards, or perhaps a garden of flowers.

At the top of the Uribe stairway.

On Isla Mujeres, we have two sets of public stairways. One set is on Rueda Medina between the Navy base and the Bahai Chachi Hotel. 

The street sign says: Andador Virgilio Uribe. It is a shortcut from Medina, the main road on the west side of the island, to Juarez, the avenue that runs along the back of the Navy base and north through town. 

The other larger set is deep in the colonias, running east from Paseo de Aves, the double-laned road to a single-lane neighbourhood street. They are both serviceable, plain, and boring concrete.

Every time I see either one of those two stairways, I think: what could be done here? Flowers? Colour? Tiles? Something! 

Serviceable concrete stairway on Isla Mujeres

Isla has a high percentage of artistic people living and working on the island. 

There could be an opportunity to showcase our little paradise with beautiful creations. 

I am not advocating self-centred tagging or graffiti, but well-thought-out plans, with pleasing designs and bold colours. 

Almost finished - Goddess IxChel

Our neighbours recently commissioned Sergio, the artist, to paint a mural of the Mayan Goddess IxChel on their street-side wall. It is meaningful and beautiful, and a nice addition to our neighbourhood.

Perhaps, since paint is so impermanent in this hot and humid climate, a picture laid in a tile mosaic might be a better option for a public area such as a stairway. 

At various times, we have seen decorative murals painted on the seawalls or public structures. After a few years, the paintings fade to ghostly outlines and are then obliterated with another coat of single colour paint. 

Centro 2010

In centro a few years ago, the pillars in the square were decorated with colourful flowers and birds, unfortunately none that I recognized as being indigenous to the island, but still interesting to look at. Time, weather, and municipal budgets have their way with everything. Those fanciful designs have been painted over.

I certainly won't be applying for permission to paint anything other than the walls of our house. My painting abilities lie strictly with the paint-by-numbers canvases bought by my mother in the vain hope that I would develop into an artistic person. 

Sorry, Mom, it just didn't work!

But I can still daydream about vibrant colours and beautiful images leading me up a stairway, a colourful and artistic change from plain old concrete.

Inside Marina El Milagro - tile insets add colour

And one final note: a very heartfelt thank you to Maureen & Randy McFadden, plus Colleen & Ken Flynn, for donating 20 of our bilingual The Adventures of Thomas the Cat books to the local elementary and kindergarten schools. Awesome!

Hasta Luego
Lynda, Lawrie, Sparky, and Thomas

Murder. Mayhem. Revenge. Romance.

Isla Mujeres Mystery Series

Death in the Vineyards Mysteries

The Adventures of Thomas and Sparky