Valladolid - officially my favourite Mexican city thus far, despite inadvertently attending mass

This is the church in the main square.

So I left KP at noon in Cancun and caught a bus to Valladolid. Met 4 people from Atlanta (who only mentioned the football once) along the way so the journey felt super short. I wandered into Hostel Los Frailes which is nice, but empty, although a few more people seem to have arrived now. There are sheets on beds, if not actual people in my dorm.

So after skyping JD and AF (I feel ever so modern) I head out to the main square which is lovely...a bit like Campeche but not quite as scorching. Then I head to the 16th Century Convent and Church. There was noone in there so I decided to take a seat and admire the old frescoes and read in my Lonely Planet where to have dinner. The next thing I knew (about 15 mins had passed) the church is full to the brim and the priest is walking down the isle. I knew there was no way I could leave.It's quite a small town and being a foreigner I stand out. I didn't want to be known as the English girl who walked out of mass. So I stayed. Initially not even sure what denomination the church was I soon heard "PECADORES" (no, not the fishermen, but the Sinners) and knew it was a Catholic church.

I learnt a few other things - when you turn around to kiss / (thankfully) shake hands with everyone around you in UK you say "Peace be with you" here you say "Amistad" (friendship)...I just smiled as it took me about 10 handshakes to get passed the look of surprise to listen to what they were actually saying.

Then onto dinner (finally) and it was nice. People spoke to me but not in the I want to have sex with you way of Merida. Just friendly and ever so polite.

I wandered to the other side of the square to have a policeman stop the traffic so I could cross the road to see a live band and a load of people dancing cha cha cha. pics above.

Valladolid is definitely my favourite Mexican city so far. Chichen Itza in the morning all being well.