We find the most incredible stuff around our new hometown of Merida!
We were on the highway heading east outside of Merida when we saw these HUGE figurines. But, of course, they were off the side of the road and on the opposite side of the divided highway.
As it turned out, the closest retorno was several kilometers down the road. But, rather than forget to check it out on the way back, we turned around and made our way back.
Talleres de Arte
As we pulled off the road, a sign on the fence read “Grupo Opciones Talleres De Arte.” Group Opciones Art Workshops!
The field behind the fence is filled with what looked like old carnival rides or floats for parades. Many floats were in disrepair. We saw an older man cleaning up the area and cutting tall weeds, by hand, with a machete.
They were all pretty impressive, and we wish we had asked him about coming in to explore the site.
Grupo Opciones
So, after coming home and doing a little digging, we discovered that Group Opciones is a professional decor company that has been doing carnival cars, decorative lighting, large-scale sculptures, and scenic design.
According to what we can find on their website, they were founded in 1989 and have created all kinds of incredible work out of fiberglass. They started that year doing four cars for the Carnival on the island of Cozumel and have grown steadily ever since.
If you’ve been to Merida around Christmas, you have probably seen some of the holiday work. Many of the traffic circles here showcase unique, oversized holiday displays.
And the lighting pieces they show on their site look like the holiday and festival pieces that hang from many of the light poles throughout the city.
We’re really blown away by their work. And we’re glad we stopped to check out what looked like an old carnival graveyard.
Exploring the Yucatan continues to astound us!
Very cool