Trinidad - Cars & Cobbles

Sunday, February 05, 2017
Trinidad, Cuba
We were a little sad to say goodbye to Olga, as we couldn't have been made more welcome anywhere else! We set off by taxi to Parque El Nicho, about an hour away, initially on good roads, but as we got closer, the road got rougher and we weren't sure the car was going to make the climb into the Sierra del Escambray mountains without overheating ... but all was well. We then hiked the short Reino de las Aquas, a trail through the woodlands, across streams on little bridges to several pools and a pair of waterfalls. I had a swim in the lovely and clear but also very chilly water but Chris wasn't up to the challenge! The return route took us to a mirador with a great view. Back in taxi, we continued to Trinidad another couple of hours away.

 

 


We are staying at Casa Bianca, a neocolonial house of 1940, as guests of Bianca and her family. We have a huge room on the first floor, with wooden shutters opening onto the courtyard and views over the roofs. Just outside the official old town, we couldn't have picked a better spot.

 
 


The Trinidad wifi spot is in Parque Cespedes, just down the road, and as we walked down and saw the huge mast, we thought we might be in luck! Connecting was no problem, we were able to check the football scores (but unfortunately Liverpool seem a little challenged at the moment), download emails and message with Joanna although we couldn't speak.



Trinidad is a photographer's dream! The original cobblestones and pastel-coloured houses give the impression that time has barely moved on since colonial times. From the 17th to 19th century, the city was a major central for trade in sugar and slaves and the buildings round the main square show how wealthy the landowners were. A long period of isolatIon protected the city from new building and there has been skilful restoration.

 
 
 
  
 



Key architectural features include a facade with a large central door surrounded by pilasters or columns , small turned wooden columns called barrotes covering the windows and arched windows with ornate metal grills.

 
 

 
We have also come across some beautiful original tiling in the casa, shops and paladars.

 
 


The heart of the old town is Plaza Mayor, surrounded by the church and several colonial mansions, now museums displaying Trinidad's history. One has a tower which we climbed for the view. Many of the houses in the centre are renovated and freshly painted and often casa particulars of which there are around a thousand, or paladars, bars or shops. As we made our way towards the outskirts of town and the little dilapidated church called La Popa, the streets were much more run-down, although the little church is being dwarfed by the new 5 star hotel being built beside it. Trinidad is lovely and obviously draws visitors ... to the point that in the middle of the day while the tours are here, there are tourists at every turn!

 
 
 
 
 
 
Tapas seem popular here, and are great for a lunch snack when breakfast has been very generous! We've tried tomato bruschetta, little canapés with sliced egg and prawns that I thought were yummy and crispy plantain stuffed with veg and cheese. One choice that was less successful was the Kermato drink, which is tomato juice in a can ... unfortunately on closer inspection, flavoured with almeja ... or clams so no good for Mr Hayes after all ... he should have stuck to the beer!

There seems to be music playing all town! Many restaurants and bars have a band playing a short set a couple of times an hour during lunch, the afternoon, dinner and later! There is also the Casa de Trova and Casa de Musica which are more dedicated music venues with a succession of bands playing a set each for tips. We seem to have the knack of hearing some music, buying a drink, then the band taking a break! In the evening the Casa de Musica charges an admission, but the music still floods the square so we bought mojitos from a booth and sat on the steps to listen. 

 

We stopped for a sundowner one day and tried Canchancharas, a cocktail made of rum, honey and lemon which is served in little earthenware cups, in the bar of the same name. It was very tasty ... almost as good as the mojitos, but we might have to try a couple more to be sure!



We had dinner at La Redaccion, which means The Editorial Team, so named as the newspaper El Liberal was edited here, and the table mats are made of pages from this week's Cuban press. Chris had a pepper and tomato stuffed with savoury rice and I had slow roast pork belly which came with a really amazing tangy gravy and great sweet potato mash. Taberna la Botija, set in a stone-walled house with wooden benches, has a huge tapas menu but we also came in the evening as their pizza was recommended and Chris has lasted a whole week with no pizza and not a proper chip either! Cuba's history was brought home to us seeing the slave chains on the walls. One evening we ate at Paladar San Jose and got chatting in the queue to another couple. When they were called, they found they had a table for four and kindly asked if we would like to join them so we had a very enjoyable meal chatting with Maureen and Martin about our respective travels.

 
 


After exploring the town, we had several days out, firstly to Playa Ancon, billed as the best beach on the south coast, and it was lovely, with a constant breeze. We arrive on the Trinibus around 11.30, and were having such a lovely time, we missed the 3.30 bus back in favour of the bus at 6.00 and got to see the sunset from the bus on the way back.

 
 


There was a well-used network of railway tracks over Cuba in the C19 when it was the easiest way to move goods to and from the sugar plantations. Since then, many have fallen into disrepair or were deliberately pulled up during the 1959 revolution. Today a tourist train with open-sided carriages runs into the Valle de los Ingenios where we visited a sugar refinery, abandoned since the 1960s when sugar cane production was no longer profitable. We enjoyed wandering round the remaining plant and equipment taking photos then tried squeezed sugar cane juice, which was needless to say pretty sweet, while listening to the band. The train also stopped at the Manaca Iznaga estate, built by one of the most successful plantation owners. Looming above is a 45m tower, which on an English country estate would belong to the local church, but here it is the tower from which overseers kept an eye on the slaves working in the fields below. There was plenty of opportunity to buy souvenirs before returning to Trinidad.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 


Our last outing was back into the Sierra del Escambray and this time our hike was a little more challenging. We chose the Sendero Salto del Caburni in the Gran Parque Topes de Collantes, just over an hour of descent through shady woodland to the 62m high Caburni waterfall. I had a swim in the natural pool which was jolly chilly, perfect after the hike down, but by the time we had climbed back to the top, all the cooling benefits of the swim were a distant memory!

 
 
 


On our last afternoon we did a little souvenir shopping and in the evening returned to La Redaccion for another lovely meal.

Just had to squeeze in a couple more cars!



Tomorrow we move on ... eastwards again!

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