Havana Cuba

Holding Entry – this will be replaced by several more detailed blog entries when I have sorted out the hundreds of photos taken whilst we visited Havana.

Our 4-day trip to Havana from Cienfuegos was fabulous.  Our accommodation was right in the heart of the old city and so we were perfectly placed to walk about sightseeing and enjoy the bars and restaurants.

“My mojito inLa Bodeguita.  My daiquiri in El Floridita.”
– Ernest Hemmingway

There was Cuban music played at nearly every bar and street corner and the rum cocktails were excellent.  No wonder Ernest Hemingway picked Havana as one of his favourite cities to hang out in.

Havana, Cuba

Trinidad Cuba

1952 Chevrolet taxi on empty roads

Our driver and taxi (plus the driver’s wife and 2 year old daughter) were already waiting for us when we arrived outside the front of the marina at 0900hrs on Saturday 23 February.  As promised by Darion, the taxi was an old American car, a 1952 Chevrolet with deep, leather covered, almost Chesterfield-like bench seats front and back and bouncy springs.  The drive to Trinidad took 1½hrs on good roads with virtually no traffic on them other than the ubiquitous horse carts.  As we always find when we travel inland from whichever seaport BV is at, the views of the countryside away from the coast are fascinating. It’s hilly and very green with lots of palms and a surprising number of other fruit trees, given that buying fruit in the markets in Cuba appears quite difficult.

Left: Convento de San Francisco (now a museum, see later).  Right: the square outside the monastery, complete with local musicians

The final stretch into Trinidad was on rough cobbled streets; a very bumpy experience on the 1952 vintage cart-spring suspension.  We were dropped off, managed to make ourselves understood as to the time we wished to be picked up [Ed: having a notebook and pen is handy here, as well as in markets for prices!] and we disappeared off to explore.

Musicians at work

Our first stop was the square outside the Convento de San Francisco, more for the shade and somewhere to regroup and get our bearings than for any other reason.  But it we found it a lovely square, the musicians were very good and we were adopted briefly by an old man who wanted to buy flip-flops from us but we had none to sell.  So, we settled on paying him for some probably very dodgy cigars, that he insisted we take.  I still haven’t summoned up the courage to try them!

Playa Mayor, the main square in Trinidad

From there we headed off on a walking tour of the town.  Trinidad is described as one of the most intact Spanish colonial towns in the Americas and celebrated its 500^thanniversary in 2014.  Huge fortunes made in the 1800s, growing sugar in the Valle de los Ingenios and in trading slaves with which to run the plantations, provided the funds to build the town’s fabulous colonial mansions, complete with frescoes, Wedgwood pottery and chandeliers.  And, of course, the money also paid for the churches and the squares – the rest of the town needed to look as good and as opulent as the plantation owners’ townhouses.

Museo Histórico Municipal. Opulently painted walls and ceilings, Wedgwood plates and china figurines – all the trappings of mid-19^thcentury wealth and status

We stopped in at the Museo Histórico Municipal, Trinidad’s main museum, which was owned, for a while, by a German planter, Dr Kanter or Cantero.  Reputedly, Dr Cantero acquired his vast sugar plantations by poisoning an old slave trader and then marrying his widow, who later also died in an untimely manner.

Museo Histórico Municipal.  Central courtyard

His wealth is apparent in the decoration and furnishings of the rooms and courtyards, though the museum, particularly some of the external facade, is looking quite tired now.

Museo Histórico Municipal.  Views across Trinidad (UNESCO World Heritage Site)

But entry is worth it for the views from the tower alone (you have to pay extra to be allowed to take photos!).

Museo Histórico Municipal.  Left: looking down into the museum’s courtyard. Centre: street view.  Right: Convento de San Francisco

We spent almost as long up the tower enjoying the views as we did in the main body of the building.

Museo Histórico Municipal.  Views across to Convento de San Francisco – it was windy up on the top of the tower, check out Nicky’s hairstyle!

Museo Histórico Municipal.  Even the interior of the tower had been beautifully painted, though the decoration has worn thin in places

Museo Histórico Municipal. Entrance hall – how to impress one’s guests and visitors

Left: The steps alongside the Iglesia Parroquial, which act as Trinidad’s open air Casa de le Musica. According to our Lonely Planet Guide, of an evening a salsa show takes place on and around the steps watched by tourists and locals alike.  Right: horse carriage is apparently THE way to tour Trinidad

Leaving the cool of the museum we headed out back onto the cobbled streets for a further explore of the town and, almost more importantly, a recce for a restaurant with a roof-top terrace where we could have lunch.  As the morning progressed, Trinidad became busier and busier with tourists but it never seemed to become overcrowded; though I imagine it heaves with tourists in high season.  Trinidad’s wealth was generated primarily by the sugar plantations of Valle de los Ingenios in the first half of the 19^thcentury and by 1850ish it was producing a third of Cuba’s sugar.  However, during the Independence Wars the sugar plantations were destroyed by fire and fighting and the industry never recovered.  By the late 19^thcentury the focus of the sugar industry had shifted further west and Trinidad slipped into an economic decline, hence most of the buildings and roads in the centre were not blighted by early 20^thcentury modernisation.  It was President Batista who first passed a preservation law recognising the town’s historical value, effectively initiating the town’s tourist industry.  Interestingly, only about 10 years later Castro’s government  declared Trinidad a national monument.  In 1988 it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

We ate lunch on the rooftop terrace at the Palada El Criollo, enjoying the views out across the old terracotta tiled roofs, interspersed with church towers and trees growing up from public squares and the courtyards of some of the larger houses.  Lunch itself was a fairly unmemorable affair which, we understand, is not unusual in Cuba, though it was much better than our first lunch out in Santiago de Cuba.  However, the recommended rum cocktails were very good, so much so that we had seconds. Perhaps that was why lunch was unmemorable!

After lunch we headed back to the Convento de San Francisco.  The old monastery has been converted into a museum detailing the struggle against the various counter-revolutionary groups, many from or financed by the CIA, that operated out of the Sierra del Escambray (the mountain range close to Trinidad) during the early 1960s.

Unfortunately, yet again our lack of/poor Spanish let us down and whilst it was interesting to look at the many photos, maps, weapons and other objects on display, we didn’t understand many of the displays’ captions.

However, from the bell tower we enjoyed more great views across the town and surrounding countryside….

…..and we did understand the one sign up here, though looking at the condition of the bells we would have had no intention of touching them lest they fall from where they were suspended!

Panoramic views from the bell tower, taken by Charlotte 

Top right: From on high we had a sneaky peak into the closed courtyards of some of the larger houses
and restaurants, many of which are shaded by beautiful flowering trees and climbers

Back at street level we headed towards a recommended ice-cream shop.  Unlike the state-run La Coppelia, this ice-cream parlour makes proper Italian-style ice-cream with real flavour….and a variety of flavours too! Understandably, the downside is that the prices are a little more Italian as well but we thoroughly enjoyed our sweet treat.

Top: Street scenes in some of the emptier parts of Trinidad.  Bottom left: Colourful restaurant.  Bottom right: we saw many of these curly tailed lizards in Cuba.  In fact, we barely saw any lizards with straight tails

Our driver and his wife had made best use of our trip to Trinidad and the car was laden down for the return trip

When we met up again with our driver and his family we saw that they had made excellent use of their time in Trinidad. The roof rack was filled with a large mattress and the boot almost chock-full with bags of bedding and soft furnishings.  Nicky was curious as to whether it was for the family, or being moved as a favour for a friend, or for some other purpose.  But, again our inability to converse or, indeed do much communication, with non-English-speaking locals left us unable to ask all the obvious questions.  Though Nicky has some very basic words and phrases (numbers, food-stuffs) and Charlotte can dredge some useful sentences back from GCSE Spanish, Nicky would like to have better Spanish before returning to Cuba to be able to interact with more of the locals more easily and more satisfactorily.

We made good time back to the marina where we needed to get ourselves sorted out for the trip to Havana the next day. Most importantly, we needed to see the Guarda Frontera to have Charlotte taken off the crew list as she would be flying home the capital and not returning to BV.  Quite surprisingly, that bit of admin was accomplished quickly and easily, though at a cost of CUC15, payable with the marina bill.  And with that done we just needed to pack, empty the perishables from the fridge and check all BV’s mooring lines and we would be ready to head off for our city break in Havana.

Trinidad, Cuba

Cienfuegos (Part 2) Cuba

Since gaining UNESCO World Heritage status in 2005 the central area of Cienfuegos has been further renovated and there is a substantial pedestrianised area which makes wandering around the city a pleasure

Nicky and I headed into Cienfuegos alone on the morning of Friday 22 February, primarily to spend longer using the ETECSA wifi/internet point in Parque de José Martí as we hadn’t yet discovered the conveniently close Hotel Jagua.  En route we met Darion, who was outside the Club Nautico as we had been told he would be, and negotiated with him for a daytrip to Trinidad the following day and then a collectivo to Havana on the Sunday for 3 people, followed by a return (for just 2) on the Wednesday.  It was all very straightforward.  Darion issued us a couple of receipts to hand to the taxi drivers and told us that we paid the drivers direct after the journey was complete. Simple, and a reasonable price too.

Top: commercial area bustling with locals and tourists alike.  Bottom: We called it
Tourist Tat Row, but we still bought some souvenirs here!

Cuba maracas – well you have to, don’t you?  We bought
2 sets, one for BV and one set for Nicky’s nieces
(which I’m sure will really please Nicky’s sister, not)

In the afternoon we headed back into town with Charlotte as Nicky had a hankering for some Cuban souvenirs:  a pair of maracas for BV(??) and her nieces and a set of dominoes for idle evenings afloat as well.  Charlotte too wanted to buy some gifts for home and I wanted to buy some cigars for Alex’s birthday to send home with Charlotte. So, with that lot in mind we headed first for Tourist Tat Row, the street with souvenir traders we had spotted the previous day.

Cuban cigar and rum shop – more my sort of tourist souvenir place!  Note the enormous humidor on the right and the seating areas at the back and on the mezzanine level for enjoying a quiet drink and a smoke

Wooden souvenirs purchased, Charlotte showed us the cigar and rum shop she had spotted.  This was more like it!  We spent a happy 20 mins or so, wandering around and then choosing a selection of cigars to go back to Blighty (and a few to stay on BV).  It’s a lovely shop.  Coolly air-conditioned, furnished with lots of dark wood and backlit cabinets and with that heady, spicy cigar smell pervading everything.  It even has a couple of seating areas (the upstairs one with comfortable armchairs and settees) for enjoying a quiet cigar and a rum away from the heat and the madding crowds outside.  I could have stayed all day.

Bici-taxi to and from town – better value on the way in than going back again

But we had plans to do sundowners at the Palacio de Valle and time was ticking on, so we hopped on a bici-taxi back to the marina, and a great fun ride it was too, even if the price tag for a tourist is 25 times that of a local (they pay in CUP what we paid in CUC).

Palacio de Valle

The Palacio de Valle is given a great write up in our Lonely Planet Guide where it is described as ‘baroque-meets-Moorish ….. possibly Cuba’s most riotously eclectic building’.  And we have to agree.

It’s fabulously impressive from the outside…..

The interior is undergoing a fairly major refurbishment in areas but the main stairway…..

…..and even more so from the inside, even though some areas (including the final spiral stairway to the rooftop terrace) are undergoing major refurbishment.

…..and the dining room look fabulous

Sundowners on the roof terrace, complete with band – excellent!

Despite the ongoing works we were delighted to find that the roof terrace bar was still open and, better still, that there was an excellent band playing to accompany our sundowners mojitos.

And lovely views all around too…..

…particularly from the highest tower

As we left, we took a sidetrip further up the tower to enjoy the all-round views from the very top.  What a wonderful place and a lovely evening.

It wasn’t entirely clear but we think that the Palacio de Valle is in some way closely connected to the carbuncle Hotel Jagua next door.  If it is, it at least in some way makes up for the dodgy external aesthetics of the latter, even if the Hotel Jagua’s public areas are rather plush.

From the Palacio de Valle is was just a short walk back to the marina….

….where we enjoyed Sundowners Pt 2, and gave Charlotte the Pusser’s Landing enamel mug that we had bought for her after she had left us in the BVIs the previous yaer.  The important thing about the mug, other than its holding about a gallon of cocktail, is that it has a recipe for Painkiller written on the outside.

And so after another lovely day there was another fabulous sunset and a trip out to Trinidad to look forward to tomorrow.

Cienfuegos, Cuba

Cienfuegos (Part 1) Cuba

Dawn over the anchorage at Cienfuegos

Dawn in the anchorage at Cienfuegos on Thursday 21 February was lovely.  Whereas, when we had arrived the previous afternoon, Punta Gorda had provided little, if any, protection from the brisk south-southeasterly wind, now there was no wind at all and the sea was almost glassy calm.

Ready on the fuel dock but there’s no-one in sight to refuel us!

Club Nautico from the marina

We’d planned such an early start because we had a lot to achieve in the day.  The first priority was to get BV into the mooring in the marina as soon as it was available and before anyone else grabbed it.  We had spoken to the crew of the catamaran in ‘our’ spot the previous evening and knew that they planned to move at about 1000hrs.  We had also confirmed that the fuel dock would [Ed: should!] open at 0830hrs and we wanted to take fuel before moving into the marina – one less thing to do when leaving.  So, given that we expected other people to plan to take fuel early in the day too, we had decided to move onto the fuel dock first thing, so as to be in position as soon as the attendant arrived.  We raise the anchor at 0800hrs and were on the fuel dock at 0815hrs.  By 0900hrs there was still no sign of the refuelling attendant.  Hmmm.  Happily, he turned up soon afterwards, so we took on, and then paid for (in cash) the diesel we needed.  Petrol is not available in the marina but there is a garage nearby and we took the petrol cans there later in the day.  By the time we had finished, our marina space was not quite available (the crew of the catamaran was waiting to take fuel!) and there was a queue of other yachts waiting to refuel too, so we moved away and held off the marina for a while until the catamaran moved out and we could have their old berth.

Getting the space in the marina was fairly important for our plan because we wanted to use it as a base to travel to Havana for a few days.  Officially, you can’t leave your yacht at anchor unattended and we had to get up to Havana because Charlotte was flying home from there.  Now that we had secured our marina berth, we could enjoy all of the tourist stuff without having to worry either about leaving someone behind who would miss out on the Havana experience or about leaving BV unattended at anchor (though several boat crews did just that to no ill-effect).  Our next tasks were to organise transport to Trinidad and Havana, some accommodation in Havana, and a trip to explore Cienfuegos.

Club Nautico

As it happened, the Dutch family on the catamaran whose marina berth we had taken, had just returned from a trip to Havana.  Nicky had chatted to them and been given the details of the accommodation they had used in the city centre as well as the name of a chap who could organise transport to and from Havana and Trinidad.  Darion organises a fleet of collectivo taxis (shared taxis), with competitive pricing compared both to the Viazul bus service and other taxi operations [Ed: and certainly in comparison to the quote I was given by the marina dockmaster which was 40% more for a one-way trip to Havana!].  We determined to find Darion, reported to be found most days outside the Club Nautico, dressed smartly, to see what he could do for us.  Nicky also prepared an email to send to the recommended casa particulares.  However, to send that we had to get to an ETECSA wifi spot and for that we needed to go into town.

Palacia Azul hotel

Whilst we were getting fuel and moving into our berth, Charlotte had gone on ahead into town to provide us with a recce and to spend a bit of time catching up with online happenings in her world.  Meanwhile, we got chatting to Mike and Karen on Chapter 2, a British registered Island Packet, who had taken the other half of our space in the marina.  They had relatively recently completed a 4-5 year circumnavigation and, having spent another couple of seasons in the Caribbean, were now on their way to Annapolis to put Chapter 2 on the market and return to the UK for, presumably, Chapter 3.  Mike and Karen had been at anchor off the marina for 4 days waiting for a marina berth to come available.  Clearly, we had been extremely lucky to arrive when we did!  We shared our ‘top tips’ for places to visit on their way east (having checked into Cuba at Cienfuegos they were planning on heading east to Santiago de Cuba and then up the Bahamas to the USA) and later they passed on similar tips for places they had visited in the Pacific and also shared various electronic navigational data they had accumulated on their circumnavigation.

Seafront view

After lunch Nicky and I took our first trip into town, accompanied by our experienced guide, Charlotte.  It’s a 20min walk into town from the marina, partly along the seafront and partly past the grand remnants from the colonial days, such as the Club Nautico and Palacia Azul, as well as more modern, and ugly, edifices.  This area, and further south along Punta Gorda is known as the Malecón where, traditionally, the locals come out to stroll and chat in the evening.

Pastel coloured, colonnaded buildings at the top end of the Malecón/bottom end of the Paseo del Prado

Closer into town the architecture remained grand but the size of the buildings was a little smaller.  Our guide book explains that Cienfuegos was founded by French emigres in 1819.  In the late 1800s, in a bid to quash slums, promote hygiene and maximise public spaces, the city planners promoted wide paved streets laid out in a regular grid pattern, topped with modern neoclassical buildings, most adorned with porches and columns.  Walking into town in the heat of the early afternoon, the logic of the colonnades along the front of the commercial premises was obvious.  Nicky said that it really it brought to life the remains of the ancient Greek markets and temples we had seen in the eastern Med.

Cienfuegos is a vibrant, bustling city, filled with busy locals and also with tourists, some bussed in, some from the marina and many from the cruise ship dock.  We had a good wander around, looking out for supermarkets, banks, the Cadeca (currency exchange), the fresh food market and generally got a feel for the place.

Parque de José Martí with (top right) the Casa de la Cultura Benjamin Duarte at the western end and (right) the Catedral de la Purísima Concepción at the eastern end

Cienfuegos’ city centre was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2005, both for the beauty of its architecture and the progressiveness of its urban planning, which was revolutionary for 19^th century Latin America.  We very much enjoyed wandering around the city drinking in the cupolas, columned arcades, statues and decorative additions to the stone and plasterwork.

Left: Palacio de Gobierno on the south side of the Parque de José Martí.  Right: Statue of José Martí

However, we also had business to attend to and so spent a while sitting in the main square (Parque de José Martí), where there is a good wifi signal and internet access, checking e-mails and researching our trip to Havana.  Nicky later discovered that the Hotel Jagua (a 1960s carbuncle conveniently close to the marina) has excellent wifi and internet in the main lobby and, provided that you are discrete and reasonably well dressed, they don’t seem to mind if grotty yachties pop in to use it.

Initial recce of Cienfuegos complete, we headed back to BV, once more enjoying our stroll along the Malecón past all the grand buildings.  We hadn’t spotted Darion either on our way in or out of the city (though it was probably a little late for him when we headed back) but decided that we would search him out in the morning when we had done a bit more research and, perhaps, got something back about accommodation in Havana.

Cienfuegos, Cuba