Santiago de Cuba (Part 3)

What a great evening! 

The 1720 ferry from Punta Gorda got us to Santiago just before 1800 but by the time that we had walked up the hill the first bar that we had earmarked as worth a visit was well into the evening’s entertainment.  There was no beer left so we were forced to drink mojitos [Ed:  oh, what a hardship!] and it seemed that the locals were well into their stride as far as the dancing and the music went.  Everyone was enjoying themselves, with the majority up and dancing for some numbers and sitting and watching or joining in the singing for others. We had a lovely time listening to the excellent music and people watching but were slightly surprised when, come about 1930, the band shut up shop, the dancers said goodbye to each other and the bar started closing up.

We took the hint and moved further along El Hollandés until Nicky heard music coming from a side street.  Just off the main road was, what seemed to be a very small theatre or concert venue, with an amplified band bashing out some great tunes.  This was the first place where we realised how important the flute can be in Cuban music. The atmosphere here was much more that of a small concert.  The audience was generally seated (other than when people went to buy beers from the bar) and there was little dancing or audience participation, except for one or two numbers, but everyone seemed to be having a good time.  We certainly enjoyed the excellent band and the powerful female vocalist but after a couple of hours they were all played out for the evening so we headed back out to the main road.

Not much further down the road we came to a small bar with no music playing but looking inside we could see people with instruments.  We thought that we’d risk a look-see and a beer here and by the time we were seated with our drinks in front of us the band had finished their break and were up and running again.

This was exactly the type of music experience we had imagined we would had started planning our visit to Cuba. The venue was intimate, the band playing amongst us, sitting at customers’ tables, and we were almost a part of the band as we drummed on the table along with the rhythm of the music.

Front row seats - they don't get much closer than this!

It was a fabulous way to round off the evening [Ed:  round off? We were there for the best part of 3hours!] enjoying beer and rum to the accompaniment of some very talented musicians. But all good things must come to an end and at midnight the band pulled stumps and we also needed to be making our way home.

Our taxi for the trip back to BV

The Government taxi rank is just outside the cathedral, a short stone’s throw from the bar.  But we managed to find a more interesting ride back to BV and at a far more reasonable rate than the yellow cabs.  Again, we fluked a 1950s American car ride, the second in 2 days; the perfect way to end a great night out in Santiago de Cuba and Charlotte’s second night in Cuba.

Santiago de Cuba, Cuba