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