cuba: cienfuegos

It was an easy and short walk to the bus station in Trinidad, and my bus from Trinidad to Cienfuegos departed on time, which was much appreciated by all the travelers. After getting off the bus in Cienfuegos I saw someone with my name written on a piece of paper; this man put me in a taxi which took me to another casa particular. As much as I love finding my own place to stay, having someone waiting for me at the bus station was quite nice. I love walking around and figuring things out on my own, but sometimes convenience is really appreciated. (I'll admit that this appreciation usually comes along more often in hot weather.)

After arriving at the casa particular I found out it wasn't the one originally intended for me, as the original one was full that night. They'd arranged for me to stay somewhere else one night, and at the originally planned one for one night. I'm not a huge fan of moving around every day, but oh well.

Even though I'd been on a bus, and not out in the heat, I was still tired and hot. I relaxed for a couple hours in my room, reading and dozing off. This room had two double beds, each covered in a purple satin thing. Very shiny, definitely not my taste, but the beds were comfortable.

At some point I decided to get out and walk. I knew I'd be in the city for just a couple days, I needed to get started exploring. My casa wasn't too far from the main square, I followed a main street to get there. The street I was walking is called the Prado by locals (according to the guidebook,) and has a pedestrian walkway down the middle, between the lanes going each way. I wanted to walk in the middle area, but without shade that wasn't a great idea. The powers that be must've known/thought about this when the street was built, but obviously didn't do anything about it. 

The center square is called parque Jose Marti, after the leader of the country from the 19^th century. There is a statue of Jose in the middle, bright and white. There is also a gazebo in the park, with people sitting on the benches when they're in the shade. (In other words, you can watch people rotate around the gazebo during the day.)

Also in the park area is an arch of triumph. Think arc de triomphe in Paris, but MUCH smaller, and MUCH less impressive. Come to think of it, I wouldn't have given it the same name at all. 

As I walked through the center of the park area I noticed three girls dressed up for quinceniera (sp?) photo shoots, complete with over the top dresses. Just like what I'd seen in Havana, the makeup was overdone, in my opinion. All three girls had make up and hair ladies in attendance, to fix things between photos.

There is a church on one side of the square, high on my list of sights to see. The Catedral de la Purisima Concepcion. Unfortunately, it was closed. I could see a side door that was open, but it was behind a locked gate, argh.

As I walked back toward the front door I noticed a group of French folks knocking on the door of the church. It opened, so I followed them in. I listened as the priest said the church isn't normally open outside of services right now because of the ongoing renovations. They were sloooowly replacing the stained glass windows, as enough money came in for each window. In general, the church was not terribly exciting.

On another side of the square, not far from the church is the Teatro Tomas Terry. It was built to honor a Venezuelan industrialist, in the late 19^th century. It's a beautiful theatre, patterned after the grand theaters of Europe. The only difference is that this one is made of wood, not fabric, because the local weather wouldn't treat fabric/cloth well at all.

The wood ceiling is painted, but the painted area doesn't cover the entire ceiling area. There are boxed seats along the sides of the upper levels, of course I walked through them. I also made it a point to stand at the front of the sitting area, and turn around to see all the seats. I have no idea how often performances take place.

After leaving the theater I walked to the side of the park across from the church at which I'd started. This was where I could see the Casa de la Cultura Benjamin Duarte. The house is mostly in ruins, though one room was being used by kids rehearsing a dance performance of some kind.

The reason visitors come to this casa is the chance to go up a fancy staircase to an upper level, and then up to a roof. There was a 1CUC fee for this, but since it was the first fee I'd paid in the city, I didn't mind.

The tiling on the upper floors was lovely, and in decent condition. A couple of the rooms up there were being renovated, so I could see the designs on the ceilings being fixed up and repainted.

The view over the park square was great from a small tower on the corner of the roof. The top of the tower wasn't super high, but it was only big enough for one person, and the way to get up there involved going up a super narrow spiral staircase. While I was up there I watched several people start to go up, only to see someone coming down, and have to make way. 

Another fancy building, on the fourth side of the park is called the Palacio del Gobierno. This is a government building, so it wasn't open to visitors wandering around, but I was able to peek in and enjoy the view of the grand staircase. When I asked, the security guy said it was okay if I took a photo.

Right next to the palacio is the local history museum. The view of the grand staircase when I walked in there was pretty grand as well. The fee was small, and the museum itself really wasn't that big.

The exhibit that sticks in my head was a setup of a chess set, with soldiers as the players. I also remember the stained glass in a few of the windows. After Santiago de Cuba, I know that the stained glass is a Cuban tradition started by the colonials, who wanted to enjoy the sun, but wanted to cut some of the heat of the light.

Since I'd see the square as well as the buildings surrounding it, I decided to keep walking. I followed a pedestrian street lined with vendors selling kitchy souvenirs. How do they do that in the heat? Especially when the street practically reflects the sunlight/heat?

I kept going until I got to a marina of sorts. Nothing exciting, but I'll always appreciate being near water. The air wasn't moving, the heat was really getting to me even though I'd only been out for a short time.

Since I'd already drunk all the water I had with me, and didn't want to risk heat stroke, I walked back to my room. I drank cool water, laid down, and dozed a bit more.

After my break, I went back out and walked to a cemetery. I was expecting an entry fee, but there wasn't one.

I wasn't thrilled when a guy volunteered himself to by my guide, but I learned a bit through a combination of Spanish and English. Though I hadn't wanted the guide in the first place, I tipped him as I left.

The cemetery was walled, and basically split in half with another wall. One side was full of the graves of rich folks. The other side was full of the graves of people without much money. Needless to say, there was a huge difference between the two sides.

On the way back through the city center I walked through the city square again. I ended up speaking with a Belgian family for a while. We talked politics, the parents said the last US elections had been so noteworthy that even their 9 and 11 year old children had opinions. Hmmm.

I walked back home so I could get more cold water from the fridge. My water bottle was doing a great job of keeping cold water cold, but I was drinking all of it, and needed more. After heading back out, I followed the Prado in the opposite direction from where I'd walked earlier.

Eventually I got to the beginning of the local malecon.

This happened to be the starting area of the Carnavale festival, which happened to be taking place the two nights I was in town, yahoo!!

One side of the street was a wall on the water, (that is, the malecon,) the other side of the street was filled with stands selling food and beer. I wasn't hungry (the heat, as I've mentioned earlier, had taken away my appetite,) but I still had a pulled pork bun, just because it looked good. I also found a vendor with the flavored ice drinks I'd come to love so much.

There were vendors selling beer (BYO cup,) and fried chicken, and spaghetti, and churros. There were stages set up in a couple areas, the live music was loud and fun. I walked most of the length of the malecon, and got to see a beautiful sunset. It felt like the entire city was out at Carnavale.

As I was walking back toward the start of the malecon area, I noticed a whole bunch of floats lined up and lit up. People were dancing on each of them, each with separate music. That was fun to watch, as was the parade of people behind each of them. After all the floats was a parade of people in costumes. More fun to watch, of course.

The next morning I had a good breakfast in the house, then packed up my stuff and moved it to the original place I was supposed to stay. This turned out to be more of a guesthouse, with several rooms for guests. My room wasn't ready, but that was okay. I dropped off my bag and started walking.

My one and only aim for the day was another cemetery. I followed a main street, past graffiti murals and whatnot, including a couple thank yous to Fidel Castro. Cienfuegos still has a revolutionary mindset.

The looong walk took me to Tomas Acea cemetery, another walled cemetery. This one was far less crowded, and each of the monuments was much more grand than those in the rich area of the cemetery I'd seen the day before. The administration building in the center of the property was so big and grand I thought it was a separate museum.

There was a 1CUC entry fee for this cemetery, but it included a map, which was handy. I was the only visitor while I was there, except for a family cleaning up one of the graves. I walked every path of the grounds, looking more closely at some of the memorials than others.

The way back toward my room seemed longer and hotter than when I'd walked to the cemetary. Needless to say, I was thrilled when I got back and my room was ready. This place was indeed a guesthouse, and there was a pool!! The water wasn't the coolest, but it felt really good to put on a bikini and jump in. There were a few deck chairs, I grabbed one of them. There was another family hanging out, from Barcelona. Sometimes they spoke English, sometimes Catalan, and sometimes Spanish. I loved hearing them switch so quickly between the languages. It was a great couple of hours of relaxing.

Since Carnavale was still taking place I walked back toward that celebration. Along the way the thunder started, then came the rain.

Heavy, soaking rain, so I took cover like everyone else. Standing still is exhausting when you have to do it for a while. I noticed some kids playing hide and seek or tag out in the rain, they were having a blast. Once you're wet, why not?

After the rain stopped, I had another pulled pork sandwich from the same vendor. I listened to a few more bands at the various stages around the area. I noticed fewer people were out that night, probably due to the crappy weather. When the thunder and rain started up again, I decided it was time to go home.

After getting home I watched the last bit of the last evening of the world athletics championships, which were taking place in London. This particular place had TVs in each room, definitely not a common occurence. This was the last major event of Usain Bolt's career, and he was fast, to say the least.

The next morning I sat down for breakfast and was rather disappointed. For the first time during the entire trip, breakfast did not include fresh fruit. Instead, there was a small bowl of fruit cocktail. I love the stuff, but it was not what I expected after a couple weeks of amazing fresh, tropical fruit.

I'd arranged with the landlady to have a taxi drive me to the bus station, and he picked me up on time. Then he drove to another casa particular to pick up three more passengers. Then he drove past the bus station on the way out of town. I'd been talking with the other guests, and found out they were taking this taxi all the way to Havana.

I asked the driver why we hadn't stopped at the bus station. He seemed completely flummoxed, and said we were going to Havana. I told him I already had a bus ticket, and needed to catch my bus. I knew the taxi would be faster, but I already had the ticket, and had most definitely not agreed to paying more for a taxi ride.

He wasn't thrilled but turned around and dropped me off at the bus station. I wonder if my landlady arranged the taxi, thinking I wouldn't mind?

Would I come back to Cienfuegos? I don't know. Probably not, but I've learned never to say never. I"m really glad I was there during Carnavale.