Cuba, January 26, 2019
Trinidad
“The walking tour is over uneven terrain, cobblestone
streets and stone steps. Wear comfortable walking shoes and bring a walking
stick if needed.”
Uh oh. That was on the day’s itinerary sheet. As we learned,
“cobblestone” in this instance meant streets made of uneven river rock. Lots of
looking down to plot a path of least resistance. Medical care is free in Cuba
and we did have to buy Cuban medical insurance (50 bucks each) and we did
enroll in Global Rescue (we opted out of the advanced Special Opps rescue team)
but I was determined to avoid a repeat of a few years back when that single
rock on a street in Sitka, Alaska put me in a boot for six weeks.
Trinidad has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1988.
It is just a short distance east of Cienfuegos with a dock for ships. (Hooray) Trinidad
is one of the best-preserved cities from the sugar trade times in the Caribbean.
It was isolated from the rest of the island from the 1850s to the 1950s so escaped
any radical changes. The original town layout is largely unchanged and many of
the buildings in the town center have been restored.
As we learned during our week-long visit to Cuba, the
biggest and most impressive buildings in the towns were once mansions built by
sugar barons. And as we also learned, they are restored as museums, usually
with the ornate ceilings intact but not many furnishings. The Palacio Brunet is
now the Museo Romántica and does have some furnishings that belonged to the
wealthy Borrell family that once resided there. We had a delightful local guide
who passed along lots of information and lore. We visited a couple more
once-mansions-now-museos and were encouraged to roam around on our own before and
after lunch.
We encountered some of the very few beggars we ever saw in
Cuba; all very old and asking for a peso, about four cents American. We also
encountered other tourists, the most we would see until Havana. Trinidad is a
very popular tourist stop. It’s compact with splendor on this street and humble
houses on the next and those wretched river rock streets everywhere.
Side street in Trinidad. At least it isn't river rock!
There aren’t
many cars, some motorbikes and bicycles but lots of horse drawn carts for
freight and/or passengers. Nelson, one of the two native Havanans that stayed
with us the entire visit, said the Chinese exported a half million bicycles to
Cuba but most have just disappeared. He said, “We live in the tropics. It’s
very, very hot and humid most of the year. No one is crazy enough to ride a
bike in that heat.”
A quick side note: Other than the rain the night we arrived,
we had magnificent weather the entire time. Winter in Cuba means sunny skies, temperatures
between 60 and 80 F and low, low, low humidity. The nights are barely balmy.
Perfect weather.
Our other native guide, Yunney, took us to a bodega. That
might mean a small market in the US, but in Cuba it is the bare-bones store
that carries rationed items. Every Cuban receives a book of coupons every month
to exchange for eggs, milk, rice and sugar. The average person is allowed eight
eggs a month. If the bodega has extras, and the one we visited had dozens of
eggs, they are sold by the piece for a small price. In every city, town or
village, you will see a group of people outside a small store. They are
literally in the bread line. Cuban bread is fabulous, but in line for it every
day? Kaylea, our link to the travel company and general problem solver and
question answerer, has lived in Havana for four years. She said she really
likes it but the daily bread line is a nuisance.
Cuba imports 80% of its food. With the collapse of the
Soviet bloc and embargoes with the west, the citizens are now encouraged to
grow some of their own in kitchen gardens or even small truck (or more exactly,
horse cart) farms for their own use and to sell to others. I really am not
quite sure where the people get the rest of their staples. I never saw a
grocery store or a butcher shop. Not much livestock either, other than horses
and I choose to think they are all used for transportation. Every palador
served ice cream for dessert so there must be some cows somewhere.
Lunch was at a palador on the main square. This one looked
more like a traditional restaurant with tables of various sizes. People also
walked in off the street to peruse the menu. It never occurred to me to ask how
much it would cost an individual for lunch. All of our meals were included on
our trip. If you don’t have to pay you don’t care how much it costs! Lunches
always included wine, beer, soft drinks and bottled water. The water on the
ship was safe, but we were warned that on shore, bottled only and only from our
guides. (Everyone remember the scene in Slum Dog Millionaire where the kids
were “bottling” water from the local pump?) We were usually served a cocktail,
too. Or, rather, the virgin version that was topped off if you wished with a
slug or two from the ever-present Havana Club rum bottle. My advice: if you
want a good daiquiri or mojito, order it from a mixologist at a US bar.
We had the option of returning to the ship or staying in Trinidad
to visit studios of some local artists. Jim and I went back to the ship. I’d
already wandered into an embroidery co-op featuring dresses, blouses and shirts
made by local women. We all bought something if only to support their efforts.
Girl Power, it’s everywhere.
We sailed from Trinidad around Tea Time. Every day around
four there appeared tea and various finger foods so we could keep up our
strength until dinner at 7:30.
Also on board were three experts: a music professor from
Yale, and architect of Cuban ancestry from New York and a curator from the Met.
Each gave a couple of presentations during the cruise. First up before
cocktails at seven was Michael Veal from Yale who gave part one of “Music of
Cuba.” The pianist on board hooked him up with surround sound so we could hear
the history of Cuban music. Michael was a bit professorial and dry, but his
talk was well-researched and was a big hit with the music scholars amongst us.
Michael is also a jazz bassist in NYC but didn’t bring his instrument with him.
Too bad. This was also his first trip to Cuba. I’m still trying to figure out how
he could lecture on music he’d never experienced in person.
Tonight we’re heading west to Cayo Largo, a small resort
island off the southern coast of Cuba.
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