Cuba - the City of Trinidad

Our first destination for 2014 was to Cuba where we spent 3 weeks traveling in the east central part of the island.  This post will focus on the historic city of Trinidad, near the south coast.

We stayed in a casa particulare, the home of a Cuban family which is licensed to receive guests.  The rates for casa particulars is set by the government and is usually between 20 and 35 convertible pesos (one convertible peso is about the equivalent of $1.00 US) not including meals.  This casa belongs to our Canadian friend Carol Olson and her Cuban husband Chichi Martinez.

Breakfast area at Casa Almara

The entrance gate to Casa Almara

One of the guest seating areas on the second floor -
We could usually get a nice breeze here during the hottest part of the day

The second guest seating area which was lovely in the morning

The breakfast area and the banana garden

Casa Almara is near the Mercado, however, besides the mercado there are myriad places to purchase fruit and vegetables, some are carts on the street and others are small rooms in the front of a building.

Carol buying fruit from a street fruit wagon.

Shopping with Carol from a vendor near the Casa Almara

In the Plaza Mayor in Trinidad, the main square in the old part of the city.

The streets in the old part of Trinidad are cobblestone and a bit uneven for walking.  Many of the houses are brightly painted and we spent a couple of late afternoons wandering through the old part of the city taking advantage of the light as the sun moved low in the sky.

And the streets have their local characters, like these fellows who hailed us as we went by and shared a joke, then posed for a picture.

This woman was picking the grit out of her rice before cooking it for dinner.  This is a common task for women in the late afternoon, as the rice often has small stones and other grit from the harvesting process.  Beans also need to be picked through before they are cooked.

We often saw people sitting outside their homes or in a public place making music

We also spent some time in the Casa de la Trova, where traditional Cuban music is performed from about noon until the wee hours of the morning.  This group was playing one afternoon when we stopped in for a shady rest and a cold drink.

Trinidad is about 18 km from the ocean and along the coast there are a few decent snorkelling  sites.  We stopped at one for an hour or so on our way to the beach.

Enjoying the shade and a refreshing young coconut after snorkelling

At Ancon Beach soaking up a few rays (with plenty of sunscreen to protect us)

Music is everywhere in Cuba.  Kathy took some drumming lessons from David Lopez Garabito, who has been to Regina numerous times with other Cuban musicians.

It was Trinidad's 500th birthday the week we arrived and there were celebrations all week, including a street fair with food vendors lined up for many blocks selling different foods.  Our favourites were the roasted pork sandwiches, the corn fritters and the guarapo (cane juice with lemon).

One of the pork bun sellers

Evanna buying a glass of guarapo--muy fresco! The machine makes shaved ice from a block.