TOURING CUBA: PART ONE - CAMAGUEY

Gerry and I recently returned from a fascinating 11 day trip to Cuba.   My mother, brother Paul, and sister-in-law Corinne also joined us on this excellent Road Scholar program, The Best of Cuba:  People, Life and Culture:  Camaguey to Havana.

A typical street scene in downtown Havana

The instructors were excellent, and they went overboard in their efforts to help us understand and enjoy Cuba.  Cameron Harris, our group leader, handled all of the logistics.  He was assisted by Enedis Tamayo, our local  Cuban guide.

Cameron and Enedis, who provided a wealth of information

We were a group of 19.  Our fellow Road Scholars were interesting and I enjoyed getting to know them on our journey.  The program began in Miami on Thursday evening, March 9, with an orientation and a welcome dinner at the host hotel, the DoubleTree near the Miami Airport.

Early Friday afternoon we boarded our flight to Camaguey, Cuba's third largest city, over 500 years old.  Our first outing in Cuba was a visit via motor coach to the home of the Casanova family.  We met the father and son team of artisan ceramists, and were shown the distinctive urns, called tinajones, which are wide-mouthed earthenware jugs that were traditionally used in Camaguey to store water.

The Casanovas with the tinajones they have created.

Next was a live demonstration.  The son went first, and showed us how the larger pieces are made.  The 69-year-old father then made a few of the smaller pieces.

He whipped this bowl up in a flash!

It is the 69-year-old papa's turn.  He appeared to be quite the perfectionist.

Finished products: a bowl, a mushroom, and a sombrero hat

Our hotel in Camaguey was the Hotel E Santa Maria, centrally located on a main street in this town of 320,000 people.  We stayed here three nights. The rooms were clean and comfortable, and the common areas were also spotless.

Home sweet home for 3 nights in Camaguey

A local band serenades us in the lobby bar of the E. Santa Maria

Our room was located on the third floor of the hotel.  Unfortunately, it was right across the street from the church bell tower.  We had a rude awakening each morning as the bells loudly chimed at 6:30 a.m.  So much for getting my 8 hours sleep...

We indulge in delicious decorative cappuccinos in the mornings

The breakfast buffet was served on the "roof garden", the fifth floor outdoor patio, with an excellent view of Camaguey.

Saturday's program began with a visit to a local dance company, located a block from our hotel.  The flamenco dancers treated us to a 40 minute performance.  My mother and I watched from the upstairs balcony, the best seats in the house.

The talented dancers were young, between 18 and 22 years of age

Afterwards we explored the main squares of the city via pedicabs, which were colorful and decorated by local artists.

Ten pedicabs lined up ready for our group.

We chose to ride in this pedicab, with our young driver who told us he's a boxer

Off we go!  We visited "Plaza de los Trabajadores", also known as the Workers Square.  The attractive blue building at the square, St. Cecilia, was built in 1929 and was the former Culture House.

  Parque Ignacio Agramonte is the main square, with a dramatic statue of Agramonte mounted upon his horse.

Statue of local hero, Ignacio Agramonte

The third square we visited was Plaza de San Juan, restored from the 18th Century.  It is surrounded by brightly colored houses, artist studios and galleries.

Peering down a street adjacent to Plaza de San Juan

The fourth and final square on our tour was my favorite, the Plaza del Carmen.  It featured sculptures by Martha Jimenez Perez, one of Cuba's greatest living artists.

Ms. Perez sculpture of gossiping women

And here we see a courting couple

These sculptures were created fourteen years ago in 2003.  I was fortunate to see the real-life version of the man (now age 81) sitting by his sculpture.

He hasn't aged much, has he?

We worked up an appetite for a delicious lunch in the El Paso restaurant, and were served the tastiest black beans on the island (according to our guide Cameron.)  They were pretty darned good.

My mother in front of El Paso

Later in the evening, it was our privilege to visit the home of husband and wife Joel Jover and Ileana Sanchez, two of Cuba's most creative and prodigious contemporary painters.  Their magnificent home, with the walls of most rooms covered with their paintings, was itself a piece of art!

Everywhere you look in this home, you view art!

Sunday, March 12, was our journey into the countryside with a visit to King Ranch.  A 75-minute bus ride from downtown Camaguey  brought us to the ranch, where we were warmly greeted by Vicente, the ranch manager.  He gave us a brief history of the ranch while we were served a welcome sangria cocktail.

King was an American from Orange, NY who purchased his first ranch in Texas.  He expanded his holdings and later bought land in Cuba.  He operated his Cuban ranch from 1952 to 1955.  The 40,000 acre ranch was well known for it's cross-breed of cattle, and also its sugar production.

After the 1959 revolution, the government nationalized and took over the ranch.  Fidel visited King Ranch on three occasions - in 1953, 1983 and 1989.  The current size of the ranch is only 3,000 acres.

Vicente is a happy personable Cuban, perhaps 50 years of age

We were serenaded by this band as we sipped our sangria

We piled into wooden horse-drawn carts and were transported along a bumpy gravel dirt road to the small town of Cafetal, less than 5 km from the ranch.

Along the dusty road to Cafetal

Cafetal is a sleepy town of 250 people who live in small humble houses.  We were invited into the home of Juana.  She offered us fresh sugarcane juice, coconut cookies and coffee.

Outside Juana's home

Although rural Cubans do not have many material goods, they have peace and harmony in their homes and seem to be happy people.

A colorful bedspread in Juana's very primitive bedroom with a thatched roof

Our hostess Juana sets up a table of drinks and snacks in her back yard

Our visit was on a Sunday, so school was not in session.  The 2-room elementary school house is  for children from kindergarten through 4th grade.  It has two computers and two TVs for the 25 students, who learn English via the TV.  It is mandatory the students learn how to write in cursive (unlike the USA these days.)

Written in Spanish to the left of the boy painted on the school is this motto, (English translation):  A good pioneer wears his uniform correctly, takes care of books, does not commit fraud, and studies every day. 

Three words written to the right of the girl are:  Buenos Dias, Permiso and Gracias

Welcomed back at the ranch, we were treated to a pig roast, which was served family-style, with plenty of pork and fixings to go around.  Bowls of fresh mojito sauce were placed in the center of the table, and we were encouraged to spoon it over any or every thing. 

Many of our meals were seafood - not this one, my delicious pig-roast plate!

Our final evening in Camaguey we explored the town on our own and then convened in the courtyard of our hotel to listen to a local jazz band perform.

Gerry hanging loose in Camaguey

A talented group of musicians

We bid a fond farewell to Camaguey, satisfied and eager to carry on!

TOURING CUBA: PART TWO - SANCTI SPIRITUS, REMEDIOS and TRINIDAD

Monday morning we boarded the motor coach for our journey to Remdios, with a stop in the city of Sancti Spiritus along the way.  Sancti Spiritus is another 500-year-old city which is off the main tourist route.  It was about a three-hour bus ride from Camaguey.

A charming street in town

Sancti Spiritis is perhaps best known for the scenic Puente Yayabo, the sturdy stone bridge built by the Spanish in 1815.

The gorgeous puente Yayabo, above the rio Yayabo

The bridge, the church and the colonial houses of cobbled calle El Llano have all been declared national monuments.

My brother, in white cap, stands near this interesting building on El Llano

I'm thrilled these two girls allowed me to take their picture

We ate lunch at Los 500 Anos Restaurante palador.  (A palador is a small family-run restaurant.)  We met the proprietress and chef, a woman named Rebecca.  Her palador is fairly new and is in the building attached to her house next door.

Rebecca, the only chef I've ever met who cooks in high heels.  I kid you not.

Can you guess Rebecca's favorite color?  Ceiling beams and even the commode are lime green

After the gourmet lunch we boarded the bus for the final 90 minute ride to Remedios, which is the 8th largest city in Cuba, a sleepy town founded in 1513 by the Spanish to serve as a trading port on the route between Havana and Camaguey.  We met Joel, a town resident who is also a historian, and the proprietor of the Villa Joel.

The Villa Joel

It took Joel 8 years to renovate the Villa Joel.  There are 5 rooms in the Villa which Joel rents strictly to Cubans, and not foreign tourists.  The rooms are rented in Cuban pesos, at the equivalent of $4 per night.  Joel is well-respected in Remedios.  He publishes a local paper, hosts children's functions and is heavily vested in his local community.

Talking with the very personable Joel who was a pleasure to meet

An ornate wall in the garden of the Villa Joel

Being serenaded at the Villa Joel.  Music is such a big part of the Cuban culture.

We checked into our room at Hotel Camino del Principe in Remedios where we stayed Monday and Tuesday night.  We had a room on the third floor.  The communal balcony overlooked the town square.  Remedios has a population of about 45,000 people. 

Feeling relaxed at Camino del Principe.

Tuesday we visited the Sugar Mill Museum, located 3 km outside of Remedios.  The sugar mill was in operation from 1891 until 1999.  We were given a tour, which showed us the evolution of sugar production from the original mortar and pestle through the steam power centrifuge.

The entrance to the Sugar Museum

Sophisticated machinery inside the museum

We were offered fresh sugarcane juice and then invited to explore the Parque Tematico de Locomotoras next door.

An old locomotive which is still in operation

Hasta la victoria siempre!  Ever onward to victory!

La Parrandas is the soul of Remedios and the community is passionate about it.  The tradition is two centuries old.  It is a huge celebration held Christmas Eve, with an intense competition between the north part of town and the south part of town.  There are four elements to las parrandas - the stage work, the float, the fireworks and lanterns.  Both sides spend nearly the whole year to design and create their presentations for the competition. 

We met with a local man, Roaidis, who has been designing parrandas for 30 years.

Roaidis shows us one of his intricate designs

Later, we took pedicabs to the factory/work shop where the floats and stages are made.  Quite the operation!

This elephant was in last year's float.

In the evening, we drove six miles northeast of Remedios to the coastal town of Caibarien, populatoin of 50,000.  The idea was to view the sunset from the malecon before dinner.  Unfortunately it was cloudy and overcast, so not much of a view, but I was glad to finally see the Cuban coast.

We took a pre-dinner stroll along the malecon

We dined at En Familia in Caibarien.  We sat down at two long banquet tables where we were treated to a fresh seafood feast of grilled shrimp, fresh crab, fried red snapper, plantain chips and sweet potato wedges.

Wednesday morning we bid Remedios goodbye and we were off to Trinidad.  It was a pleasant morning ride, with lovely views from the windows of our bus.

Gazing out the window at the Cuban countryside

The old part of Trinidad is a UNESCO heritage site, since 1988.  I absolutely loved Trinidad, a well-preserved colonial town with brightly colored buildings, cobblestone streets and live music on nearly every corner.

A street in old Trinidad

It makes me want to sing and dance

While Gerry lights up his Cuban cigar

Our people-to-people connection in Trinidad was a visit to the home of Lazaro Niebla and his wife Lianis.    Lazaro is a wood-carve artist.  He recycles by using abandoned wood from home restorations to create his unique, sculptured portraits.  His focus is on senior (older) people, and peasants.  He likes to know their stories and tries to capture them in the facial expressions he creates.

I was impressed with this piece of his

It was intriguing to watch Lazaro at work.  Like most of the artisans we have met, he is passionate about his work.

Lazaro met this man in the magazine and created his portrait. 

We ate a splendid lunch at The Jazz Cafe in downtown Cuba.  The young owner of the paradar introduced himself to us. He opened The Jazz Cafe 15 months ago and his business is booming.

A jazz band at the Jazz Cafe.  Appropriate enough. 

I am enjoying the sounds at this cafe

I ordered one of the chef's recommendation - the spicy shrimp.

Perhaps the spiciest dish in Cuba - a two thumbs up!

Paul is happy with his generous portion of lobster in a special sauce

The Road Scholar group split up and stayed in various casa particulars (private houses for rent.)  Our family stayed together with the host family, Yoandy R Rondon.  It was nice, except that the house next door raised fighting roosters (which meant an obnoxious wake-up call at 4:00 am when the roosters crowed cock-a-doodle-doo.)

Sunset from the balcony of our casa particular

Large mural on the wall outside our room at the casa particular

There is a large plaza in the center of Trinidad where musicians take the stage nightly and play from 7:00 pm until 2:00 am.  People get up and dance.  It is difficult to sit still when you listen to the rhythmic Cuban music!

Enjoying the music scene at the plaza

I am sorry we only had one day and night in Trinidad.  I could easily have stayed here longer...