For February 21, 2009 we had planned an excursion into the city of Santiago de Cuba. One of the local hotel employees had taken a day off and agreed to take us around his city. He came to pick us up at 6:30 am and we took the resort workers' bus into town. Our resort was pretty remote and there was not public transport and taxis were too expensive. Riding with the local hotel workers was an interesting and affordable way of getting into the city. It was also a great way of getting exposed to the local vibe. The staff members are extremely friendly and love chatting with the tourists, particularly if the tourists speak Spanish.
One of the bartenders was going home from work and graciously explained all the local sights and villages to us along the way, in rather impressive English. After our arrival at about 8:30 am our own guide then took us around the city, starting with a walk into the downtown area from the bus stop at the busy Ferreira intersection. We also looked at the modern complexes of the Hotel Melia Santiago and the Hotel de las Americas along the way and admired some of the old vehicles that were parked in the side streets.
Strolling towards Santiago's main square I noticed that many of the houses were not as run down as the ones I had seen in Havana where I had travelled in 2005. Many houses looked refurbished and newly painted - for good reason: 2009 is the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution, and the City of Santiago has been spiffed up for various celebrations.
Downtown we walked along Calle Enramada, a pedestrian street that just teems with people and gives you an idea of Cuban state-run retail operations. Since we had not had breakfast yet we headed into a state-run restaurant, but at 9 am they had no egg dishes yet, only sandwiches. The Cuban economy is definitely not always efficient...
So we kept walking and arrived at Parque Cespedes, Santiago's impressive main square that features a large cathedral, the Ayuntamiento (City Hall), the historic Hotel Casa Grande and the Casa de Velazquez, an Andalusian style building dating back to the early 1500s. A three-men orchestra started to play a tune for me as I walked by, always ready to make a tip.
Through narrow congested streets we walked to the Balcon de Velazquez, a lookout terrace that offers a fabulous view over the western part of the city and the Bay of Santiago. The entrance is guarded and to use a camera you have to pay the equivalent of about $3. From here we went to the "Museo de La Lucha Clandestina" (Museum of the Clandestine Battle") which commemorates the important role Santiago de Cuba played in the time leading up to the Cuban Revolution.
Now completely famished, we were looking for restaurants but Santiago de Cuba has a noticeable lack of decent food establishments in the downtown area, so we went back to the state-run restaurant which now magically had some egg dishes. Strenghtened after our omelettes we walked back on the busy pedestrian street Calle Enramadas to Plaza Dolores, an attractive square with benches and trees, surrounded by some street cafes.
Since our workers' bus was going to head back to the resort at around 1 pm we had some extra time and sat down for a drink in the Hotel Libertad, a former mansion of the Bacardi family, just opposite Plaza de Marte, one of Santiago's main plazas. The waiter took us around the building and showed us some of the buildings magnificent features as well as the stunning view from the roof terrace.
Around 1 pm we made our way back to the bus station and rode back to our resort in our comfortable air-conditioned bus, all the while watching Cuban interesting and varied modes of transportation: old trucks, ancient tractors, horse-carts, old motorbikes with sidecars, beat-up Russian Ladas etc. Locomotion in Cuba is reminiscent of a transportation museum.
Back at the resort we settled in for a relaxing afternoon by the pool, capped off with a bit of table tennis. Dinner was even more exciting: instead of the not overly appealing buffet we had booked the a-la-carte restaurant and enjoyed very tasty Spaghetti Bolognese, Penne Aioli and something that was reminiscent of a Tira Misu, followed by another dance show by the resort's talented entertainment crew. It had been a perfect day of Cuban discoveries.
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Cuba Travel - Santiago de Cuba: Parque Cespedes, the Main Squareby travelandtransitions4,319 views
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