We are staying in Trinidad, Cuba with Dr Amaro and his lovely wife who is also a Doctor, Yamira. You walk through their front door from the footpath, straight through their hall, lounge and kitchen and out into their backyard which is an open courtyard.
They have two habitaciones for rent, apartment style, one on top of the other in the back yard. Both apartments have balconies and private seating areas and there is a shared terrace on the roof top that is used for sitting and drying the household washing. We have rented the top apartment, you can see the balcony and the stairs leading up to the roof terrace which are by the door to our room.
Home sweet home. The rooms have ceiling fans and there is alot of air flow through the open windows. From our balcony you look onto the household back yard, the set table below is where we have breakfast in the morning.the width of this yard is the total width of their house.
Everyone lives pretty close here, this is the neighbours yard in a bit of a wider shot.
Amaro speaks good English and we are greated like old friends, my house is your house he says, please come and go whenever you like, if you want to stay out dancing till three in the morning, we hope you have a good time.
What a great guy, he called ahead to our next two lots of accommodation and confirmed our stay, plus arranged a car for us to our next destination. Yamiras English wasnt quite as good but man, what a mean juice she whizzed up for us from fresh fruit on arrival, it was lovely. We are really going to enjoy our stay here!
Old Town Trinidad is loud and full of colour. The streets are cobble stones…more like rocks set into the street.
They are lumpy and totally treacherous, there is a smoother set placed in the middle of the road kind of like a drain, everyone aims for that and so do the scooter and cyclists. Rosies aims for whatever shade is available, it totally seems to be getting hotter and hotter the further south we go.
They say that time has stood still in Trinidad since the 1850s, its heyday when it amassed its sugar plantation wealth off the back of many rich French folk fleeing a slave rebellion in Haiti and setting up at least 50 sugar mills in the area and building all of the grand houses.
Smuggling was also rife in Trinidad at this time as was the illegal African slave trade still going on with British controlled Jamaica. During the mid 18th century Trinidad was producing one third of Cubas sugar. During the 1895 War of Independence against Spain the mills were decimated and closed and Trinidad slipped into an economic coma for the next 100 plus years. This stagnation and very little change to the town as a result of the hard times gives it its unique beauty that we see today. In the 80s, the town was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site and tourism kicked off en force.
In town, its only mid day and music seems to be coming from everywhere, a salsa class is in a full swing on a terrace, a quartet are playing a fast paced beat on the street and a guitar player is picking a complicated tune in a restaurant.
Locals sit in the door ways of their houses, looking for shade and breeze. The floor to ceiling windows are wide open enticing in any breath of breeze, the elaborate wrought iron window covers give security to the homes and allow you to have a good discreet nosy into the dark cool cavernous high ceilinged houses.
There are a lot of tourists in this town but it does not feel over crowed at all. Trinidad has an sense of expectation about it, like something is going to happen at any second, it has a buzzing, electric atmosphere that is quite exciting.
Rosie and The Operator have arrived on a Saturday, most things are closed on Sunday, so we first visit the Museo de Historia Municipal before it shuts for the day.
This beautiful mansion was built in 1827 by a slave trader named Borrell. A German planter bought the building in 1830 after acquiring vast sugar estates by reputedly poisoning the plantation owner and marrying his widow. She too, then died an ‘untimely’ death not long after……
The interior is beautiful, the ceilings are high and the rooms spacious and cool.
The huge shuttered windows let the breeze in and the shady rooms are perfect for taking photos. The houses are square and built around an internal courtyard which normally holds a well and is planted with tall trees which make for a beautiful private garden and offer more shade.
It is so surprising what is behind the austere facades of the seemingly small street frontages that often look abit fortified.
Rosie and The Operator head upstairs and climb the tower for the most splendid view over Trinidad. This rooftop view from the Museo de Historia Municipal totally showcases the lush green of the town with its orange rooftops and the dark, looming surrounding mountains frame it beautifully.
Trindad is a totally walkable wee town, there are so many colourful sights and plenty of places to stop, refresh and people watch in the shade. The main square is the Plaza Mayor, where a band plays continuously at the bar halfway up the steps and tourists sit in the shade of the trees and the shadow of The Church of The Holy Trinity.
This area is also the towns WIFI zone, the crowds are always big here, especially at night when the sun goes down and the temp drops to a more manageable 26c.
The Church of The Holy Trinity is an austere block of a church, softened by cheery coat of Cuban Yellow. It is one of the biggest churches in Cuba and holds no golden holy relics with….they have all been stolen before by raiding pirates.
We sit and have lunch under a beautiful pink bougainvillea tree and watch the world watching us.
These ladies were looking out their window from across the road from where we were sitting having lunch. They didnt seem to have a care in the world as they took a break from their gossip.
Rosies lunchtime tipple of choice was a cooling, refreshing Mojito. The Operator tried the local speciality a Canchanchara.
Its origins spark back to the War of Independance against the Spanish when the Cuban fighters drank it warm as a toddy. In bars you are served the cold version in a small authentic clay pot like the freedom fighters would have drunk out of. The contents are equal parts honey and lemon juice stirred well, a shot of Aguardiente (fire water) which is sugar cane alcohol, ice and soda water. It is an acquired taste…by no means a refreshing drink to sup at 34c, The Operator liked them though and had a couple.
After lunch we wandered around the cobbley, narrow streets and came across a market and marveled at the daily life being lived amongst the throng of tourism in full technicolour stereo.
In the mid afternoon Rosie went back to the casa and hid from the heat for a couple of hours and did some writing in the shade with the portable fan directed straight at her.
The Operator went for a hike up to the highest point in Trinidad on which sits 200 metres above sea level, a coms tower that has repeaters for TV, Radio and phone signals. It also houses the back up power generator for Trinidad. PS The Operator dosnt do photos….so the pics below are just general pics of Trinidad.
It is a steep hike, something The Operator revels to do in the hottest part of the day, nobody else was up there but ….low and behold….another Operator! He mans the tower 24 hours at a time and then swaps out with a colleague.
The Other Operator showed The Operator around his station and they had a beer together, he dosnt get many visitors…The Operator found out that The Other Operator was there to start the Trinidad back up generator should there be a power failure. Which apparently happened often. He was chuffed that The Operator came from New Zealand….he knew all about that famous big lady who (motioned throwing a shot put)…Go Valerie Adams! World famous in Cuba. The other Operator seemed to have a good grasp of world athletics so, like every good Operator there seemed to be a good amount of TV watching going on during his shifts. He showed The Operator the views from the top of his keep, they shook hands, said good bye and The Operator trekked back down the mountain to town.
As the sun started to set we ventured back out again for some dinner and a few more cocktails.
We came across this hip and happening private restaurant (above) new to town. It had a huge blackboard menu and didnt disappoint.
The interior was rustic and some of the seating were crates. We drank out of jars which seems to be the custom/trend here. Are these Cuban entreprenours super trendy and up with the styling of the world or, are they just making do and being unwittingly uber cool….cant decide.
We wandered down to the Plaza Mayor for a bit of internet time. You wont believe how awesome it feels when the sun sets.
The coolness of the air, the slight dampness it brings which is so delicious. The bright sky with a super dark silhouetted horizon. We slowly wandered home and got abit lost and ended up down some quiet back alleys.
They looked rougher than they were, we never felt unsafe or threatened anywhere. Everyone we passed in the dark had a greeting.
It might not have been three am when we arrived home, actually Amaro may have been abit dissappointed we were home so early…we walked through the families home as they all sat in the tiny lounge watching TV, said our goodnights and had a great sleep.
Tomorrow is another scooter day, we are looking at visiting a few sugar plantations, white sand beaches and small fishing villages abit off the beaten track. Join us tomorrow.
