After almost a week of the "buzz" in Habana, we decided to head several hours east to the historic town of Trinidad. The town used to be a central part of the sugar cane industry and was a bustling Spanish city back in the day. As a result, the architecture - Spanish mansions, churches and plazas - are quite impressive. Some are crumbling, but others have been restored to their former glory.Once we arrived, we found an 
amazing casa particular to rest our heads for several nights. We originally thought we'd only spend a couple days, but so enjoyed our little paradise that we stayed a few more. This casa was quite luxurious...we had our own bathroom, a beautiful porch off the back door of our room, a cute little garden with flowers and banana trees, and a peaceful patio where we enjoyed many a fine meal while listening to chill music. The family was very friendly and extremely hospitable. And the best part?...turns out the father was a trained Chef and he prepared all our meals. We had incredible lobster twice (for $8!) and a couple 
other dishes. In addition to the main, each meal came with a platter of fresh tropical fruits, salad, bread, and homemade flan. Not to say we didn't do any site seeing in the area, but suffice it to say that we did spend plenty of time at our cozy casa eating, drinking and just relaxing. It was a vacation from our vacation...which was nice since our trip was almost over.
amazing casa particular to rest our heads for several nights. We originally thought we'd only spend a couple days, but so enjoyed our little paradise that we stayed a few more. This casa was quite luxurious...we had our own bathroom, a beautiful porch off the back door of our room, a cute little garden with flowers and banana trees, and a peaceful patio where we enjoyed many a fine meal while listening to chill music. The family was very friendly and extremely hospitable. And the best part?...turns out the father was a trained Chef and he prepared all our meals. We had incredible lobster twice (for $8!) and a couple other dishes. In addition to the main, each meal came with a platter of fresh tropical fruits, salad, bread, and homemade flan. Not to say we didn't do any site seeing in the area, but suffice it to say that we did spend plenty of time at our cozy casa eating, drinking and just relaxing. It was a vacation from our vacation...which was nice since our trip was almost over.In addition to our self-imposed laziness, we did do some cool stuff while in Trinidad...
We took a "coco" taxi to a nearby beach strip about 10 kms away and lounged at the seaside for an afternoon. We paid to have a lounge chair at one of the local resorts and soaked up the sun, read our books and took a couple dips in the water to cool off. It 
certainly was a more relaxing beach than the mania we experienced at the beach near Habana.We spent a couple afternoons/evenings strolling around Trinidad to see the architecture, check out the local museums and churches, admire the many neat old cars, feel sorry for the tired and sweaty horses pulling carriages filled with local goods, poke our heads into a couple art galleries (we found one we loved where we bought 7 pieces as presents), and even had a demo at the local ceramics factory.
The ceramics factory is actually 
an interesting tidbit...we followed our map off the beaten tourist track to find the place, but when we arrived, we observed what appeared to be an abandoned factory with a group of old men chatting out front. We were about to walk on by, when one of the men chased after us and insisted that he give us a tour. We didn't really know what there was to see, but what the heck. The man was a sweet fellow, but had a speech impediment to the point where his Spanish sounded nothing like Spanish, so we used sign language and tonal grunts to communicate. Probably not all that different than how we've done it all year actually. :) He took a hunk of clay from one of
the shelves and turned on one of the pottery wheels. He proceeded to give us a live demo and made a nice bowl. When finished, he placed it on the shelf with the other handful of bowls/vases...they probably make one or two every time a tourist comes by. Then he led us down the street two blocks (we were a little confused) and guided us into the "showroom" (aka: gift shop). They did actually have some cool stuff in there and had workers painting and glazing.
an interesting tidbit...we followed our map off the beaten tourist track to find the place, but when we arrived, we observed what appeared to be an abandoned factory with a group of old men chatting out front. We were about to walk on by, when one of the men chased after us and insisted that he give us a tour. We didn't really know what there was to see, but what the heck. The man was a sweet fellow, but had a speech impediment to the point where his Spanish sounded nothing like Spanish, so we used sign language and tonal grunts to communicate. Probably not all that different than how we've done it all year actually. :) He took a hunk of clay from one of the shelves and turned on one of the pottery wheels. He proceeded to give us a live demo and made a nice bowl. When finished, he placed it on the shelf with the other handful of bowls/vases...they probably make one or two every time a tourist comes by. Then he led us down the street two blocks (we were a little confused) and guided us into the "showroom" (aka: gift shop). They did actually have some cool stuff in there and had workers painting and glazing. We sat and debated for about 30 mins about this one vase - we didn't have anything better to do with our time - and we drove the salesman crazy who 
bargained with us wanting to make the sale. Ultimately, despite being satisfied with the bargained price, we decided not to buy. In fact, I think we've driven a lot of salespeople crazy on this trip...though sometimes we do make the purchase. When you're on a limited budget, and you have to carry your goods (or pay to ship them home), you find that every decision is a big decision. And to some degree the shopping, debating, bargaining process is a bit of a sport and quite fun. We've learned to enjoy bantering about stuff we want to buy for our future home.
bargained with us wanting to make the sale. Ultimately, despite being satisfied with the bargained price, we decided not to buy. In fact, I think we've driven a lot of salespeople crazy on this trip...though sometimes we do make the purchase. When you're on a limited budget, and you have to carry your goods (or pay to ship them home), you find that every decision is a big decision. And to some degree the shopping, debating, bargaining process is a bit of a sport and quite fun. We've learned to enjoy bantering about stuff we want to buy for our future home. In addition to our beach and town days, we spent one afternoon taking the local train to the 
"Valle de los Ingenios." Now, they actually have a tourist train that does this same trip, but why the heck would we pay triple the price for little-added value! Plus, the local train is much more of an experience. When we showed up and bought our tickets (we still had to pay a higher price than the locals), everyone stared at us curiously. Luckily, there was one other tourist couple from the UK who also stuck out like sore thumbs. We were given a seat on the small one-car train and the locals stuffed in around us. It was fascinating just to people watch and see people hop 
on and off, going about their business. The "Valle" wasn't all that exciting...it's basically a tourist attraction because it used to be a huge sugar cane growing area filled with plantations, which were filled with slaves. We climbed a very high watch tower (I only made it part way up because my fear of heights took over after a few rounds of creaky stairs) to look out over the agricultural area, which was pretty. The coolest part of the trip though was strolling around the village while we waited to take the train back. One local farmer cut us a hunk of sugar cane to try, we watched a group of old men sitting around playing dominoes, 
and we walked down the main street alongside carriages pulled by either emaciated horses or oxen. And we even got a tour of the old sugar press by a kind local guy who also appeared to have a speech impediment (like the ceramics guy) so we didn't really understand much of the detailed descriptions he gave, but got the gist through action and hand motions.
"Valle de los Ingenios." Now, they actually have a tourist train that does this same trip, but why the heck would we pay triple the price for little-added value! Plus, the local train is much more of an experience. When we showed up and bought our tickets (we still had to pay a higher price than the locals), everyone stared at us curiously. Luckily, there was one other tourist couple from the UK who also stuck out like sore thumbs. We were given a seat on the small one-car train and the locals stuffed in around us. It was fascinating just to people watch and see people hop on and off, going about their business. The "Valle" wasn't all that exciting...it's basically a tourist attraction because it used to be a huge sugar cane growing area filled with plantations, which were filled with slaves. We climbed a very high watch tower (I only made it part way up because my fear of heights took over after a few rounds of creaky stairs) to look out over the agricultural area, which was pretty. The coolest part of the trip though was strolling around the village while we waited to take the train back. One local farmer cut us a hunk of sugar cane to try, we watched a group of old men sitting around playing dominoes, and we walked down the main street alongside carriages pulled by either emaciated horses or oxen. And we even got a tour of the old sugar press by a kind local guy who also appeared to have a speech impediment (like the ceramics guy) so we didn't really understand much of the detailed descriptions he gave, but got the gist through action and hand motions. So that pretty much sums up our time in Trinidad...I think we will remember this place most of all for the incredibly rejuvenating R&R, the friendly casa and the historic ambiance.
Only a few more entries...stay tuned.
Mariah
1 comment:
Felici per la vittoria di Barack Obama. Saluti dall'Italia.
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