Santiago de Cuba Frid-Sat 13-14 July Day 8,9

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Santiago de Cuba Frid-Sat 13-14 July Day 8,9



I was still trying to change our flights from LAX to Brisbane but still with no luck due to the restricted technology. Immediately after breakfast I went into the nearby Plaza to hook up to the wifi. The only advantage was that I spoke to Kerrie and Gemma who were in the middle of Gemma’s performance in Creative Generation. It was so good to talk to her which was the 1^st time since Poppie died. She had also sent us photos of Gemma performing. That was also so good. I also received texts from Sheryl and sister-in-law Kerry who was in Vietnam. So not all was lost.







We left Camaguey around 9.00 am and we did not get to Santiago de Cuba until 5.00pm stopping a couple of times including for lunch. This time we had an 8 seater minivan which was very spacious and comfortable. The road was pretty good and not too busy except for the last 1 ½ hours. The driver’s only challenge was to dodge the horse and carts on the highway.







On arrival into Santiago Tom & I had a separate guest house to David & Jessica, but it was just around the corner. We were 2 blocks away from the city centre. Camilo then took us for a walk around the main square, Park Cespedes. The Cathedral was a beautiful grey and white colour scheme which had recently been renovated. There was also the oldest house in Santiago with its dark wood shutters but was now a museum. Jessica and I went in (2CUC + 5 CUC to use our camera). We were the only ones in the museum and the lady at the door was not interested in the fact that we were there, and we were taking photos! It was sparsely decorated with dark antique furniture. We had to un-latch the major room to look around. It was if they were just about to close the museum but had another 2 hours before the scheduled time.







The 4 of us decided to walk down to the harbourside. Walking along the long pedestrian mall we were eventually blocked from progressing by a large number of police. A whole block was cordoned off, but we couldn’t find out what was going on. We saw a lovely park so entered it only to find out that the only thing that was being sold was ice creams. There were a lot of people sitting around enjoying themselves. We were going to dinner at 7.30pm so didn’t stop for ice cream. We continued our way along the detour and eventually got to the harbour. One could see that the area was set up for entertainment and other activities but not in the heat of the day which was when we were there, even at 6.30pm.







We took out photo in front of the CUBA sign and then found a waterfront restaurant and had a cold beer. The sun was getting lower and we could feel it becoming a little cooler. Santiago is known as the “Hot City” because it is just that. It was a lot hotter than any other town or city we had visited, even by the water.







We then walked back to the centre of town and met Camilo at the Grand Hotel. At the rooftop restaurant there was a beautiful breeze. Food was OK (very cheap 4-8CUC for mains) and drinks were icy. After the sun set, the lights in Park Cespedes came on and the Cathedral Ecclesia looked beautiful. We could look down at the park from the restaurant.







Saturday 14 July:







Historically Santiago de Cuba has long been the second-most important city on the island after Havana, and still remains the second-largest. It is on a bay connected to the Caribbean Sea and is an important sea port. The population of the city of Santiago de Cuba is about 4312,000 people.



Santiago was also the home of the revolutionary hero Frank Pais. On July 26, 1953, the Cuban Revolution began with an ill-prepared armed attack on the Moncada Barracks by a small contingent of rebels led by Fidel Castro. Shortly after this disastrous incident, País began talking with students and young working people informally, drawing around him what became an extremely effective urban revolutionary alliance. This developed into highly organised cells, coordinating a large-scale urban resistance that became instrumental in the success of the Cuban Revolution.



País' group prepared carefully, accruing weapons, collecting money, collecting medical supplies. They published a cheap newsletter that reported news that criticized the government, attempting to counter Batista's censorship.



In the summer of 1955, País' organization merged with Castro's July 26 Movement. País became the leader of the new organization in Oriente province, though two years later he was betrayed to the police and was shot after his capture.



On January 1, 1959, Fidel Castro proclaimed the victory of the Cuban Revolution from a balcony on Santiago de Cuba's city hall. His ashes are buried in the same cemetery as Marti's.







Our full day in Santiago commenced with a half day tour around the main historical sites around the city. Camilo had organised one of the only American cars to take us around (30CUC or 7.5CUC each).







We first visited the Santiago de Cuba Santa Ifegenia Cemetery, the most historic in Cuba. We had a local guide take us around along with French students who were doing a Spanish immersion tour, so the guide spoke in English and Spanish. The significance of this cemetery was the grave of Fidel Castro, the last doctor of Christopher Columbus, and many of the members of the Revolution, the 21 July Party members.







We also saw the multiple of boxes ready to be filled with the bones of people who had been exhumed after 2 years of being buried. The Government was starting to encourage cremation as the cleaning of bones would be very upsetting for family members. Every ½ hour there is a military parade of changing of the guards around Castro’s grave, his followers and the eternal flame.







Next was Moncada Barracks, which was well worth exploring. This is the headquarters that was attack by the Revolution Army in the middle of the night. However, the surprise was not successful as some of Batista’s men saw one of the revolutionists who had to go back for his shoes and he was late and was seen by the opposition. The story of the attack and battles were very clearly presented. One could even see the bullet holes on the outside of the building, but they were not the original holes as the building had a major renovation since the attack.







From there we visited Revolution Square where a statue of a man on horseback stood at about 15-20 metres and next to represent the blades of machetes which the revolutionists used during the uprise. It was an impressive monument, which also included an eternal flame.







Our final stop was the Castle San Pedro De La Roca, a very well-preserved fortress. We noted the canons were very small and we learned that they were so small that their effectiveness in the battle to protect the city was very low. The interpretive signs told the story of the various waterside battles. Many ships lay at the bottom of the sea providing wonderful diving opportunities.







We had got in the practice of either finding an airconditioned bar or restaurant from 2.00-6.00pm to get out of the heat of the day or go back to our guest house in the air conditioning. The latter is what we did after the tour. It was incredibly hot.







Santiago was certainly the place of origin of much of Cuba’s famed music, like the Son. There were museums, many colonial churches. It has a very vibrant traditional music scene, and culturally a different feel to the rest of Cuba, undoubtedly coming from the mix of French speaking slaves from Haiti and its proximity to Jamaica. That night after we had restored our fluid levels (!) and after dinner we met Camilo at the “noche de salsa” at 9.00pm, a popular venue for our salsa lesson. It was a lot of fun but very hot.







Unfortunately, Tom’s dinner had not agreed with him and it took him almost 2 hours to start feeling good enough to have a short dance. At the venue Camilo introduced us to local musicians and dancers. At this small music venue, we got the chance to learn some dance moves from professional dancers. Yes, it was a lot of fun. Midnight was late enough for Tom & I so walked back to our accommodation. Thank goodness Tom slept well.

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