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Published: April 6th 2011
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Santiago De Cuba
Monday 4th April
I’m trying to squeeze a tour of the rest of
Cuba into two weeks. I would really liked to have spent more than two nights in
Santiago De Cuba.
Santiago is Cuba’s second city and was once the capital of the island so there’s probably a lot more to see than I could squeeze in to my brief stay.
Our first stopping off point is the
Moncada Barracks. This was the scene of Fidel’s first unsuccessful attempt to start a revolution in Cuba when Fidel and a number of students attacked the barracks. The bullet holes from the gun battle had been repaired but these have now been restored to give a better impression of what the building looked like after the attack. The barracks now serves a more useful purpose as a primary school.
From here we move on to the
Plaza De La Revolucion. This is well laid out with its statue of
Antonio Maceo and the representation of the 23 machetes. The temperature in Santiago is definitely warmer than in Havana and I find myself looking for the shade at every possibility.
Santiago also has a
large, over-the-top cemetery. I don’t find this as interesting as the one in Havana but the tomb of
Jose Marti is here. The guard to Jose’s tomb is changed every 30 minutes and we stay and watch the ceremony as a new set of guards goose-step to his tomb.
From here we head to the main square by the cathedral. We spend some time exploring the square and the surrounding area and then go off in search of lunch. A group of us avoid the “Graham Greene” hotel and find a couple of cafes with seating outside in a shaded park area. This proves to be a mistake! The prices are {
by Cuban standards} expensive and we can’t go more than a couple of minutes without somebody standing next to me and attempting to play a guitar. We’ve obviously walked straight into the main tourist area! There seems to be more hassle here than there is in Havana – certainly the large number of people who come and ask us for money don’t take “no” for an answer so easily.
El Morro Fort and the Casa De Trova
A trip out to the
El Morro Fort in the late afternoon proves interesting. Like most forts in the region El Morro was built as a defence against English pirates.
Every evening at sunset one of the fort’s cannons is fired. Some of the local National Service recruits dress in the uniform of the
Mambis, the soldiers of Cuba’s independence wars, to re-enact the firing of one of the cannons. I’m told that this is something which has always happened and is not just for the benefit of tourists. Certainly I don’t think this end of the island gets too many tourists yet. Apart from our party there were only two other people watching this ceremony.
A short walk from the fort, near the lighthouse, is the Restaurant
El Morro where we go to eat. The restaurant seems to take great pride in the fact that
Paul McCartney once ate there with a very ordinary-looking plate, knife and fork having been framed and mounted on the wall. The food is very good though.
Continuing to follow in Macca’s footsteps we finish off the evening with a trip to the
Casa De Trova. Having been put off from a visit to either of the Casas
in Havana but having enjoyed the set-up in Trinidad, I decide to give it a try. This is an indoor venue too but is well-ventilated and the music isn’t too loud. We stay to watch two sets by the live band – I think that the music is Salsa-based but I am assured {
by people who know much better than me} that Salsa music in Havana and Salsa music in Santiago are quite different.
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Cat
non-member comment
Fantastic Reading
Hi Steve, Lovely, lovely blog to read - brings back some wonderful memories! Your pictures are gorgeous too - they look much better than when you showed me on the laptop. I have now made your blog a 'favourite' to keep track of your adventures. Speak soon, Cat xx