Trinidad de Cuba

April 26-27, 2017

Nestled at the edge of the Escambray mountains sits Trinidad- colorful, colonial, and busting with live music and tourists. After rinsing off from our last day of diving, it was our destination.

When we first arrived, Danilo did us a solid and helped us find a place to stay before heading home. We hadn't booked before before we left, and due to the distinct lack of wifi hadn't been able to do so during our trip as we had planned. But it worked just fine, and we ended up in a cute little house at the edge of town, outside the main tourist area.

We took a shower and a siesta, and a late afternoon wandered into town to explore for the evening. Trinidad is adorable.

The streets are cobblestone, the buildings are colorful, and the roofs are red clay tile.

Just down from our hostel was a lovely old church.

The camera angle makes it look like it's just a facade but there was depth to the building.

Sunset that night was beautiful over the main square. Dinner consisted of juice and a sandwich at a little hole-in-the wall that ended up having a rooftop patio, and we listened to the sounds of tourists and live music below in the square. We decided to leave the revelry to them for the night, and headed for our beds.

The next morning we woke up ready for our adventure day.

We started by walking directly out of town on the road that I hoped was the right one based on things I had looked up and written down in my planning journal, but not with quite enough detail to be sure we were doing the right thing. Our intended destination-a pottery workshop supposedly 850m off the map. We set out walking, and did manage to find it, the workshop hidden behind a big steel gate. There was a gallery as well as an area where about 4 guys behind pottery wheels were busy working on bowls in various stages. We didn't find anything we couldn't live without, but we had a good time watching.

Once back in town, we wandered the shops for a bit and then went to the main church. It's a sunny yellow like one of my favorite churches in Granada, Nicaragua. Plus, there was a group of old guys singing 'Guantanamera' outside in the square, which just made it even more perfect.

Inside, in the courtyard, was a small museum about revolutionary times, lots of  pictures of Fidel and Che, and a jeep and boat from the time.

The belltower was the big attraction. We paid our dollar to climb three stories up a rickety wooden staircase, and the view from the top was totally worth it.

Trinidad sprawled before us in all it's red-roofed glory

The massive bells hanging on several levels as well as a the top were pretty cool, and I'm sure they were original too.

Selfie from the deck halfway down

In the center of town there is a giant staircase they refer to as the Casa de la Musica. At night the bottom is roped off and live bands perform on the stage halfway up.

We stopped by after we left the church but before we went to our room to rest before dinner. We sat in the shade at a table and listened to a salsa band play our favorite Latin pop hits live while the pianist made eyes at us.

youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0w2_jYIwsA

It was our last night in Trinidad so we splurged on dinner. We had both independently thought that the restaurant on the corner of the main square looked good, no matter what the menu was, so we went there. Easy choice.

We had a balcony table with a great view of the square and the sunset. There was a son (type of Cuban music) band playing in the courtyard below us and we had a front row seat for that too.

Doesn't she look pretty

Shay had spicy shrimp, I had lobster skewers. Yes, my plate was about 18 inches tall. And I confirmed again that I much prefer a well cooked shrimp to lobster, but it was good in any case.

Yes, it's three skewers shoved into half a pineapple as a base, and yes, we did eat the majority of the pineapple by the end of the meal. Garnish smarnish.

After dinner we paid our dollar to get into the Casa de la Musica. It was full with people, and became more packed as the night went on. We managed to get chairs, but missed out on a table.

It's difficult to tell since the photo is so dark, but there were people packed in sitting on the stairs all the way to the top

We spent a couple happy hours sipping cheap drinks provided by the roving waiters, and listened to the band. It was a 13 piece son band, and was great. They had multiple singers, percussion, and a full brass section.

youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ukx6LFwU2ss

We got a kick out of the power stance the guajiro player had going.

Just look at it.

The second act was a group of traditional dancers, and we stayed for two dances before heading for bed.

Overall, Trinidad was way more touristy than the places we had been previously in Cuba, but I'm glad we visited. We had a great time, and got more Cuban culture and muisc.

Also I enjoyed the fact that this sign was not out of the ordinary.

After Trinidad we headed back to Havana for a couple nights to wrap up our adventure. We were not disappointed. Havana brought more music, an old fort and cannons, a theater performance, old cars, and a dance party in an alley on our last day.