de-Intimidator: Cuba

Showing posts with label Cuba. Show all posts

Monday, January 28, 2019

Mesoamerica 2019 - The Great Contemplation Post

I hesitated to call this post a 'great navel-gazing post'. The learning and observations don't seem profound enough to be classified navel-gazing. Maybe navel glancing at? Navel casual observation of? Contemplation. There. That is a nice reflective word that does not carry quite the heavy import of navel-gazing.

So here are my observations of both what we saw and did and our continuing evolution as aging travel junkies.

Mexico was so comfortable - It took so little time to get into the swing of things in both Guadalajara and Mexico City. They were different sure. Foreign sure. But not so different that there wasn't a degree of ease with which to adjust. I have thought would that have been true if we had come here in 2012 before we truly threw ourselves into travel? I doubt it. I think all the experiences during our three Asian adventures plus going to places like Albania and Jordan changed our own confidence and perceptions. So in comparison, coming to Mexico seemed very comfortable. I fully expect more travel to Mexico in the future. This was the first place we have ever visited where we felt no one was looking at us. I mean for crying out loud we are so obviously NOT local, so obviously tourists with our cameras out all the time. Yet in both cities I never once felt people were looking at me. It was like we were part of the local environment. That is not typical of our travels. And the weather, at least in winter, is so like the Med weather we love. Yes, we will be back.

Cuba, so interesting but not so comfortable - We took more pictures in Cuba than we have taken in any country we have visited. The colors, the contrast between things locked in time and new, the whole vibe was incredible. Having our wonderful guide LÍvan made a huge difference. He was a window into Cuban society we would not have had otherwise. But boy, hard for an American to visit. The political situation making us have to use cash all the time. The lack of internet. And I really dislike the dual currency thing. I would encourage anyone to go especially if you could have a guide like our Wij in Cuba folks. But I am not sure I would go back soon unless things change. Unlike Mexico which I guarantee is now on the list of places like the Mediterranean coast as a place we love.

17 days as good as 6 to 7 weeks - When we started our travel adventures, I was convinced I needed to be gone for long periods of time to break out of the workaholic mode that had defined my last 14 years in business. And I probably did. But no more. This trip was just a tad over two weeks. It felt as full immersion as any of our longer trips. We were totally into it. I looked at my posts going back to our first days in Guadalajara and was amazed that I couldn't even remember how much we had done there. This is a good thing. Just as with our driving/improvisational tour of the Deep South, I think we are getting more and more flexible about where we will go, how long we will go and when we will go.

We have a system down pat now - We clearly now have our system of how we like to travel. If it is a fairly developed country (like Mexico), we have no problem just arriving and having the confidence that we will be able to figure out things fairly quickly and make the place comfortable for us. If it is a more difficult environment (like Cuba), we just retain a private driver/guide tour and that takes care of it for us. Booking flights, accommodation, tours, etc. we know what we like and want and we have our channels for finding them. We are planning a trip now that leaves in early April and will take us to 6 countries, 4 of them new to us. It is taking us so much less time than it used to. And the improvisational nature of dealing with things when we get there. We have accepted that we will never see everything that there is to see in a place. And we are equally confident that we will find all kinds of things that are interesting no matter where we go.

Wife has me as her photgraphic acolyte hook, line and sinker - Each and every trip I am as excited to get the camera out, wander wherever we are going to go and look for those visual delights that seem to only show up on an image. I still look at my photography as function of my storytelling but more and more, with each photographic workshop we take, I find that the photography aspect is more and more enjoyable.

The growing and developing continues - There were trends that came out of this trip and our last trip to the Deep South which indicate to me that Wife and I are continuing our development and growth. Like our use of our new 'Travel Blogger' business cards. What a difference it made in how various people interacted with us. Even Wife is handing them out now. There are some significant new developments in our travel life that are coming up very shortly (I will leave you hanging on that for a couple of weeks). Let me conclude this post by saying that the last thing I expected as I entered my 70's was for life to be so dynamic, with so many opportunities for growth and learning. Truly Wife and I are blessed.

Friday, January 25, 2019

Mesoamerica 2019 - Nineth and Final Cuba Pictures! Santa Clara

On our last full day in Cuba we went to the town of Santa Clara. It is known as the location of the last battle of the Revolution against Batista, the battle leading to victory. The battle was led on the side of the Revolutionaries by Che Guevara. Hence it is a town that is dedicated to his memory.

Before we left Trinidad there were still a couple of sights to see

Including the ubiquitous 'man on horse with cell phone'

Driving out from Trinidad we passed the Valley of Sugar, the source of Trinidad's wealth in its glory days

And a church that LÍvan said we should shoot from afar if we wished to avoid the gauntlet of vendors selling to tourists

At last we arrived in Santa Clara

All Che all the time

This statue is in front of the local branch of the Communist party

Like so much sculpture I've seen in Cuba, I was impressed with its action

Not to mention there are miniature scenes from his life on the main statue

We went to a museum dedicated to the last battle that was honestly lacking quite a bit

The train cars were to represent the actual scene of the battle but when you looked at the pictures this was very whitewashed

We passed through the center of Santa Clara and since I know you have been dying for more pictures of neo-classical and neo-Soviet style buildings I will oblige you

With bullet holes from the battle retained

And in the central plaza

NOT a statue of Jose Marti

But of a woman who was the benefactor of the town in the late 19th century

According to LÍvan the only town in Cuba without a Marti statue

We finished up with a visit to he mausoleum and monument to Che

Children of the Revolution

And for a last image of Cuba

A final selection of Revolutionary images

Thursday, January 24, 2019

Mesoamerica 2019 - Eight Cuba Pictures! Trinidad de Cuba

LÍvan called Trinidad the town locked in time. As I mentioned in my last post, the town stopped developing when changes in land based transportation made the city much less important. Fast forward to the present and it's old section is now a UNESCO Heritage site.

A gastronomic interlude

Food was not particularly fantastic in Cuba

Most meat was very overdone to our tastes

But for our first dinner in Trinidad, the owner of our B&B made dinner

We had requested simple fried fish

He did a great job

The fish and its accompaniments were clearly the best meal of the trip

Wilfried, owner and chef