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Trinidad de Cuba -- circa
1840
Too many 'protected'
towns have become too cute for their own
good. But Trinidad, with its preserved mansions
and Che Guevara murals, feels authentic
By Gerald Fitzpatrick, Special
to The
Globe and Mail. Canada, January 22,
2005.
TRINIDAD DE CUBA, CUBA -- In a dusty square
in Trinidad de Cuba, Amado Zulueta relaxes
on a bench, his guitar set to one side.
He begins to sing softly to women tending
a nearby handicraft stall. Then his two
companions join in -- and the women begin
to giggle.
All three musicians must be well over 70
years old and seem to be playing for their
own enjoyment, as there are no other visitors
in sight. Music is just one of the delights
of Trinidad de Cuba, halfway along Cuba's
south coast -- and a complete contrast to
the tourist hotspot of Varadero.
One of the island's seven original cities,
founded by Diego Velazquez de Cuellar in
about 1515, Trinidad developed as a major
trading centre for sugar and slaves until
the early 1800s. Plantation owners built
elegant mansions and the city became one
of the most cosmopolitan in Cuba. But in
the 1840s, slave revolts, soil infertility
and falling sugar prices led to a decline
from which Trinidad never fully recovered.
This long period of inactivity froze the
city in time well into the 20th century.
Designated by UNESCO in 1988 as a World
Heritage Site, Trinidad is one of Latin
America's best-preserved Spanish Colonial
cities.
Too many "protected" cities and
towns around the world have been gentrified
to the point where they have become too
cute for their own good. The charm of Trinidad
is its almost complete lack of artifice.
There's a natural time-worn feel to its
cobbled streets, faded pastel walls and
sun-bleached woodwork. High doorways and
shuttered windows reaching almost to the
eaves punctuate the continuous façades
of single-storey buildings. Wide open shutters
give passersby a glimpse into shadowy living
rooms where people keep one eye on the street
as they watch television.
The hub of old Trinidad is the Plaza Mayor,
made up of four tiny gardens containing
high palm trees bounded by white iron fences.
Around the plaza are four of the town's
most elegant mansions. The Casa de los Sanchez
Iznaga houses the Museum of Colonial Architecture,
the only one of its type in Cuba. Nearby
is the Casa de Aldeman Ortiz with a long
balcony providing a view over the plaza.
The finest mansion in Trinidad is the Palacio
Brunet, built in 1808 for one of the town's
wealthiest families. It is now the Museo
Romantico, containing one of the best collections
of colonial furniture in Cuba.
For the best view over the town, climb
to the top of the Iglesia y Convento de
San Francisco. Below it is the Museum of
the Struggle Against Counter Revolutionary
Groups -- after all, this is Cuba. The museum
portrays Castro's fight against the "bandidos"
of Fulgencio Batista's regime who fled to
the nearby Escambray Mountains. Of most
interest to visitors are photos of a beardless
Fidel, the legendary Che Guevara and other
leaders of the revolution. The iconic image
of Che adorns everything from T- shirts,
coffee mugs and watches to decals on buses
and murals and has become part of the Cuban
psyche.
Nearby is the tiny Plazuela del Jigqe with
a shady acacia tree and the El Jigqe restaurant.
When night falls in Trinidad -- or anywhere
else in Cuba for that matter -- music is
everywhere. Mambo, cha-cha-cha, salsa, bolero,
rumba or son -- whatever it takes to get
Cubans dancing, and it doesn't take much.
The 1998 film Buena Vista Social Club brought
Cuban son music to an international audience
and one of the best places to hear it, for
a $1 cover charge, is at Trinidad's Casa
de la Trova. Most provincial capitals in
Cuba have a Casa de la Trova where traditional
ballad-style trova music, based on son's
blend of African rhythms and Spanish melodies,
are performed. Trinidad's La Trova has a
variety of local groups every night -- and
they serve great mojitos.
When Cubans are dancing up a storm at La
Trova, they haven't a care in the world;
perhaps it's just a temporary escape from
reality in a country where chambermaids
earn more than doctors. New five-star hotels
and resorts are springing up and anyone
in contact with visitors has a tremendous
advantage over other Cubans: a $10 (U.S.)
tip to a chambermaid is equivalent to a
month's pay for the average worker.
Last October, however, the Cuban government
banned the use of U.S. currency in stores
and businesses. Anyone wanting to change
American dollars will now have to pay a
10-per-cent commission. Previously, the
country operated openly on two economies;
those with dollars could buy almost anything
in hard-currency stores while ordinary Cubans
paid in pesos could buy almost nothing.
The new policy may make the custom of many
Canadian visitors taking items like soap,
shampoo, Aspirin and toothpaste to give
to people they meet even more appreciated.
A taxi ride into the countryside to visit
the Valle de los Ingenios -- the Valley
of the Sugar Mills, also designated by UNESCO
-- shows another side of how Cubans cope.
On the 12-kilometre trip from Trinidad,
the only other traffic was a couple of 1950s
Chevys, an open Russian truck full of people
heading into town, and a tractor pulling
a cart loaded with people as a makeshift
bus. Hitchhiking, or coger botella as it's
called, is the only way of getting around
for many people and the scarcity of public
transport means that Cubans always stop
for that outstretched thumb.
The main landmark in the valley is the
tower on the Iznaga estate, built so plantation
overseers could look out over the fields
to ensure that slaves were not slacking.
At the base of the tower, free enterprise
is in full swing with women embroidering
tablecloths and crocheting all manner of
things for visitors.
Twenty minutes by taxi from Trinidad are
the fine sand beaches of the Ancon Peninsula.
With only two or three hotels, Ancon has
a relaxed atmosphere, but more hotels are
planned. Cuba is changing more rapidly now
than at any time since Castro came to power
and as one sunburned Australian visitor
confided to me over a cold Cristal beer:
"I wanted to see the place while Fidel
was still alive. God knows what will happen
when he dies."
Pack your bags
GETTING AROUND
Rental cars are fairly expensive and taxis
are cheap. Excursions are offered from the
beach hotels, but it is often cheaper to
arrange your own trip. A day trip by taxi
to the Valley of the Sugar Mills and the
nearby mountains will cost about $70. A
trip into Trinidad from the beach hotel
area costs about $10 one-way. Try Turistaxi
in Trinidad.
WHAT TO TAKE
If you can, take small packages of toothpaste,
soap, Aspirin, shampoo and other essentials
to give to people you meet. Everyday items
are in such short supply that almost anything
is appreciated. The international health
clinic in Trinidad, for example, while spotlessly
clean, is woefully undersupplied. One nurse
we know took a duffle bag crammed with supplies
to a small rural clinic serving local people
and the gift was well received.
MORE INFORMATION
Cuba Tourist Board: 416-362-0700; http://www.gocuba.ca
© Copyright
2005 Bell Globemedia Publishing Inc. All
Rights Reserved.
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