Day 5 - Sancti Spiritus and Trinidad

After breakfast in Sancti Spiritus we drove about 45 minutes to Trinidad.  Trinidad was founded in 1514 by Velasquez.  They've seen it all in those 500 years -- pirates, wealthy sugar barons, slave trade -- then later poverty and isolation.  Now Trinidad is reviving and has been named a World Heritage site.

The streets are paved with river stones (hard to walk on!).  The houses have brightly painted adobe walls with wooden shutters.  Many houses have wicker birdcages hanging in the windows.  The birds serenade you as you walk along.  Charming city!

Just off the main square is a huge 30 foot wide staircase with a patio at the top.  G and I had a beer (Bucanero or Cristal -- there are only two choices wherever we go) and listened to the local band.  This particular one consisted of sax, trumpet, guitar, bongo drums, bass, maracas and various percussion instruments.  This is my favorite part of Cuba--great music everywhere.  They often involve members of the audience.  This time they had Dave playing the maracas.

We visited a pottery shop where Thea arranged a demonstration for us.  She is an amazing guide.  G says she's the best we've ever had.  Also visited the Templo de Yemaya where a high priest explained the Santeria religion to us.  Santeria seems to be a combination of African, Catholic and animalistic religions.  We were interested in hearing about the animal sacrifices practiced, but the priest didn't go into that--and we've been instructed not to make waves.  Perhaps he left that part out because one of our group made chicken noises as we came in the room.

We had lunch at Paladar Sol-Ananda.  No need to tell you the menu.

After lunch we wandered around the Artisans Market.  it was much nicer than the one in Havana --no hard sells and nicer goods. We visited the Architecture Museum and spent the rest of the afternoon  at the beach.  G and I just waded in the lovely warm water but some of our group swam.  Nice sand, nice resort, lovely lovely day.

Dinner at Paladar El 19 in Sancti Spiritus.  The "19" was for some baseball player.  We actually had a variation in the menu! They served us a variety of tasters including shrimp and beef, in addition to the usual fish, chicken and pork.