Feb 17, 2010 - Santa Clara...beisbol

Feb 17 – Santa Clara Santa Clara, for us, will always be about beisbol (baseball). For most people who visit this lovely university city, it’s all about Che Guevarra. It was in Santa Clara that Che and his group of revolutionaries liberated the city from Batista’s army in 1958 Batista. But, for us, it’s all about beisbol. After learning that Michael (named after Michael Jackson) is a rabid baseball fan, we asked as many questions as we could about when and where the teams play. We had been under the impression that each provinces team...

Feb 16, 2010 - Trinidad to Santa Clara

February 16 – Trinidad to Santa Clara We awoke, as usual, to a cacophony of sounds: the cooing of pigeons on the neighbour’s rooftop, the crowing of dozens of roosters vying to be the loudest, the clip clop of horses pulling wagons, the reciprocal barking of dogs left outside for the night, morning traffic transporting workers, and Fernando whistling his favourite song, “Strangers in the Night” (Victor vows to teach him a new song). The only unusual sound is that of a gentle rain tapping out a tune on the cement on our patio. At breakfast,...

May 14, 2009 - Trinidad to Santa Clara

So in the previous entry Cory and Elaine shared some thoughts on Cuba and how tourists are treated differently from nationals. For tourists that go to Cuba and only stay in a resort I don’t think they get an actual feel for the Cuban people. We spent our next day after all our chores were finished heading off to Playa Ancon. Here there is yet another beach. For a small fee we are able to use all the facilities at an all inclusive resort for the day. The food was much better than in Cayo Largo, but vegetables still seem to be sadly missing....

Aug 7, 2008 - Santa Clara

A short stay in Santa Clara, Che Guevaras adopted home town in Cuba and the first to fall to revolutionary guerillas in 1958 following the derailment of an amoured train carrying munitions and 350 government troops. Argentinian born, Che is an iconic symbol for Cubans. We visited his monument and mausoleum where his remains now lie after being recovered from a mass grave in Bolivia where he was captured and executed in 1967 by the Bolivian army (with the assistance of the US). We also visited the site of the train derailment, the bulldozer...

Aug 16, 2007 - Santa Clara

Thursday 16th August 2007 Failed in an attempt to get the 8am bus (thank goodness you can't pay in advance!) and dragged our bags down to the bus station for the next one. In the absence of an attendant we had filled out the tags for our bags to be stored (copying the codes on the other bags!) and were luckly caught in the act putting our bags aside for Havana! With that rectified we got some breakfast and then slept in the hot waiting room whilst we waited for the next bus to Santa Clara. The waiting list for that was already full but...

Jul 4, 2007 - Santa Clara

We travelled by mini bus from Trinidad to Santa Clara. The first stop on the way in to town was the Che Guevara memorial. It was quite moving. There is a huge statue outside and a momument showcasing the final letter Che wrote to Fidel before he was killed. Underneath the memorial is the burial chamber. This is guarded and you have to surrender your camera before entering. You are also not allowed to speak while in the chamber which makes it even more moving. It was quite a sombre visit but also a highlight to my trip as I have had an...

Apr 8, 2007 - santa clara

we then moved onto santa clara. We only spent one night here and had arranged it with the casa owner at playa giron. We found the address even though the map in the LP was useless. Now this woman spoke no english as well and even worse, her spanish was about a million miles an hour. Me and wright had got into a good system where he could understand it most times, tell me what she said, and I formulate a response in spanish, but this lady was way too quick... we just smiled and nodded alot.. santa clara was very pretty and they were mental...

Jan 27, 2006 - Cuba - Santa Clara (don't bother!)

We decided to come here purely for the Che Guevara memorial. When we arrived we found a guesthouse and then went off to check out the Che memorial and museum. The museum was small and contained clothing, weapons and other things that Che had used as a kid right through to when he was fighting in the Revolution. It was interesting to see but, didnt take much time to walk around. Next to the museum was his memorial, where his body (along with the 17 others who where with him when he was executed) is now - after being recovered from Bolivia...

Nov 26, 2005 - Gewandeld en doorreis naar Santa Clara

Gisteren zijn we vanuit Trinidad naar Topes de Collantes gereden, nadat we een lege band van de auto verwisseld hebben en langs de garage zijn gereden. Topes is een natuurpark en wij hebben een wandeling naar de waterval gemaakt. Een uurtje bergafwaarts en.. twee uur terug. Gelukkig konden we, boven aangekomen, op een klein terras iets drinken. Daarna wilden we via de bergroute naar Cienfuegos, echter hier waren ook weer geen wegbewijzeringsborden. Zodoende uitgekomen in Santa Clara. Op zich ook prima. Hele mooie route, maar om 19.00 uur...

Nov 5, 2005 - Santa Clara - We all want to be like Che

We arrived late to Santa Clara and immediately got lost in the maze of dark one-way streets. Followed by insatiable 'jintieros' (basically translates as maniacal hustlers or delinquent mafia depending on which Cuban you ask) riding bicycles, our relationship on the ropes, and rapidly facing the prospect of sleeping in the car we settled for a state-run hotel on the main plaza. Ludicrously overpriced, the only redeeming feature of our hotel was the crush of Cuban teenagers queuing for the rooftop salsa club. We felt like foreign celebrities...

Jun 25, 2005 - CUBA - Santa Clara

We boarded a very nice air conditioned bus to Santa Clara early in the morning. There were few people about as it was Saturday - whatever work people do here, they weren't doing it today! Our bus ride was uneventful. I mean VERY uneventful... we drove on the national highway that goes across the country and we saw approimately 20 cars on our entire journey of almost 4 hours! We arrived to the usual scene of being mobbed by people offering rooms. As many towns off the beaten path do not have hotels, Uncle Castro has allowed individuals (for...

Dec 22, 2004 - Remedios

Remedios is a cute little town with two or three bars and two or three restaurants and two or three shops. Not much happens here. We're going to be here for four days and we´re not sure quite how we're going to manage to keep ourselves occupied in a town this size, but we're going to give it a try. Cos Christmas Eve here is something not to be missed. Two of the neighbourhoods have a firework battle and it promises to be unforgettable. We find our casa, a lovely colonial building just off the square and settle in. We can only stay here two...