Trinidad - September 11, 2010

Morning Trinidad Photo Walk
The morning began with a photo expedition through Trinidad. Getting out early to beat the heat was key during the time we were there -- ideally before harsh shadows form (shown here). It was a good opportunity to see artists, street vendors (e.g., a hat seller, a man selling carved musical instruments), and people going about their daily lives.

The yellow and green bell tower is visible throughout the city. It was worth a climb up the bell tower stairs to see the view of the green mountains, and the sea in the distance. Note: this same building also housed the "Museo Nacional de la Lucha Contra Bandidos Trinidad." There is a mention of the shooting down of the U-2 spy plane (U.S.), and some other efforts that were perceived as trying to destabilize or re-gain control of Cuba after the revolution in the early 1960s.

Lunch in the Country
After the morning photo walk, we left to drive back to Havana. A country lunch stop found us eating with some chickens and other rural denizens nearby. The rooster seemed to be giving us the evil eye -- maybe he knew we were having chicken for lunch.

Dinner at La Floridita, Havana
The writer Ernest Hemingway drank here,...and also here. It seemed like we heard this quite a bit around Havana. Hemingway liked to drink, and he used to live in Cuba. In fact, there was a life-size statue of Hemingway leaning against the bar in La Floridita, a bar and restaurant in Havana that claims to be the home of the Daiquiri drink. After taking more photographs for an hour or two, we walked to La Floridita for dinner, before returning to our hotel a few blocks away. The food at La Floridita was quite good.

(Thank you for the creme de cacao birthday present all.)

Trinidad - September 10, 2010

Trip to the Mountains, Trinidad

The group took a trip up into the mountains today, taking part of the journey in a large, covered (but open on the sides) truck.

On the activities list for today: a walk and a pig roast barbeque at Hacienda Codina (that also offered a special drink made with ginger, honey, lemon and rum).

There are some interesting colorful birds in Cuba, including a parrot I believe, and the very small bee hummingbird. Apparently, some interesting birds were heard in the on hike, but the birds chose not to come out and be seen or photographed.

The Disco Cave (near Las Cuevas Hotel)

After a dinner meeting at the hotel, two of us set off to find the disco in a cave that was mentioned to us yesterday. We stumbled down what looked to be a cow path in the dark, and saw a tarantula and a large slug on the ground on the way. At some point, after an old horse looked up at us, we felt uncertain we'd be able to find the disco; but then we saw a few people starting to line up outside an opening in the side of the hill nearby.


The disco opened at 10 p.m., and we were able to take a quick tour with a security guard, before opening time. The guard was very informative, and talked about the disco, and the legends associated with this cave system. (Picture showing guard at top of large flight of steps/seating in cave, at right.)

This disco was much bigger and more impressive than I would have thought -- so much so that I neglected to take any good pictures, e.g. of the disco ball hanging from the cave ceiling, or the enclosed DJ room, or the two dance floors inside, etc. Amazing place, and thank you to the guard, and to Bill Scull for being part of this short excursion. Note: flash photos at the cave entrance might disturb a small cluster of bats overhead, but once down in the cave this was not an issue.

Cienfuegos - September 9, 2010

Cienfuegos - > Trinidad
Today we left Cienfuegos and drove to Trinidad, one of the first settlements in Cuba (~1514 A.D.), with the first mass being said there in 1513. While the population shifted away from Trinidad to other cities later, the city is still a popular destination for tourists. We'd heard that some of the beaches here are quite nice, but given our tight schedule, it's unlikely we'll get to see them. On the way into town, we passed a large fish/shrimp farm. And we caught a glimpse of large rectangular pond-like structures at the edge of the water.

Our hotel, Las Cuevas (The Caves), we were told, would be perched on a hillside above the town, and was built on top of a large cave system. And, somewhere very close to our hotel there was a disco built into a cave. This sounded like an interesting place to visit and photograph.

Artists, Galleries, Trinidad


After we arrived in the town of Trinidad, our first few stops were to art galleries, to meet artists (Arocha; Alain Fernandez Ferreira (shown at right); Daniel Rodriguez, and others) and to see their paintings, cartoon/animation style illustrations, multi-media pieces, and some sculptures. Ferreira's works combined text and images from both the revolution and corporate marketing.

Visual Arts School in Trinidad


After the galleries, and a short walk through town, we visited the Academia de Artes Plasticas (a visual arts school), that also has incorporated folkloric arts and dance. The principal met with us, and gave us a short tour. Classes had just begun, and the school was gearing up for the new year. We visited their art studio, and there were some very nice works in their gallery. Once again, we heard that students were interested in photography, but due to the difficulties and costs involved in obtaining materials, it was difficult to offer photography classes, even if they did have darkroom space.

Trinidad Block Party

We then went to our hotel, Las Cuevas (mentioned above); and got ready to attend a block party in town. This CDR event made for an interesting evening -- a little awkward initially, but a great opportunity to meet local residents and participate in a celebration with them. Cake and drinks were served and music and dancing took place, after young children recited verses and performed short dance (ballet) and gymnastics routines.

Matt Drown (pictured right, in a very grainy photo) generated some buzz by bringing a photo printer and paper, so that he could take photographs and print out pictures for the crowd that grew up around him. Seeing kids recognize themselves in the photographs was priceless.