Mildewed Magnificence

Bienvenue (welcome) to Cienfuegos. If Cuba has a Gallic heart, it’s hidden beneath the crinkled Sierra del Escambray; if it has a Paris, it is the finely-sculpted provincial capital, glistening pearl-like beside the island’s best natural bay. The billboard reads, “Cienfuegos: A place of revolutionary people”, a message from Fidel Castro in 1959.

We arrive in the city of Cienfuegos just in time to watch the sun set on the roof of our hotel.

Barcelona, Naples, Paris? There are echoes of them all in colonial-style Hotel Unión where we’re staying. With its European aspirations and splendid Italianate pool, it’s fit for a Roman emperor as well as Tim who's reading up on our days itinerary in the lobby.

Most of Parque Marti’s south side is dominated by the grandiose, silvery-grey Palacio de Gobierno where the provincial government holds forth.

The Museo Provincial. Cuba’s architecture mirrors its ethnic heritage. Take a muscular slice of Spanish baroque, sprinkle in some French classicism, a generous portion of North American art deco and a hint of European art nouveau. Now add the sweat of Afro-Cuban slave labour, and the odd spark of creative modernism, and there you have it. Sometimes extreme yet rarely constant, Cuban architecture retains certain binding threads, a definable ‘Cuban-ness’ that sets it markedly apart from other genres.

The Arco de Triunfo (Arch of Triumph) on Cienfuegos’ serene central park catapults the plaza into the unique category: there is no other building of its kind in Cuba. Dedicated to Cuban independence, the Francophile monument ushers you through its gilded gateway toward a marble statue of José Marti, Cuba’s national hero.

The Casa de Cultura is a riveting neoclassical building with Italianate marble floors and—most noticeably—a domed rooftop cupola equipped with a wrought-iron staircase.

Swapping French influences for Italian, the Teatro Tomás Terry is grand from the outside but even grander within.

Built between 1887 and 1889 to honor Venezuelan industrialist Tomás Terry, the 950-seat auditorium is embellished with Carrara marble, hand-carved Cuban hardwoods and whimsical ceiling frescoes.

In 1895 the theater opened with a performance of Verdi’s Aïda and has witnessed numerous landmarks in Cuban music, as well as performances by the likes of Enrico Caruso and Anna Pavlova.

A marble statue of Tomás Terry graces the lobby of the theater.

The Catedral de la Purísima Concepción is distinguished by its wonderful French stained glass windows.

Escaping the heat of the day with a dip in Hotel Unión’s pool.

On the Prado before we hit the Malecón we pay our respects to musician Benny Moré, often thought of as the greatest Cuban singer of all time.

The ultimate kitsch is here at the Arabian Nights-like Palacio de Valle. Built in 1917 the structure resembles an outrageously ornate Moroccan casbah.

Batista, the president of Cuba from 1940-44, planned to convert this colourful riot of tiles, turrets and stucco into a casino, but today it’s an (aspiring) upscale restaurant with an inviting terrace bar.

Hotel Casa Verde.

We have discovered the best boutique standard hotels in Cuba run by Encanto and would recommend all of them as some of the best places to stay in the country, if not THE best. This one, built in 1921 on Punta Gorda in Cienfuegos, is Palacio Azul.

We move on to the perfectly preserved Spanish colonial settlement of Trinidad where the clocks stopped ticking in 1850 and—bar the odd gaggle of tourists—have yet to restart. We settle into Casa Font for the night, a gorgeous, late-18th century colonial house with a great collection of antiques, Baccarat crystal chandeliers, thick wooden doors. Our room has a bed dating from 1800, richly decorated with mother-of-pearl and a lovely tiled floor.

An artful display of pots and plants adorn a wall along the street.

In Trinidad all roads lead to Plaza Mayor, the town’s remarkably peaceful main square located at the heart of the casco histórico (historic city center) and ringed by a quartet of impressive buildings. Tim stands in front of the Iglesia Parroquian de la Santísima. Despite its rather unremarkable outer facade, this church graces countless Trinidad postcards. It was rebuilt in 1892 on the site of an earlier church destroyed in a storm.

Perhaps the most recognizable building in Trinidad is the withered pastel-yellow bell tower of the former convent of San Francisco de Asís, now the Museo de la Lucha Contra Bandidos.

Trinidad’s showpiece museum is the Museo Histórico Municipal, a mansion that belonged to the Borrell family from 1827 to 1830. Later the building passed to a German planter named Kanter or Cantero, and is still called Casa Cantero. Reputedly Dr Justo Cantero acquired vast sugar estates by poisoning an old slave trader and marrying his widow who also suffered an untimely death. Cantero’s ill-gotten wealth is well displayed in the stylish neoclassical decoration of the rooms.

The view of Trinidad from the roof is alone worth the price of admission.

Tim has a new favourite restaurant. It isn’t Balthazar in London or Nobu in New York or even Rimrock in Whistler. It's Sol y Son in Trinidad and is one of Trinidad’s long-standing paladares (self-employed as opposed to government-run restaurants). After trying the house cocktail made from seven-year old rum and honey Tim chooses the perfectly-cooked grilled fish with rice and the most delicious sauce. After a week of eating unsavory food he is, at this moment, one of the happiest men on earth.

Sandi’s prawns aren’t quite as good.

The neo-baroque, 19th century Plaza Mayor, elaborately adorned with serene sitting areas, statuary, towering palms, and gardens enclosed by white wrought-iron fences, is one of Cuba’s most beautiful places. It’s ringed by magnificent palaces and pastel-coloured houses with red-tile roofs and wood shutters.

 Trinidad’s cobbled streets.

Twelve kilometers south of Trinidad is Playa Ancón, a precious ribbon of white beach on Sancti Spíritus’ iridescent Caribbean shoreline. It's usually touted—with good reason—to be the finest arc of sand on Cuba’s south coast. The walk to the beach is a carpet of pretty coral.

Tim takes a dip in the ocean while Sandi waits in the shade with a cerveza watching sparrows flutter in and out of the palm branches.

In any other country the attractive colonial city of Sancti Spíritus would be a cultural tour de force but cocooned inside illustrious Sancti Spíritus province and destined to always play second fiddle to Trinidad, it barely gets a look-in. Of course, for many visitors including us, therein lies the attraction.

The Museo de Arte Colonial.

Overlooking Plaza Honorato is the verging-on-decrepit Iglesia Parroquial Mayor del Espíritu Santo. Originally constructed of wood in 1522 and rebuilt in stone in 1680, it’s said to be the oldest church in Cuba still standing on its original foundation (although the clock seems to have given out in recent years).

Looking like something out of an English country village, this quadruple-arched bridge is Sancti Spíritus’ signature sight. Built by the Spanish in 1815, it carries traffic across the Río Yayabo and is now a national monument.

The bright yellow Colonia is a mini-department store housed in one of the city’s finest colonial buildings.

Colonial splendor.

Trova is one of the great roots of the Cuban music tree. In the 19th century a group of itinerant musicians known as trovadores moved around the province of Oriente earning their living by singing and playing the guitar. Today the tradition continues all over Cuba and every major city has a Casa de la Trova. Sancti Spíritus has one of the best. We're the only gringos here.

TIM’S TIPS

Cuba’s Two-Tiered Economy

Cuba is a surprisingly expensive country to travel in, especially knowing that Cuban salaries average $10-25 per month, one of the lowest in the world. This is mainly due to Castro replacing the US dollar with the CUC (Cuban convertible currency), the Cuban peso. It is pegged to the US dollar, but is an unsupported currency and is not exchangeable outside of Cuba.

Operating alongside the CUC, Cuba operates a separate local currency known as “Moneda Nacional” or local peso, used by the majority of Cubans for their everyday purchases. Currently one CUC, or tourist peso buys 25 local pesos, making for much confusion. The bank notes and coins for each of these two “pesos” are also totally different.

As a result, Cuba operates a two-tier currency system, which most tourists are largely unaware of. Tourists will find it hard to obtain the local peso, which is generally used by locals to shop for their weekly produce needs and in local Cuban restaurants where tourists generally don't venture. Money exchange at banks or hotels is always in “tourist” pesos.

The vast majority of the 2,000,000 annual visitors to Cuba are travelling to “all-inclusive” beach resorts, which local Cubans, for the most part, can not afford. Perhaps just 3% of foreign tourists are travelling independently in Cuba, as we are.

It was only after ten days or so of travel that we began to realize that some of the restaurants in our travel guides were being frequented by local Cubans.

Knowing that no one in Cuba, at least officially, can earn more than $30 per month, the salary of doctors, dentists, lawyers and other professionals. We could not understand how the locals appeared to be enjoying menu items that were in the range of $6-10 per main course (such as grilled chicken with rice beans and salad, grilled pork steak and fish items). This sort of luxury for locals was simply not possible.

In one restaurant in Santiago de Cuba we found the answer. Two menus—one for tourists in the CUC convertible pesos and one for locals in “local” pesos! After some observation Sandi spotted the waiters secretly hiding the local menu in local currency to offer to their Cuban guests.

We managed to obtain a copy of this menu and were staggered to see that the very same plate of roast chicken we had ordered for 8 CUC from our tourist menu, equivalent to 200 local pesos, was being offered to locals for 15 local pesos making the tourist price 13 times more expensive.

From this point on we realized this is in fact a common practice in restaurants that appear in tourist guides for independent travelers. There would simply not be enough independent foreign travellers to keep these restaurants in business, hence the “locals” menu to fill the restaurant.

It should be noted that even at “locals peso” prices, the Cubans dining at these restaurants would have to be at the upper end of the economic ladder. Even in local prices roast chicken and a beer would be over $1, a real luxury for all Cubans even those in the highest income bracket earning $30 per month.

Slowly, little by little, Cubans are getting richer. Castro has been unable to hold back the natural human desire to try and improve ones position in life. Many who have extended Cuban family who escaped to Miami in the early years of the Castro presidency are supported by funds repatriated back to family members still living in Cuba, enabling a better life for these lucky few, who can perhaps afford a motorcycle, air conditioner, fridge or even for some, a second hand car.

Others are getting ahead in other ways. Cuba has more qualified doctors and dentists per capita than the USA yet few are practicing and are instead turning to the tourist industry where bar tenders, travel company representatives, and those lucky enough to work in the all-inclusive tourist hotels can earn well in excess of the $30 per month salary of Cuba’s professional classes.