Cienfuegos, Cuba, 7 September 2016

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We headed off from Trinidad de Cuba to Cienfuegos.

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The passenger in the cart with his bicycle is lucky the truck isn’t heading into the wind.

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Roadside billboard quoting Ché:  “May the hardness of these times not make us lose the tenderness of our hearts. Ever onward to victory”.

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We are now in the outskirts of Cienfuegos.

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Some of the cars are smaller than others.

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Views from our hotel room…

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We are now in Palacio Ferrer, at the edge of Parque José Marti.

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It was built between 1917 and 1918, initially as a family residence.

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Looking down past Parque José Marti from the top of Palacio Ferrer.

The area around Cienfuegos was a Taino (Indian) settlement in the early period of Spanish occupation.  They were decimated mainly by disease but communities survive in the mountains.  Cienfuegos was founded by French immigrants in 1819 and thus has a French influence unusual for Cuba.  The centre of Cienfuegos is a World Heritage Area, representing “the best extant example of early 19th century Spanish Enlightenment implementation in urban planning”.

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Catedral de la Purisma Conception.

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Palacio de Gobierno.

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We walked down to the harbour.

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On the harbour-front promenade.

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There was a group of people doing curious exercises on a road beside the harbour.

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Sunlight through the clouds as evening approaches.

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There are more posts on Cuba and on the Caribbean to come, but this will be the last for a little while as I am off on a short trip in a few days.  More on that tomorrow.

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