Saturday, December 16, 2017

Port of Call Cienfuegos, Cuba

Cienfuegos, Cuba was our first port and we took advantage of one of the ships provided walking/bus tours to get a look at the culture.  The bus took us to the cities centro area where our guide talked to us about architecture and pointed out the various government buildings around the Squair.

This was our first look around and we could not help but notice the many old cars. We had heard that there would be a lot of old 50’s and 60’s model cars in Cuba, but I didn’t think there would be this many. Most of the old cars have been handed down through two generations and are now used as taxis. Vehicles are very expensive and it takes a person a long time to save up to buy one. Most families cannot afford transportation and so if they have not inherited the automobile they probably go without.

We walked the plaza area and then were given time to walk around the street market. Our guide took us to a place where they were demonstrating how they make cigars. There was live music being played and everyone was able to purchase Cuban cigars and rum.

The bus took us to another historic spot and we looked around a very large government-owned building. Once again they had music playing and were trying to get us to buy rum and cigars. It was a very beautiful spot and we watched the sunset and then returned to the ship via the bus.

Today’s tour was just the wetting of the whistle when it comes to Cuba. We were excited to get to bed and start our overnight trip to Havana in the morning.













No comments: