The main park in the centre of Santa Clara was indeed bustling.... just not with tourists!
We liked it!
The Parque Vidal is surrounded by interesting buildings, some undergoing renovation. On one side there is a very old library, the Biblioteca Jose Marti .....with index cards! No computers here!
This had been the original home of the main benefactress of the city, Marta Abreu Estevez.
...quite impressive.... she left it to the city.
On another side of the square is another old theatre, the Teatro La Caridad, similar to the one we had already seen in Cienfuegos. It was also built around the same time, 1885, and has had the same famous names visiting! This was also built by Marta Abreu..... she gave a lot to the town.... and insisted that part of the box office revenue went to help the poor of the area.....charity, hence its name!
On the opposite side of the square was a pre-university school, which had been a school prior to the revolution.
The same colour of uniform is used everywhere in Cuba to denote the school level of the students.
On another side of the square is the Santa Clara Libre, formerly the Hilton..... an 11 storey hotel...... which looks a little out of place.....
This is supposed to have a superb sunset view over the city and we hoped to be able to see it. However we were not allowed to take the elevator up to the roof bar, which was right beside the reception desk until the receptionist had given us admittance cards. The lift operator got tired of holding the door open and even put the folder with the cards under her nose! However nothing would distract her from what she was doing......and after 10-15 mins wait we decided to forget about it! She suddenly acknowledged our presence by shouting 'WAIT' in a very imperious voice. We didn't! We met quite a number of people, like her, who prior to the Cuban Special Period, i.e. before they lost their great deal with Russia....had studied in the Soviet Union. A little uncaring in the service industry! The Rough Guide describes it as cheap but not cheerful! We agree! In fairness the lift operator did try to help. He was quite a bit older so had probably not had the benefit of going to study in the Soviet Union!!
The city has a pedestrian street....
....and we were intrigued by the stores and what was in them for sale! A bit of everything.....but one had to ask for it.....not todays supermarket model!
This city had more ordinary things to buy than we had seen up to now.
The square was essentially tourist free......
..and the back streets were traffic free!
We did visit the place where Che Guevarra won the revolution. The derailed train is still there ..... where it was toppled.....
..as is the bulldozer they used to push the train off the rails to block the junction...... which was the turning point in their war against the Batista regime...... he fled Cuba a few days later.........
I still couldn't be persuaded to visit the Mausoleum ...much to the chagrin of the guide!
We liked it!
The Parque Vidal is surrounded by interesting buildings, some undergoing renovation. On one side there is a very old library, the Biblioteca Jose Marti .....with index cards! No computers here!
This had been the original home of the main benefactress of the city, Marta Abreu Estevez.
On another side of the square is another old theatre, the Teatro La Caridad, similar to the one we had already seen in Cienfuegos. It was also built around the same time, 1885, and has had the same famous names visiting! This was also built by Marta Abreu..... she gave a lot to the town.... and insisted that part of the box office revenue went to help the poor of the area.....charity, hence its name!
again original chairs still in situ!
On the opposite side of the square was a pre-university school, which had been a school prior to the revolution.
The same colour of uniform is used everywhere in Cuba to denote the school level of the students.
On another side of the square is the Santa Clara Libre, formerly the Hilton..... an 11 storey hotel...... which looks a little out of place.....
.....one can just about see the bullet holes on the facade, from the fighting at the end of 1958...
This is supposed to have a superb sunset view over the city and we hoped to be able to see it. However we were not allowed to take the elevator up to the roof bar, which was right beside the reception desk until the receptionist had given us admittance cards. The lift operator got tired of holding the door open and even put the folder with the cards under her nose! However nothing would distract her from what she was doing......and after 10-15 mins wait we decided to forget about it! She suddenly acknowledged our presence by shouting 'WAIT' in a very imperious voice. We didn't! We met quite a number of people, like her, who prior to the Cuban Special Period, i.e. before they lost their great deal with Russia....had studied in the Soviet Union. A little uncaring in the service industry! The Rough Guide describes it as cheap but not cheerful! We agree! In fairness the lift operator did try to help. He was quite a bit older so had probably not had the benefit of going to study in the Soviet Union!!
The city has a pedestrian street....
....and we were intrigued by the stores and what was in them for sale! A bit of everything.....but one had to ask for it.....not todays supermarket model!
The buildings themselves were also interesting.......
This city had more ordinary things to buy than we had seen up to now.
The square was essentially tourist free......
We did visit the place where Che Guevarra won the revolution. The derailed train is still there ..... where it was toppled.....
I still couldn't be persuaded to visit the Mausoleum ...much to the chagrin of the guide!
