Santa Clara, Cuba....where the Revolution was won!

Santa Clara is now known for having the Mausoleum of Che Guevara......and that is there because it was his strategic disruption of the rail lines in that city which led to victory in 1959.
Most tourists pass through, stopping only to visit the mausoleum.  I had no interest in the mausoleum...Lenin in Moscow was enough! We had not intended going there but as we couldn't get into the Casa Particular we wanted in Trinidad until the following day...we decided to detour and stay a night in Santa Clara.
After we saw the  Autentica Pergola Casa Particular we really wished we were staying longer....
It was fabulous!

 Such a difference from the prior night in Cienfuegos......and the cost (35CUC) was the same!
This is an old colonial home which has been totally remodelled by an architect......who obviously kept tight control of work in progress!
Our welcome drink was most welcome.......

The main rooms were rather formal but delightful.............

It now has 4 rooms, because  rules for stays in family homes have relaxed. Originally Casa Particulares could only have 2 rooms, and professional people were not allowed to run them. Now under Raoul Castro all has changed....
Our room was in character with the building.....

all the rooms were centered around a lush green area....with the  original pergola pillars ...

Its location was also superb....it is just round the corner from the main pedestrian shopping street and just one block from the main square.......

As tourists just pass through the city, mainly in tour buses, this was one of the few places with virtually no tourists in the downtown part. So it was very pleasant......
Here again we found an interesting coffee house.....  on the square...

 ...the Cubans do not have internet readily available but they are always on their phones! They can communicate within Cuba by email through Cubacel, and this apparently is a cheaper method than sending text messages.......

 ... a great cup of coffee.......

 ..with music.......

 ..looking out at the action on the square......

We opted to stay in our casa for dinner......which was superb...on their roof terrace!

...which has its own rooftop kitchen.....

lobster...again!!

.

and breakfast the following morning was tranquil.........

traffic on the street below being minimal.......

......and on to Cienfuegos, Cuba

Once again we were on a 2 to 3 lane highway with horses and carts, bikes, and tractors! The trip to Cienfuegos from Vinales takes about 5 hours.  We had arranged to drive the Bay of Pigs route but the driver refused to do so!  He told us that the road was closed because a river had overflowed its banks....we did not believe him and found out when in Cienfuegos that this was definitely not true!

Cienfuegos is very different from other Cuban cities in terms of architecture.....it was settled by French immigrants in 1819........
The central square is very large...... with nice buildings.....

 .........all seemingly in exceptionally good condition..... having been renovated recently.....

We found a great coffee place....

.... just a block or so from the square the buildings are now being renovated ...... all very charming..

On the square itself is the old theatre Teatro Tomas Terry, which over the years has had such greats as Caruso and Pavlova......

It was built in 1889.......

and still has its original seats!

The ceiling is particularly beautiful......

We had decided prior to going to Cuba that we should  stay equally in hotels and casa particulares, their B&Bs. Everyone speaks glowingly of their experience in a casa particular......
So this was our first time staying in one!  The Casa Los Delfines......

We had chosen it because of great reports on  TA......particularly an upstairs room recommended because of its private terrace overlooking the water. So we  booked into this room......
The reality........ there is no longer a private terrace and the sea side window looks onto a breeze block wall.......

And the window on the other side looks onto a building site!

We quite understand that the family wishes to profit now that they are allowed to have more than 2 rooms.......but disclosure would have been nice!
Actually it would seem that they disclosed ongoing work on their Spanish language site but not on the English one!
The area where it is located is great....being woken at 7am by a tile cutter ... not so great!

We don't feel that we can recommend it as even when finished with 4 rooms .....only one will have a sea view and the downstairs terrace will be a little crowded.....

We went to the Guanaroca Lagoon to see flamingoes....... and spent a very peaceful few hours....

Then lunch at the yacht club......the Club Cienfuegos.....a beautiful building in great condition....

However it is very definitely on the tour route......one group after another! We were happy to have chosen an outside table with an a la carte menu......the interior air conditioned buffet area was noisy and chaotic!

Close to us was the Palacio del Valle, a beautiful building.....

One of our nicest evenings was sitting in the Punta Gorda park, sipping a mojito and watching the sun go down!

Food at the Casa the first night was just barely OK.....fortunately a local cat became very friendly and helped with the purported fish.....  it definitely did not taste like fish and was rather leathery!!

The following night we had dinner next door at the Villa Lagarto, which also has rooms, and that we can definitely recommend, although they do not have any fish on their menu. Apparently in Cienfuegos one is only allowed to have seafood in a state restaurant!