Retired Nomads - Part 2 : Historic Cienfuegos and Trinidad de Cuba

Wednesday May 25, 2022 - Historic Cienfuegos and Trinidad de Cuba

It’s about a 4-hour drive to Trinidad, but we had a comfort stop an hour or so out and then stopped at Cienfuegos for a walking tour. Beautiful town square and there was a small art gallery that was open but given the choice of going in or visiting the port area we chose the port. We asked about the name of the town since it means literally 100 fires and the answer was that it was just the last name of the man that discovered it. (better than having 100 fires, I guess)

photos from the car windows

there were many fruit & vegetable stands along the road

comfort stop

back in the car

as you can see from all the signs, there is no shortage of "propaganda"

Founded in 1819, the colonial town of Cienfuegos was quickly settled by immigrants of French origin who came to trade sugar cane, tobacco, and coffee. Today, this city on Cuba’s Caribbean coast has a distinctly different feel.

Built-in the neoclassical style with an architectural ensemble that was awarded UNESCO World Heritage status for its modern ideas (at the time) in hygiene and urban planning. Over time its buildings have become a bit more eclectic, but the overall feel of the town is very harmonious.

Specific buildings to visit include the Government Palace (City Hall), San Lorenzo School, the Bishopric, the Ferrer Palace, the former lyceum, and some rather glorious residential houses.

through the car windshield

start of the walking tour

Eurasian-collared Dove

yes, I'm headed to the magnets

the pier

We drove to lunch at the restaurant Villa Lagarto overlooking the bay of Cienfuegos. Lunch was OK and the dessert was flan. (a break from fruit with cheese) Unlike the other restaurants there was no choice. It was fish or chicken and not included cocktail. Just a bottle of water. We all agreed it was just OK. Dario said that the lamb is really good there.

lunch

it was an eclectic mix of architecture - reminded me of Istanbul & Egypt

Flan

view of the bay from our table

We then finished the drive to Trinidad de Cuba. We checked in to an all-inclusive resort called Memories of Trinidad.

back in the car

nurses everywhere wore the white caps seen in the States years ago - they wore them on the back of the head, not really on top

almost missed the sign

through the windshield of the car

At first glance the hotel was very pretty on the outside and the grounds were beautiful. It had a very resort feel, until you opened the door to the room. Yikes! The welcome cocktail was a choice of beer or sangria. I got the Sangria, and it was bad wine with a splash of fizzy water.

Drinks were horrible. The beer Greg had was undrinkable. Colas were tiny cups of awful liquid. We didn’t bother with mixed drinks with the quality of everything else. Anyway, we didn’t go for the drinks so no biggie.

We’re pretty sure that is where we got sick.

Memories of Trinidad Resort

at first glance it had a very lovely resort feel

It all seemed OK until we opened the door to our room. (after taking luggage up the flights of stairs since there was no elevator) The room was a step back in time and the room had not been renovated in at least 50 years. (probably more) The lock on the door didn’t latch well. The safe did not work and someone came to look at it and told us it needed new a new battery. He said someone would come and do that. They never did....

The patio door was open and didn’t lock. We pulled it closed. (we were 3 or 4 floors up so safe enough)

It may have been a great hotel once. It looked like everything in the room was ancient. The pillows were like bags of lumpy cement. Paint had been spilled in the tub and wasn’t cleaned up which just looked bad, but of course didn’t cause any issues. Tub drained slowly. Shower worked ok. Toilet ran had to jiggle the buttons on top. Room was dark, just a few small lights. (and the "sex lights" around the mural over the bed)

Loud music was heard everywhere no matter where you walked on the grounds. We walked to the beach area but didn’t hang out there. Dinner was horrible with few choices and flies on everything and a few roaches.

No one except us wore masks and the place was packed with people. The music did stop at 11:00.

here is where the resort feel ended.....

oh, there were little lights all around the photo

We walked around the rest of the grounds

the beach area looked nice

We were supposed to have dinner at El Bolo Vista Gourmet private restaurant, but were told since it was an all-inclusive we could eat there. When we were exploring the area we noticed that Dario was still in the lobby at 7:00. (Arsenio’s car troubles) We didn’t bother him.

OMG, worst food ever. Flies everywhere and a few roaches (roaches are common in humid areas, but the flies were horrendous) Not a lot of choices and the ones that were there were not edible. I ate mostly red potatoes that were tasty and rolls.