Friday May 27, 2022 - UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Trinidad
Wow, all the Canadians seemed to be leaving today. The
restaurant was so crowded that we had to wait for clean plates and silverware
as we waited for a table as far from all the un-masked people crowded in there.
We didn’t wait long, but there really was no food left. I stood in a long line
for 2 omelets for us and there was really nothing else other than some dinner
rolls. We’d hoped for another one of the small bananas, but all gone as well.
We headed to Plaza Mayor and went past it to see the plaza closer to the water and then went back to see its sites. Plaza Mayor is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It has a lovely small plaza with 4 raised gardens and the square is surrounded by white wrought-iron fences. Cobble stone streets surround it, separating it from the surrounding buildings. It has wrought-iron lampposts, statues of English greyhounds, and columns with large terra-cotta finials. In the background is the Church of the Holy Trinity, and right of church is Brunet Palace. We walked around to see the buildings surrounding the plaza and ended with a museum that Dario encouraged us to visit.
The Museo Histórico Municipal is located in Palacio Cantero, one of the largest and most impressive of the houses surrounding the Plaza. Here is where our day took a turn for the worst.
We entered the first room with our museum guide. I had
started to feel icky and my stomach was severely cramping. We like museums but
prefer to go at our own pace. This woman wanted to talk 5 to 10 minutes at each
photo. Her Spanish was easy to understand, but Dario translated anyway. (taking
even more time) No A/C or breeze and I thought if I didn’t get out of there I’d
go crazy. I kept trying to back away from them (due to my tummy issues), but
they would follow me. We finally walked outside and saw a Russian truck and a
boat. Then it was time to walk up the stairs to the bell tower. I asked to use
a bathroom before doing that. Small hot space with a toilet with no rim and
didn’t flush. Good thing I didn’t really have anything happening at that point.
I tipped the lady and we proceeded up the stairs.
I told Dario that I needed a bathroom again and he found a
bar that let us in, and Greg bought a large bottle of water for using the
bathroom and a place to sit and relax. They had TP and I used it all and part
of the core. Yikes! I went back out and drank a bit of the water. Someone else
used the restroom and came out and asked the bar for more TP. Yay, I go back in
after her and stayed until I thought I could at least get back to the car. We
told Dario we needed a couple of things from the car, but it wasn’t that close,
and he said we could have an earlier lunch and head back to Havana. We agreed
that was a good plan. You know I’m sick when I don’t poke into every nook and
cranny on a tour.
The lunch was a close walk to restaurant Bodeguita del
Medio. The restaurant wasn’t quite open yet but they let me in to use the
bathroom. Toilet didn’t flush, but I had no choice. I finally came out and
everyone was seated, and the waiter was taking the orders. I didn’t think I
should eat anything at this point, but he did bring me some rice. I took 3
forks full, and the guide and driver were eager to eat the rest of it. (they
had a different kind of rice with their meal) I had to go back to the bathroom
and this time the lady that worked there was pissed. She banged on the door for
me to get out of there. (honest, I couldn’t leave) She actually managed to bang
open the outer door where the sink was. The one stall had its own door but no
latch. (which is why I locked the outer door) There were 2 others that worked
there sitting at a table in the back and I could hear them talking loudly about
me. (the curse of knowing some Spanish). Anyway, when I finally felt able to
come out, I went to the table and told Greg I needed a “propina grande”. (big tip)
I went back and asked for the lady and they got her and I gave it to her and
she was pleased. (no tip would have been enough for me to clean that, though I
guess I do that for free at home)
Restaurant
bean soup
Even though cars really aren’t allowed in the old town, Arsenio got it and it was right outside. We got a couple of things out of the trunk (more TP). Dario was concerned and stood there and watched so no way to be too discreet. (not that he didn’t know what was going on) He said “we’ve all been there”. So true.
Well, the fun was just now beginning. It is a 4 hour drive
to Havana and normally there is one comfort stop. By now Greg is starting to
feel a bit like me. He had brought Pepto and Lomotil and we started with Pepto
and ended with Lomotil after max dosage of Pepto was taken. It was vital to
“put a cork in it” for a car ride with few places to stop. Dario said there
were a few gas stations along the way, and we could stop at those. (first one
we stopped at their bathrooms were closed) Worst case scenario we could go out
in the bushes. (until it started to pour rain) The “corks” worked, but
Arsenio’s car was overheating worse than ever. He stopped many times to add
water. At one point it wasn’t going to cool down enough and not sure it would
even start.
A passing taxi stopped to help. Once it was determined that
our car wasn’t going to start, the other taxi rope towed us. I remember way back
in the day when someone rope towed you, they went very slowly. This was a short
rope, and he was flying. He “slowed” to cross railroad tracks and once we
stopped because the rope came loose. We were swaying all over the place and how
our car didn’t rear-end the taxi tow car is beyond me. Rope tow redone and he’s
back hauling ass and then decides to pass a truck. Holy crap! That was an “E
ticket” ride. Finally, we made it to the gas station / comfort stop. By this
time Greg had caught up with me and this stop came in the nick of time. Beautiful
bathroom withs tons of TP. Seats on the toilets and they flushed! There was a "Che" Store, but it was closed. Same with a small store. The small store opened, but we didn’t
have the energy to check it out.
Just when you thought you’d seen it all, we watched Arsenio crack 2 eggs and add them to the radiator. Yes, it IS a thing. (boils the yoke to plug small holes) Emphasis on SMALL holes. Water was pouring out of the radiator.
Dario had been on the phone many times throughout our trip
discussing the car issues. Now that ours was officially dead, we needed another
plan. Another cab showed up and they moved all of our stuff to it. We had a
pleasant rest of our drive to Havana. We said our good-byes to Arsenio and
tipped him for the week as were sure we wouldn’t see him again.
This car was better maintained and the windows were clean
and the A/C freezing. More comfortable seating as well. The driver had his wife
with him, so Dario sat in the back with us. I took the middle.
We finally made it back to the hotel and we got checked in
and received the same yummy blue welcome cocktail. They also brought one for
Dario and he took one drink and said “Man, this is good!” Indeed, it was, and
Greg and I even drank ours since it was mostly frozen flavored ice. YUM!
Dario had called Arsenio and he thought he would have to spend the night near the rest stop, but he found a bus to get him home and then he could go back and get the car later.
We were to have a farewell dinner at the restaurant La Torre
but we both knew we shouldn’t eat anything. He said that the tour company felt
horribly for everything that happened with Arsenio’s taxi and offered us a free
tour in a classic car that evening. At first, we said no, but felt it was
something we really should do while we were there and felt that we could get
through it since it was only an hour.
We had a couple of hours to pack our things for our flight
out tomorrow and do our Covid tests by video phone with the tests we purchased
that American Airlines recommended. We both had negative tests, but when we got
the results it didn’t have all the info that when Greg tried to do online
check-in asked for. Maybe the tests would have been fine but didn’t want to
take the chance. Dario told us that the hotel had a medical office in it that
could do the test for us in the morning. We decided we should do that one just
in case.
Dario was waiting for us downstairs and led us to our
classic car which was a blue ’56 Chevy Bel Air. We drove around to some
different areas of Havana and he stopped at a plaza for us to get some photos.
Tomorrow, we fly back home in the morning.
For larger photos:
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