After another lovely breakfast at the Casa we met the group for our trip the Camagüey in 2 taxi/vans. We shared the ride with Ted, Heather and Romey. The journey was 260km passing farmlands and through small towns. We stopped at a roadside stall to buy some bananas at David's request. A whole bunch of bananas cost 2 convertibles but we only bought a hand but paid 1. We passed many old trucks horse and carts and old cars. We also passed touring cyclists including the couple from Holland we met 2 days before.
We stopped at Romey's farm and met his Mother, step Father and Brother. He showed us where they were growing vegetables and the little piglets that had been born only 2 days ago. There were 4 litters of them. It was then only a short drive in to Camagüey where we checked into the hotel then had a walking tour and stopped for lunch at a Tapas bar. Romey warned us that there was a Cholera outbreak in this eastern part of Cuba so not to have any cocktails with ice and only to eat in certain restaurants. John, Lorna and Carole headed back to the hotel for a cycle tour of the city while the rest of us continued on the walking tour down the main boulevard which is now closed to traffic. We finished at a square which is boarded on one side by the cathedral where Pope Juan Pablo II (John Paul II) visited in 1989. We also stopped to take a picture of the local chemist, very different from the ones at home.
We set off on our own and found the Nuestra Seňora de la Merced church where they were just about to begin a service so we stayed for Mass. The priest waved to us as he walked down the aisle at the end of Mass which was nice. We walked back to the hotel via the Teatro Principal and met the others minus Carole, to go out for dinner. On the way to dinner at Restaurante 1800 we stopped by Romey's house where he plans to open a Jazz cafe where he will serve locally sourced food. It will be the first on in Cuba. The dinner was lovely and Romey managed to get us a discount from 20 to 8 CUCs because the owner is a friend of his. After dinner we walked back down to the boulevard to the Gran hotel where they have a bar called the jazz club, where they play jazz. It was not open yet so we headed to the rooster square and had a mojito and met up with another tour group. Ted and Heather headed back to the hotel while those remaining headed to the Jazz club. The music was very loud and we ended up sitting in a little courtyard just outside the main room. We had a very pleasant evening chatting and listening to the music.
Today we had a full day to explore the city of Camagüey. First we went to the farmers market, we expected to see typical market with stalls of vegetables everywhere but instead were suprised to see a building with a counter behind bars. People were patiently waiting in line on the curbside as only 1 person was being served in the shop at anyone time.The vegetables looked basic and there was also a meet section with 2 hunks of meet hanging from hooks. We then walked past an art gallery and theatre on the way to Santa Ana Church where a baby was being Baptised.We continued to walk the skinny streets passing many small shops and other newly formed small businesses where people where trying to see anything e.g bike parts, plumbing gadgets etc. We enjoyed a cool drink as the day was heating up then we went to Plaza San Juan de Dois where we entered a church that has the holy Trinity. We went up the bell tower to get a great view of the city.
We had a look in more artist galleries and we had a fantastic lunch of pizza and salad. We finished off our walking tour passing the railway station and museum Ignacio Agramonte. Here we saw one of Cuba's biggest collection of 19th century paintings then a final drink at the lobby bar at Hotel Colon. At 4.30pm we met Romey and his friend Rydel for a rampant 25km ride on road bike looping around Camagüey. As we started the ride it rained quite heavily for about 5 minutes so we all got a good soaking. The roads were tricking to negotiate as they were in poor condition and full of potholes. Once we made it to a major road the surface was better and we could ride a better speed (around 20 km/h) riding as a small group. We were not wearing bike helmets - and the cars and trucks passing us were not worrying us, also we easily passed by the many horse and cats. On our way back we got very dirty as mud flicked up from the bike tyres. Back at the hotel we jumped clothes and all into the shower to wash everything clean.
We went out to dinner at the 1800 restaurant again then to the theatre to see the Spanish Flamenco Ballet. The dancers were amazing stomping their feet and moving in time to the music. The night was finished off at a party/night club. We were given the full VIP treatment passing by lots of people who had to line up to get in. We enjoyed a couple of beers and did our best to put on some salsa moves in the middle of the open air dance floor. Crashed to sleep 1am (huge day)
No comments:
Post a Comment