We had half a day in Camagüey before heading off on the bus at 1.30pm so we had breakfast and set out to see the inside of the churches that were closed yesterday hoping that as it was Sunday they would be open. Our first stop was the Iglesia Nuestra senora de la soledad next to the Rooster Square. It was a well kept church that according to the tour guides had beautiful frescos. Our next stop on the way to Iglesia Corazon de Jesus (The gothic style church) was at the Cathedral to take a picture of the plaque comemorating the visit by Pope John Paul II. We also passed a half demolished building where they had used the render and original brick to make pictures on the walls that were still standing.
Next we headed out to the church and wander through the General cemetery which was the last stop on our list. When we arrived there was a funeral procession just starting to make it's way into the cemetery for a burial. Having seen all we needed in Camagüey we headed back to the hotel ready to depart at 12pm.
We set off from the hotel for a short taxi ride to the bus station. At the station Catriona was able to purchase a packet of chocolate wafer biscuits for David and a bar or crushed peanuts with sugar for the 7 hour journey to Santiago de Cuba. Along the journey the bus stopped every couple of hours and it was quite a pleasant journey. We passed through small towns and even stopped at Holgain international airport. We saw an amazing looking cloud that looked like a mushroom cloud from an atomic explosion. Later we saw lightening inside as it turned into a storm.
We arrived in Santiago at 8:30pm and were picked up by two old American cars. The main casa had a huge dinner waiting for us which was lovely. After dinner we had our orientation walk which took in the main square which has on one side the oldest building in Cuba, built by Deigo Velasquez, and on another the Ayuntamiento where Fidel Castro gave his revolution triumph speech from the verandah and another by the Metropolitan Cathedral and then headed off to our casa to bed.
We arranged dinner for 7:30am but it was not ready till 8am. The views from the balcony where excellent and even at 8am it was quite hot up there. We could see the port and over the lower lying buildings, quite a few of which are still under repair from the hurricane "Sandy" which hit about a month ago. We met the rest of the group and set off on our tour of Santiago in 2 classic old cars one a 1954 the other a 1956 Chevrolets. Our first stop was the revolution square with it's statue of Antonio Maceo and a monument representing machetes. Romey went to buy our bus tickets for the next day as the station was just across the road from the square. Next stop was the Cuarto Moncado - military barracks which is where Fidel Castro and his group made their first failed attempt at a revolution. After the attempt, the then government filled in the holes in the building and when Fidel took power he had them recreated from photos. It is now a school and a Museum. Next stop was a cigar factory which was very interesting seeing the different stages of manufacture and how they are graded and are made perfect for export. There are about 5 quality control points in the process before the boxes are nailed shut.
We then visited the Cemetery de Santa Ifigenia where all the war heroes and famous people are buried. Our guide told us it is where Fidel will most likely be buried. We watched the changing of the guard which happens every 30 minutes and set off for lunch at a restaurant on the way to El Morro - the fort. We had spectacular views over the chanel leading to the port and a small island with a fishing village and a church on top of the hill in the centre. After Lunch we made our way to the fort which was started in 1638 and is in great condition and in a superb location guarding the entrance to the harbour. Naranee took a fantastic panoramic photo using her iphone 5.
We met up with the whole group in the rooftop bar of the Hotel Casa Grande to watch the sunset. There were magnificent views over the whole of Santiago and the harbour. We were able to take photos at almost eye level with the angel of the annunciation on the top of the Cathedral. The two of us stayed for another drink and enjoyed the cool breeze after the rest of the group left as it had been a scorcher of a day. Dinner was with the group at Casa 3 Ana and the food was delicious and plentiful.
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