8th of May 2017
8th of May
We woke up and after the lovely breakfast we went to the bus station to buy our tickets to Varadero. There were to buses going to there... one at 7am the other one at 1pm. We decided to go for the 7am one... which meant waking up at 5am... well, we could sleep in the bus... Right after the bus station we went to tourism office to check what we can do and if there were some excursions. Well there were not any going to Sancti Spiritus or to the Vale de los Ingenios. The best solution was again the taxi... we asked for the possible price and the lady was nice enough to give us an approximate price (60 pesos ~ 60€). Thanks to this information we managed to bargain the price of the trip. We went then to the park from where we got one regular cap for the amount mentioned by the lady. It was nice being in an air conditioned car.
After 30min we arrived at Vale de los Ingenios. It was actually a really small city with a church at the end with a 47m tower allowing a 360 degrees view over the valley. Really beautiful green landscapes were offered to us.
We walked through the small souvenir shops where the locals were selling handmade clothes. Soon later we left for Sancti Spiritus.
We woke up and after the lovely breakfast we went to the bus station to buy our tickets to Varadero. There were to buses going to there... one at 7am the other one at 1pm. We decided to go for the 7am one... which meant waking up at 5am... well, we could sleep in the bus... Right after the bus station we went to tourism office to check what we can do and if there were some excursions. Well there were not any going to Sancti Spiritus or to the Vale de los Ingenios. The best solution was again the taxi... we asked for the possible price and the lady was nice enough to give us an approximate price (60 pesos ~ 60€). Thanks to this information we managed to bargain the price of the trip. We went then to the park from where we got one regular cap for the amount mentioned by the lady. It was nice being in an air conditioned car.
After 30min we arrived at Vale de los Ingenios. It was actually a really small city with a church at the end with a 47m tower allowing a 360 degrees view over the valley. Really beautiful green landscapes were offered to us.
We walked through the small souvenir shops where the locals were selling handmade clothes. Soon later we left for Sancti Spiritus.
We reached the main square of Sancti Spiritus around noon and told the driver to pick up us back at 4h which seemed reasonable regarding the size of the city.
This city was also charming. Much smaller than Trinidad but having the same atmosphere with the colorful renovated buildings renovated and small walking streets. We started by the municipal library which was old noble house built in the beginning of the 20th centuries and transformantes into library after the revolution so that all the popular may have access to this place. It was a really beautiful building with a magnificent decoration.
We then walked around the main square and the main waking street. The tourist were definitely less which was making the walk even more interesting. This is how we met the person everybody dreams meeting while going abroad. We were waking to the Bleu church, which by the way also had a panorama tower, but we stopped into a souvenir shop right in front it.
This is how we met Roberto (the seller in the shop: an 84 years old man with a beautiful smile). The conversation started by asking me the typical "where I was coming from?" I said Bulgaria and my friends France.
When he heard Bulgaria his eyes started to shine... he shared to us the story of his neighbor who went studying in Bulgaria and how impressed he was when living there. Roberto knew more about Bulgaria than 80% of the Europeans, mentioning me the names of cities and qualifying them like Sofia the capital, Plovdiv which is really beautiful Roman city, Varna a beautiful city on the Black Sea and finally Veliko Turnovo in which his friend has been waiting in a huge restaurant... i was speechless, especially judging by the fact that Roberto has never left Cuba. Suddenly he switched to a pretty good French ... speechless for a 2nd time in 5min. I offered him an Eiffel Tower key holder and he started to shine like a child. We showed us the background of the shop where the pictures of his sons and grand children were stuck on the wall and invited us for a coffee. We kindly refused but instead I gave him some sweets I have brought from France so he can give it to his grandchildren.
Just before we leave he told me to watch a movie named Sweet Paradise (a movie about the prostitution mafia in Bulgaria) that had impressed him and gave me his mail. I don't know what I can say about Roberto... exceptional person.
We managed then to visit the church to get the panorama view, to get to some new souvenir shops and after getting lost for a bit to find a place to eat near the bridge which was a must see in the guide. We passed by Roberto who told us that the water was very dirty and we should be careful as the ceiling of the bridge wasn't very high. We also mentioned that this bridge is very very old ... Roberto again was right.I wasn't really impressed by the brigade but indeed it was quite dirty there.
This city was also charming. Much smaller than Trinidad but having the same atmosphere with the colorful renovated buildings renovated and small walking streets. We started by the municipal library which was old noble house built in the beginning of the 20th centuries and transformantes into library after the revolution so that all the popular may have access to this place. It was a really beautiful building with a magnificent decoration.
We then walked around the main square and the main waking street. The tourist were definitely less which was making the walk even more interesting. This is how we met the person everybody dreams meeting while going abroad. We were waking to the Bleu church, which by the way also had a panorama tower, but we stopped into a souvenir shop right in front it.
This is how we met Roberto (the seller in the shop: an 84 years old man with a beautiful smile). The conversation started by asking me the typical "where I was coming from?" I said Bulgaria and my friends France.
When he heard Bulgaria his eyes started to shine... he shared to us the story of his neighbor who went studying in Bulgaria and how impressed he was when living there. Roberto knew more about Bulgaria than 80% of the Europeans, mentioning me the names of cities and qualifying them like Sofia the capital, Plovdiv which is really beautiful Roman city, Varna a beautiful city on the Black Sea and finally Veliko Turnovo in which his friend has been waiting in a huge restaurant... i was speechless, especially judging by the fact that Roberto has never left Cuba. Suddenly he switched to a pretty good French ... speechless for a 2nd time in 5min. I offered him an Eiffel Tower key holder and he started to shine like a child. We showed us the background of the shop where the pictures of his sons and grand children were stuck on the wall and invited us for a coffee. We kindly refused but instead I gave him some sweets I have brought from France so he can give it to his grandchildren.
Just before we leave he told me to watch a movie named Sweet Paradise (a movie about the prostitution mafia in Bulgaria) that had impressed him and gave me his mail. I don't know what I can say about Roberto... exceptional person.
We managed then to visit the church to get the panorama view, to get to some new souvenir shops and after getting lost for a bit to find a place to eat near the bridge which was a must see in the guide. We passed by Roberto who told us that the water was very dirty and we should be careful as the ceiling of the bridge wasn't very high. We also mentioned that this bridge is very very old ... Roberto again was right.I wasn't really impressed by the brigade but indeed it was quite dirty there.
We arrived exactly on time to leave back to Trinidad. We reached it an hour and a half later and went for a small last tour around the city. My goal was to buy myself a painting I really liked. Mission completed!
In the night we went to a restaurant where Gabi (a friend of mine has suggested us to go as she has been to Trinidad 2 months ago): Sabor a mi. It was indeed delicious but my favorite remains Guitara mia.
We finished the night by going for a daiquiri at the Daiquiri temple which was Hemingway's favorite place for it. We got a really nice bad with life music with traditional Cuban songs from whom Doria bought the CD.
Next stop: Varadero.
In the night we went to a restaurant where Gabi (a friend of mine has suggested us to go as she has been to Trinidad 2 months ago): Sabor a mi. It was indeed delicious but my favorite remains Guitara mia.
We finished the night by going for a daiquiri at the Daiquiri temple which was Hemingway's favorite place for it. We got a really nice bad with life music with traditional Cuban songs from whom Doria bought the CD.
Next stop: Varadero.