Day 16: On to Trinidad

Awakened by someone walking through La Sierrita blowing a whistle to let everyone know it was morning. (I found out later it was a vendor selling perhaps bread or eggs.)

Bit by a tick at the nape of my neck. So sore. (That bite lasted a month or longer.)

Bed so uncomfortable I used my air pad on top. I've done that before. Sometimes when I have to sleep on memory foam and it's too hot.

I had a very sad incident today. In fact I couldn't write about it then but I'm sharing it now because distance has made it a bit easier to write about, but it still tugs at my heart that I couldn't do something. I was cycling along a rural farm road when a puppy comes romping up the road towards me wagging his tail. I picked him up. Only a handful, he's so small. And matted and scruffy looking. He rests quietly in my hand as I go up the road hoping I'll find his momma. I finally see some folks in a cart coming towards me. I hold up the puppy. They motion to me to toss him. I continue on. I see a guy coming through a fence gate. Again I hold up the puppy to him. Again he motions to toss him. What am I going to do with this puppy? I can't keep him. No one wants him. He's a disposable item in a country with starving animals. I come upon a gate with goats on the other side. I set him down. He scrambles to follow me but I cycle away. A bit down the road a man and a boy are walking towards me. I like to hope they found the puppy and took him in. There's was nothing for me to do. I couldn't keep him. But it still hurts thinking about it. Sometimes you just have to let nature take its course. This was one of them. What would you have done?

Later in the day these girls came running and waving and shouting out to the road. That was the only begging I saw in the countryside.


I gave them each a pack of cookies.


Arrived in Trinidad to the Casa Elio recommended but no English spoken. They were full so he called around and found me another place to stay. I'm a 1/2 mile from the town center in a very untouristy part of town.


Again it's lovely inside, especially upstairs where I am. I'm sitting out on an outdoor patio right now overlooking a very crude neighborhood.










Roosters are crowing. Someone's hammering metal. Birds are chirping. The temperature is warm but delightful in the shade. And I am showered and sipping fresh guava juice. Life is good. This is Nino's house and he speaks little English. And he talks a lot. I'm never sure what I'm agreeing to:). Something about 2 chiquitas coming tomorrow whatever they are. The translate app only works if you know how to spell the word. I don't. He won't type anything.

I'm eating out tonight because dinner at my Casa would be alone...well, there's no one at this restaurant :( And it's so lovely...winding through it to an upstairs outdoor patio. Quiet when you're the only one:)). (Except for the barking dog:))




Dinner was delicious: veggie paella. It came with a tomato, cucumber, cabbage salad and fruit, cookie, flan dessert. Yum. All for $12.50. And I was serenaded by a Cuban duet of guitar and shakey things...I don't know what you call them. A gourd on a stick with stones inside. Did I ever know a name for them? Not castenets. Not a tambourine. Hmm?

And when I stepped outside and checked my GPS to get "home", I was only a couple of blocks away. A lot closer than I thought. I make sure I mark my map with the location of my Casa so I can find my way back. I'd be so lost otherwise. How did we do this before? More stress, I'm sure.

So I walked through the dark unlit dirt streets back to my casa feeling totally safe.

Live YOUR dream,

BagLady

Day 15: Leaving Cienfuegos

I had a wonderful stay with Elio and Elana. Even met their daughter and his momma this morning. I suggested they needed a book for guests to sign so they started one.


After pictures and bike rides, I headed out of town. They had all agreed that the mountain route was not possible by bike, so I decided to do the back roads to the coast road. What an adventure that turned out to be. It looked so simple on my app. Just follow the blue line. Not! Very confusing back in the orchards on the dirt road. And people telling me not to go the way my app wanted to send me. And me not understanding their directions.























Ola! I did manage to get out on the coast road eventually but my route took me 6 miles longer than if I'd stayed on main roads:). And it was a lot more fun!! When I got to the turnoff for the mountains, I decided to go for it. So I turned up. There was a town about 5 miles up and I figured I could get a casa particulare there then head on. Well, it's quite primitive up here. The woman at the store where I bought water said there was no place to stay and that I could not take a bicycle into the mountains. Not possible. As I was preparing to leave someone comes and tells me to stop. A young man has offered a place. For $20 with meals. So I followed him home. This is a true Cuban experience!! He's sold me his bed! He's going to his grandparents for the night.


I'm sitting at the table watching Momma clean the rice for dinner. He just gave me a bracelet that he made. How do these miracles happen to me? I couldn't have orchestrated this. And tomorrow I'll ride back down and take the coast road. I came up that hill just for this and it was worth it!!!

There are banana, mango, and coconut trees in the back yard. It's lovely and rustic.





















The bathroom is the most primitive I've been in. Washing in a bucket. Flushing with water from a bucket. Wiping with newspaper and putting it on the basket. This is probably how many people live here.

Daniel, the young man, is quite a horticulturist. The plants around the yard are all his doing. And there are potted plants and hanging plants everywhere! He wants to work in a museum for plants. He does little log gardens and sells them in the market. His girlfriend, Yumi, does nails. What an artist she is! She showed me samples of her artistry and I was flabbergasted at her talent and creativity.







Tonight for dinner we had rice, beans, some pork, and yucca, fritters, and a salad. I skipped the salad but everything else and it was delicious! After dinner Daniel and Yumi gave me dancing demonstration.

Later we went to the girlfriend's house and through the help of Google Translate and Yumi's bright mind and some English we had a lot of laughs! What an extra special evening this has been!!!!! I'm blessed, that's for sure. Best $20 I've ever spent. And Daniel will make good use of the money. I know that. So kind!




Live YOUR dream,

BagLady

Day 14: Rest Day in Cienfuegos

Downtown village square



Pedestrian mall



Che, the second symbol of the Revolution!



Palacio de Valle



Punta Gorda

I decided to stay 2 nights here to have a day to wander the shops and see what I could find in the grocery stores. Just because I found canned fruits and veggies in Matanzas doesn't mean I could find them here. Nope. Not a one. Went into about 4 stores. Lots of oil, sugar, canned or powdered milk, olives, ketchup, mustard, Mayo, and crackers. No canned food. I was hoping I could carry that for a dinner.




I did find a farmers market with lots of veggies though. Some things I didn't even recognize. I hope it's open tomorrow morning. I have a hard time making decisions at a farmers market because I wonder for buy from him or him or her or her? What to do? Then I just walk out. It's the strangest feeling to be so indecisive. Finally I'll push myself to just buy something. But I'll procrastinate first. Like deciding not to buy until tomorrow. It's possible there won't be the market tomorrow then the decision is made for me:). I wish I wasn't this way. It's so frustrating.

I got some more Internet cards today. What a procedure. I went to the telephone office and there was a crowd. Then dome young guy offers to sell me an hour for I don't know what price. I'm not about to buy this on the street. I wasn't born yesterday :). But he says I can't get a 5 hour card. So I say then I won't get any. I walk away. Awhile later I'm walking by chain and the line is shorter so I commit to the wait. I can't figure out who's actually in line and when I ask, their response doesn't make sense. So I stand in the middle. And like most businesses, their's a guard at the door keeping the crowd outside and letting only a few in at a time. Some more ladies come up and barge in front. People are constantly going up to her front to knock on the door and talk to the guard. Some get inside. Finally after about 30+ minutes I get inside. I have to be aggressive. He who hesitates is lost. There's no politeness in these people when queued up. I finally get my cards. 10 hours = $15. When I went outside the young man yells 5 hours?...cinque huras, I yell back.

I didn't bother with the money exchange as that is a mile out of the center. I'll go tomorrow. So I wandered. I needed lunch but again indecision. Nothing was striking my fancy. So I kept walking. I walked down to the water to sit, drink pina juice and write some postcards. Lovely. I wandered into the Teatro Tomas Terre. Magnificent! There were 3 balconies wrapping around this ornate stage. The details were do intricate. It was built on 1889 but was on incredible shape. Old chairs were still in all the boxes of the balconies for private settings. Louvered doors opened to allow access from the hallways to each private box. I've never seen anything like it!! They just don't build anything today as elegant as these old buildings. I'm glad to see them renovated or at least maintained. I believe this theater is still in use.

I finally found a place to have a sandwich. Of course the prices on the board and what I was charged was significantly different. Like 3x. No argument. Just pay it. Only $3 for a sandwich and soda. The trick is to carry pesos and pay in that currency. It's when they show prices in pesos then give you your ticket in CUCs. I can do the math. Not equivalent. But I don't want to fight. It's not much money. Always an issue, though. I had some pesos so I was able to get some pastries when I found a hole-in-the-wall place that was selling to locals. That was delicious! When I change money tomorrow I want to get pesos to use when I'm on the road. Much easier as that's how locals buy.

I got an email today from my newly engaged daughter that they've set the date: 10/07/17. Guess it's going to be a busy summer planning a wedding from the road. The wedding will be in St Augustine, Florida where most of her fiancé's family lives and they met and used to live. Both of my daughters have married into wonderful, loving families and I'm so happy for them! Their lives have rich connections. (Unlike their wandering, disconnected mother :))

It's evening now and as I wait for my spaghetti with tuna, I'll share my evening observations. This afternoon back in my room which is just past the living room and dining room and has a window to the open air hallway to the back of the house where my hosts live, I could hear the wonderful sounds of families reconnecting at the end of the day. All the neighbors sounds joyously bounce around the inner courtyards of the houses. From the outside they look stark and rough but behind the front door there are inner courtyards and open houses and the sounds of children playing and mommas chatting could all go heard in my room. Loved it!

I then wandered down to the square to get on WiFi. What a great concept. Online yet in community. (If I repeat myself it's because sometimes I don't know if I've shared a repeating thought in a previous post or just thought about it.) Yes, everyone's on their phones but some are chatting and there's a connection still. And everyone's outside together. What a concept!



Grocery store. Lots of the same thing.



Colonia architecture



See the American flag material!



Flirt!



Cuban art.




A theater built in the 1860s



Beautiful interior, well maintained



Artistic elements





I loved this old theater with its wooden box seats and divided compartments.


Live YOUR dream,

BagLady

Day 13: Castillo CEN and then to Cienfuegos

I awoke after another great night's sleep in my tent. Packed up and was biking by 7:30. That's early for me considering I'm usually on the road after 9 am:)

Another lovely day of lots of sun and blasting winds. Just makes my legs that much stronger. I refer to the winds as "air conditioning" and believe me I'm glad to have it. It would be unbearable without the wind.

I wandered down an old broken road passing lots of carts and farmers all smiling and waving. I got a great photo of a wagon pulled by oxen with the weathered farmer driving, his wife sitting in the back and the little dog trotting underneath. Their smiles are priceless.







I wandered on down past their nuclear power plant to the coast and the mouth of the Bay of Jagua. Here is a castle or actually a fort in excellent condition. It was built by a Spaniard. I'd have to Google the rest of the history. I just know the moat was never filled and that this fort protected the city of Cienfuegos from pirates.





I had just left Blaze sitting outside the castle while I toured around. She's hard to steal. When I came out some young folks were admiring her. Then the guy asked if I was interested in a restaurant for later. I said Now:). And followed him and a woman down the street. We parked Blaze out on the terrace and the assured me she'd be fine.

Hunger has gotten me into a tourist restaurant in a beautiful spot. Spending $12 for a small portion of their dinner which was $18 for a full one.








My take out box!

I'm tired of struggling to find food. I stopped at a gas station that had stuff for sale. Nothing like crackers or cookies. Candy, pasta, mayo, and lots of liquor and soap...a whole case of bar soap. I must say they are clean and always smell so nice! They must live on alcohol but I've never met anyone who seemed drunk. Got my orange soda...another new food group:)

Where I am is the mouth of the Bay of Jagua that Cienfuegos sits at the head of it. I figured out today I can take a ferry up to the city so I'm going to cut out about 15 miles this afternoon...yippee. I also learned that March brings the wind. So I guess they may be here to stay. Fun pedaling ahead with these headwinds!!

As I sit in this lovely spot awaiting FOOD I realize the ambience is worth the price. And I got ferry info from the waiter who speaks English. What a beautiful spot!!






This lovely German lad who spoke many languages fluently was so kind to help me negotiate getting on and off the ferry. My only regret was not taking my ginger pill before getting on the ferry. You knew it was going to be rough. But I must say even though I was inside and had a plastic bag out just in case, the ginger kicked in about the same time the nausea did and the ginger won!! I even sat on my bike and fell asleep the last 10 minutes or so.

Landing in a new city and getting grounded is getting easier. Head to the main square. So I circled the square and beyond looking for a Casa particulare for the night. And as luck would have it, one found me!

Elio was in the street with cardboard and the symbol of a sideways H and a laminated sheet about his Casa. I said great! How much? $20. OK! Follow me. And he took me a few blocks to a less pretty neighborhood. Real Cuba.






These casa owners have to work hard every day to find their guests. It's a significant source of income for their family. I usually don't liked to be hawked on the street, but I understand their situation a bit better. And looking for a place isn't easy either.

But behind the front is a beautiful little house and Blaze is sitting in the living room. We had to unload her and tip her sideways to get her in the door. I have a lovely room with a private bathroom.










The shower water was a bit of a disappointment. After 4 dusty hot days I was looking forward to a great shower. This was not it. Barely any spray. Spitting would have been more water. And only cold. (Because I hadn't yet learned to turn on that electrical box at the shower head ...more later). But I managed. Just had to stand under it longer to get wet. The cold water actually felt good. I like experiencing the challenges Cubans face every day. Water pressure may be one of them. And I'm glad to pay directly to the host for the night. I decided to stay another night. This city is so beautiful! (You'll see tomorrow:))

So after my shower I was off to dinner. Elio told me about a pizza place. There I met 2 lovely American young ladies and we joined up for dinner sharing stories of our travels and what we've learned about Cuba, putting the pieces together. Was so nice to be able to speak English for a whole evening! And they were witty and well educated. I learned a lot!! And I had an evening out with company!!!!!

To bed. It's late. I'm tired!


Live YOUR dream,

BagLady