[santa clara]
Came to Santa Clara for a few days, for pretty much no other reason than it seemed like an apropos place to spend the 1 May holidays, since it's 'La Ciudad del Che'.
But wow! No exaggeration to say that it's one of the best first impressions I've ever had from a city. Very nice surprise!
(Having a view like this from the balcony doesn't hurt either - love all those tiles and clouds and mangos)
My first impression (still valid after more than 24 hours) is that Santa Clara is the nicest, cleanest, most organized and thoroughly charming city in all of Cuba. And now I think I know why... 🤔
NB: This is just a vintage advert at an old timey pharmacy. While Santa Clara does indeed feel like the nicest, cleanest, most organized and thoroughly charming city in all of Cuba, I've got no idea what their secret is, but it's almost certainly not cocaine. Although I guess you never know, and absolutely nothing should come as a surprise these days.
Sunset over Santa Clara
Happy May Day! Unless you're in an Anglo-Saxon (or handful of other) countries, where's it's just another Thursday, workers’ rights are actively frowned upon and there are 5280 feet to your mile and 128 fluid ounces to your gallon. All of which makes perfect sense.
This is one of the more famous individual monuments to Che here in Santa Clara. Fittingly life-sized, it was the work of Basque sculptor Casto Solano, and sits outside the provincial headquarters of the Communist party.
Aside from the obvious (ie the niño) there are loads of little biographical details hidden away in the uniform - including a motorcycle, Che and Fidel climbing a mountain, and whatever it is that goat on the shoulder represents. Good stuff.
It's just down the street from where Che and Co derailed a regime train with a bulldozer in the waning days of 1958, taking the city and more or less winning the war (the US-backed dictator who'd been in power for a quarter century fled the country 12 hours later).
When the May Day festivities kick off at 7am sharp (tiempo Cubano), you get some nice long shadows to go with the flags and the slogans and the placards and the drums.
It also finished just before 9am, and everyone seems to have gone straight to work afterwards. Or at least almost no one hung around the plaza to revel and whatnot....
Not sure if it's an annual tradition, but this year in the days (or even weeks) leading up to May Day, it looks like they slapped a fresh coat of white paint on all the curbs in Santa Clara.
It kinda gives the whole city the equivalent of that look people have after a fresh haircut. And must be like Christmas in April for the government-run paint supply company!
🇨🇺 ¡Viva el 1ro Mayo! 🇨🇺 ¡Viva la Cuba! 🇨🇺 ¡Viva la Revolución! 🇨🇺
The irony of this shot is that a couple days ago I walked by the building and started to take a photo of it (because its street number is one that I collect), before realising it was some kind of immigration office and full of police, so probably not the best idea.
Fast forward to tonight and it's been covered with an absurdly large flag, so I figured patriotic photos were fair game. Of course, I was wrong and got yelled at by plain clothes po-po milling about down the street, but got the photo nevertheless.
All right, enough with Che and Fidel and flags and workers rights and revolutions (for now). Here's some apolitical, accidental (?) street art spotted yesterday....
Walking back to the centre from the May Day festivities yesterday, the menu outside this random garage caught my eye - mainly on account of the cheap tacos.
Not only were they surprisingly good, but the old guy who runs the place was super friendly and even spoke decent English. So I returned for lunch later in the day - the pork steak on rice and beans with side of squash and salad pictured here.
The pickles on top were a bit unusual, but overall a really good meal, very flavourful stuff. It was also one more excuse for extending my stay, as I still need to try the burritos....
I just learned yesterday that a statue of 'Boy with a Leaking Boot' is one of the most famous (non-Che related) sights in Santa Clara.
But since this photo of a poster of the statue I just walked past a few minutes ago looks way better than the photos I took of the statue itself (which these days doesn't have water, so the boot isn't actually leaking), you get it instead....
NB: Unfortunately, I was so eager to get the Lada and the old Chevy in the frame that I wasn't paying attention enough to realize that I could have easily lined up the poster clouds with the real life ones and got a much better shot. Dammit....
Santa Clara Cemetery Honey
A local delicacy of Santa Clara: Cemetery honey!!
Probably not, but my first* thought after coming across this tomb in the city's main cemetery was how much people would pay if it were marketed correctly.
If that fad for civet shit coffee a few years back is any indication, it could be a highly profitable undertaking. Of course the irony of this being a socialist country without any advertising isn't lost on me.
*My first thought was actually about how close I could get to take photos without worrying about the bees attacking me. Despite having insurance, I didn't want to push my luck.
When you think the rain has stopped, so head out to pick up some edible souvenirs to take back to friends in Havana. But instead get caught in another downpour and end up spending a solid 90 minutes cowering in a bus shelter with chatty locals, eventually venturing out only to find that of course the kiosk is completely out of coquitos....
Not to be out done by Havana's Parque John Lennon, Santa Clara has its own Parque Abbey Road. Seen here earlier today after a minor deluge photogenically flooded the city centre.
This is of course totally random, as the Beatles performed in Cuba a grand total of zero times. But don't let historical facts (or lack thereof) take away from contemporary homages....
Finding really good flan in Cuba is no easy task these days. But wow, Niti Cafe knows what they're doing. Highly recommended next time you're in Santa Clara....
"Socialism or death"
No comment….
Although, I'd really be remiss not to point out how absurd it is for the kids today to be wearing all these baggy clothes again. I dressed the exact same when I was a kid in the mid and late ‘90s, and it looked just as ridiculous as it does now - only we didn't have the benefit of hindsight. Yet, it seems everywhere you go in the world these days - from Malaysia to Ukraine to Egypt to even friggin’ Santa Clara, Cuba - everyone under 25 is dressed like MC Hammer.
But otherwise, no comment….
Barbudos
Seems I procrastinated too long and missed the entire Cuban baseball season, which in my defense was quite short. But on the bright side, I found this photo outside the Camilo Cienfuegos Cinema in Santa Clara, so not all was lost as it relates to Cuban baseball....
NB: Camilo Cienfuegos (the bearded one on the right here) was Fidel's second in command and commander-in-chief of the revolutionary armed forces. Albeit it only very briefly, as he died in a suspicious plane crash less than a year after the triumph of the Revolution. Nowadays his visage and name might be the second most common one you see in Cuba, after only the ubiquitous José Martí.
From Wikipedia (which also has more info about this ‘Bearded Ones’ baseball game that took place on 26 July 1959):
“Cienfuegos was a popular figure in Cuba, due to his cheerful and carefree personality, which contrasted sharply with the strict austerity of his comrade Guevara. Although he was claimed by different factions to have been a communist, an anti-communist or an anarchist, he never publicly expressed any political ideology. The soldiers that fought for him remembered him for his friendly and paternal leadership style, while the Cuban government upheld him as a loyal supporter of Fidel Castro. Every year, on 28 October, Cuban children throw flowers into the rivers and seas, in tribute to him.”
When you get reminded you're in the tropics. View from the Circunvalación (ie the Ring Road) on the southern outskirts of Santa Clara....
Don't even ask
When your ride is so sweet, you've got to proactively let people know that it's not for sale....
Another unsolicited (and unsponsored) food recommendation from Santa Clara: Pizza Michilin.* It's not even on Google Maps, but you can find it on the corner of Cuba and Eduardo Machado, just a block from the main park.
The hole in the wall smelled great and always had at least a small queue of people, so I expected it to be okay, but was still pretty impressed when I saw how much cheese comes on them - it's close to twice the amount you'd get on a ‘doble queso’ in Havana.
More importantly, it tasted great and was even crispy. Even in Cuba, you'd be hard pressed to find a better value meal for only 200 pesos (or about $0.54). Mmmm mmm!
*I also like to think that they took the precaution of purposely spelling it this way, just to avoid any potential legal action - kinda like that Simpsons episode with the ‘Shinning’ - despite the fact that Cuba is essentially país non grata and anything goes here.
Homesick
When Santa Clara has you feeling legitimately homesick for the Balkans....
Classic Cuban car du jour
In Cuba, ‘America’ is used with reference to the the hemisphere, not the rogue (and increasingly unhinged) evil empire to the north.
As previously mentioned, Santa Clara's Parque Vidal is (by far) the nicest public space I've come across in Cuba. And it's entirely lined with colonial era and early 20th century neo-classical buildings. Except for this monstrosity.*
Built by Hilton in the late ‘50s, this eyesore is a remnant of the waning days of the US-backed dictatorship, when mafioso essentially ran the country and things like this could be built in otherwise pristine public spaces.
If you look closely you can see loads of bullet holes from when Che’s forces took the city - a monument to history, in addition to being a crime against architecture.
And of course it goes without saying that next time I visit I'd hypocritically** love to stay here. The views from the upper floors must be amazing!
*In a vacuum I actually like the building. Unfortunately it wasn't built in a vacuum, but on this otherwise lovely square.
**Hypocritically and also purely hypothetically, since the Santa Clara Libre Hotel is now a government-run entity, it's technically illegal (under insane, draconian US law) for Americans to book a room. And as much as I like visiting new places, I'd prefer not to end up in a Salvadorean mega prison....
A river runs through it
Santa Clara is crisscrossed by loads of idyllic little rivers and streams, which look lovely - as long as your eyesight is poor, because they're invariably filled with garbage (and the odd vulture) and also generally smell like raw sewage.
One more silver lining for having avoided the optometrist for the past two decades! Although the smell you still can't do much about....
