2 hour journey from Trinidad to Santa Clara very pleasant and thankfully not too early a start for a change.
Arrived early afternoon at our lodgings for the night [Hostal Javier y Katia (Colón 225 e/ SÃndico (E.P. Morales) y Nazereno (SerafÃn Garcia), Santa Clara t: (53)(42) 217 297 m: (53)524 74782 e: hostaljavierykatia@yahoo.es w: Hostal Javier y Katia is a great place to stay. The Hostal is located very centrally, Walking distance from the main attractions and sight seeing stops The room – more like a self contained appartment is great, Javier and Katia are very friendly, helpful and welcoming and have a lovely home. We didn’t speak a lot of Spanish but that was no problem! Both are hosts spoke very good English so between us we got by.
The meals were also really nice. We would definitely stay there again and thoroughly recommend it to others looking for a friendly Casa in Santa Clara…
Hostal Javier Y Katia.
Very nice lodgings they were too. Close to centre and noteworthy sights. Javier was lovely and his command of English was way, way, way, better than our joint command of Spanish. Nevertheless he humoured us by agreeing to make us only speak to him in Spanish whilst he’d use English only to “improve†his English. He was on the winning team! Home cooked food was great too.
We were only in Santa Clara for a night but managed to pack a bit in, The Ché memorial / mausoleum was about a 20 minute walk from our Casa and we spent a good couple of hours wandering around once we got there. Really interesting.
From there we headed over to the other side of town and the Monumento A La Toma Del Tren Blindado – site of the 90 minute battle led by Ernesto Che Guevara where he and a small band of 17 revolutionaries ambushed and derailed a train carrying 350 government soldiers and a bunch of guns and ammo – bye bye Batista…
Stopped off in the town square en route back to soak up some rays and watch a bit of traditional music and dancing.
Then it was back to the Casa for a wonderful evening meal and chat with Javier. Then out to Club Mejunje [Marta Abreu 107, Santa Clara] to catch some music. Wasn’t music on that night but there was an amazing bit of theatre. Didn’t understand but a word or two, nevertheless it was absolutely captivating. Who knew how well a guy riding a broomstick could be transformed into a farmer on horseback rounding up very realistic looking and moving cattle which were essentially someone with a sheet thrown over them.