Trinidad

The City of Trinidad is 500 years old. It has somehow avoided being raised to the ground during the various wars and revolutions that have taken place. Many of the buildings are simple, not spectacular, but when restored and painted the lovely pastel colours that the Cubans use so well, give a character to this City. The cathedral is a fine building and there is a lovely plaza nearby. There are areas that are clearly very poor but it is never the desperate poverty of a 3rd world country.
The square near the cathedral hosts live music every night. There are some tables and chairs but most people sit on the steps, of which there are about 30 some 30m wide. At least 200 people might be listening and watching a few couples dance wonderful salsa.
There is little street lighting but we felt safe to walk around at night, the only danger is the condition of the pavements! Music comes from every bar and restaurant and lifts the energy level of the people.
Food is notoriously poor in Cuba. Some of the set meals we had were boring with no imagination and cooked by someone who does not care about food. Fill up on brown rice and beans. In Trinidad we found a good restaurant and others in our party were equally pleased with their restaurant choice. Were these the private ones whereas the state owned ones were the boring ones. Maybe?
Ours was Sol y Son. We ate there each of the three nights we were in Trinidad and it could stand alongside good restaurants in Nottingham. On the first night we asked for a wine list and the waiter beckoned for us to follow him. He took us to a very large cupboard (a wine cellar really), opened the double doors and there we had an array of bottles with the price marked so we could choose one that suited our palate and our pocket. Mostly Chilean imports. That was so much better than a simple list!