[Click on the photos for a larger view and click the links for more information.]
On Saturday we left Trinidad for the airport with time for a visit to the city of Cienfuegos. The road skirted the beach.
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Cienfuegos
Cienfuegos, known as La Perla del Sur (Pearl of the South), is about 160 miles from Havana. It was settled by French immigrants from Bordeaux, France, and Louisiana in 1819. It is one of the chief seaports of Cuba and is a center of the sugar trade as well as coffee grown by local farmers and tobacco.Cienfuegos was added to UNESCO's World Heritage List in 2005, citing Cienfuegos as the best extant example of the 19th-century early Spanish Enlightenment implementation in urban planning.
We were warned at the beginning of the tour that sometimes picture taking would have to be click-click as we sped from one place to another. The following photos were taken from the bus as we drove through parts of Cienfuegos.
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Cienfuegos Square
Cienfuegos city center has hold the plaza and many beautiful buildings. Before strolling over to the square, we stepped into a lovely hotel to avail ourselves of the facilities.
This sign is a reminder of the Cuban Five, intelligence agents arrested in the United States and convicted of illegal activities in 1998. Foreign nationals of other countries facing similar charges are generally deported, but the five were instead given lengthy prison sentences. There has been international criticism of the fairness of the trial, and several agencies continue to work for their release. Two of the men have been released; one served out his 13-year sentence. The other was permitted to return to Cuba for his father's funeral and remain there on condition of giving up his U.S. citizenship. Volveran means "they will return."
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Statue of José Marti in the plaza.
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The Tomas Terry Theater had its first performance in 1890 and has since housed performances by many world-class actors and musicians, including Sarah Bernhardt, Enrico Caruso, Anna Pavlova, Antonio Gades, and Alicia Alonso.
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This sign is a reminder of the Cuban Five, intelligence agents arrested in the United States and convicted of illegal activities in 1998. Foreign nationals of other countries facing similar charges are generally deported, but the five were instead given lengthy prison sentences. There has been international criticism of the fairness of the trial, and several agencies continue to work for their release. Two of the men have been released; one served out his 13-year sentence. The other was permitted to return to Cuba for his father's funeral and remain there on condition of giving up his U.S. citizenship. Volveran means "they will return."
Airport
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We departed Cuba from the Jaime Gonzalez airport in Cienfuegos, which meant not having to drive the 160 miles back to Havana. It is a small yet clean and efficient operation.
There are two gates -- the two doors to the left are Gate 1. The two doors to the right are Gate 2. We departed through Gate 1.
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Our plane was the only one on the tarmac.
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There are two currencies in Cuba, the convertible peso (informally called a cuc) and the Cuban peso (cup). Since November 2004, the U.S. dollar has not been accepted in Cuba, nor are U.S. credit or debit cards. Read more about this confusing money issue here.
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Our departure from Cienfuegos and Cuba.
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And our arrival at Miami International 50 minutes later. The rain that had held off all week came with a fury as we sat on the tarmac for another 50 minutes while waiting for the ground crew to lead us to the gate. The lightning made it dangerous for them to be outdoors.
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