Iglesia Parroquial Mayor del Espíritu Santo 15-2-20
We are moving on again today visiting Sancti Spiritus which has the distinctive church above and some other attractive buildings.
Inside Iglesia Parroquial Mayor 15-2-20
We visited the local market as well and it is very different to markets elsewhere in the world with the quantities on display being somewhat limited with far less choice and variety. There are statues the town around which are interesting and it would appear that there are more than we saw.
Puenta Yayabo Bridge Sancti Spiritu 15-2-20
We move onwards to Santa Clara which is an important location in Communist revolutionary history being the location of he Battle of Santa Clara in December 1958. The Government had sent a supply train of ammunition, weapons and equipment in support of their troops to attempt to hold back the advancing Guevara led revolutionaries. Using the local tractors from the school of Agronomy the revolutionaries disrupted the tracks leading to the derailment of the train which was promptly captured with the 350 troops becoming prisoners, although allegedly some of them no longer wished to fight other Cubans. It was essentially a major turning point of the revolution and within days the Government had been overthrown. It is commemorated by a memorial which is on the site of the original incident.
Tren Blindado Santa Clara 15-2-20
it was not clear at the time if these are the original vehicles or ones which were used to recreate the event.
Bulldozer Santa Clara 15-2-20
Tractor is a slight understatement if these were the items used to pull up the track – more like a bulldozer!
At the hotel in the evening we enjoy a decent meal but the best story concerns a young lady on her first ever shift. We ask for a bottle of wine and she has never opened a bottle before. It also transpires that she is left-handed and opening a bottle with a bottle opener when you are left handed is not obvious. After a moment or two the good lady wife takes pity on the poor girl and demonstrates the need to use her right hand for this particular task. We wish her good luck. The payback is the following evening, she is on duty again and again we order a bottle of wine. She declines assistance and within moments she has removed the cork and is pouring wine (left handed). She will go far I am sure.
A slight disclaimer, this has been written over 6 years after the journey concerned so is very much based around the photographs taken on the day.