Travels with John and Susan: Cuba Cruise - Day 7

Thursday, January 14, 2016 was our last day in Cuba and another busy one. We went on a tour bus to see the town of Cienfuegos, founded in 1819, a maritime city lying on the shores of a massive bay. We started our tour driving down the tree-lined Paseo del Prado Boulevard. Here, we saw some of the nicest homes and buildings on our trip.

Paseo del Prado Boulevard

A mid 20th century modernist style home

A fancy social club

Some fancy restaurant, hotel or social club

Then back to reality. . .

Look at how the vines have grown from street level to cover the roof area

We then stopped at the Graphic Society of Cienfuegos where we viewed their artwork and had an opportunity to meet with the artists who offer programs for children with special needs. The homes across the street were painted up with very colorful murals.

Transporting some kind of plants

Corky handing out gifts to the locals

A musical family?

The dogs were watching us

Cuban musicians entertained us as we viewed the art

This artist had an interesting headpiece

They painted bodies as well as pictures, too

Our next stop was at the Plaza de Arnas, the traditional central square of Cienfuegos.

Beautiful iron works

Our guide explaining some of the history of Cienfuegos

A unique tree with African origins

The Theatre

An old Chevy and Ford parked near the bandstand

Want to buy a Cuban license plate?

An interesting small museum with a spiral staircase worth exploring.

I climbed to the top to see the city from high

A spiral staircase leads to the next level

Pat enjoying the view with our ship in the background

Me too

One more spiral staircase to go

The plaza from the top of the minaret

Another view of Cienfuegos from above

Pat in another level on the roof

Then we walked down some streets loaded with vendors and stores.

Susan crossing the street

We had lunch at a local outdoor restaurant with Pat, Corky and Darlene

After lunch, we decided to use some local transportation (a horse-drawn wagon) to get back to the ship. He took all five of us on an hour long ride around parts of Cienfuegos that we hadn't seen and dropped us off at the ship. What a great ending to an awesome week!

Our transportation awaits

Down a residential street

Pat, Darlene and Corky enjoying the ride

Some residential homes. The white sign denotes rental property

The stadium where the Cienfuegos Elephants baseball team play

Nice baseball art

They also do gymnastics there

Back on the ship, we bid a fond farewell to Cuba. This has been an informative and enjoyable cruise. The people of Cuba were warm and friendly and we saw so many interesting things. Would we return? You bet!