Cienfuegos

We arrived at Cienfuegos and got our first glimpse of the city from the coach. Also a Unesco sight but very different to Trinidad it had a real nautical feel to it. It was much plusher and had the natural bay as a backdrop. Our first stop was the Palacio de Valle a very ornate building where we headed up to the roof top terrace to admire the sea views and of course enjoy a cocktail.

We got back on the bus which took us into the centre and we walked through the streets down the main thoroughfare of Paseo del Prado and Avenue 54 to the central park and square - Parque Jose Marti. This was a really nice area and just around the corner from our hotel. Alberto showed us inside one of the main buildings the Teatro Tomas Terry - a very grand building both inside and out we sat down whilst Albert sang some of the national anthem which was a bit unexpected but a nice touch. After looking around the theatre we had some free time so we had a coffee and looked around some of the art and craft shops in the square.

After that we headed via our hotel (which was a bit pointless as we couldn't check in or look around really but just unloaded and stored our bags) to the Club Cienfuegos where we had lunch. Lunch was OK but by now we had very high standards to compare to. After lunch we had a cruise out on the bay, fortunately for me the water was very flat and I found it very relaxing and they even served cocktails on board! One of the notable things about Cienfuegos is the abandoned Nuclear power station up in the hills - building stopped when the soviet money dried up and the Chernobyl disaster happened especially as it was to be built to the same design!

From the cruise we went back to check out our hotel properly. Again we were not disappointed we stayed in the Cubanacan Boutique La Union - a colonial style hotel full of marble and antique furnishings with a Roman bath style swimming pool.

The rooms had an antique feel to them too and we had the biggest bed I've ever slept in. We relaxed in the room for a while before heading up to the hotel roof terrace to take in the views then down to the poolside bar. For dinner we met up with the rest of the group and enjoyed a very nice meal altogether. After dinner we headed out although everywhere was pretty quiet we had a few drinks in the Teatro CafeTomas and a nice bar set in one of the cities oldest buildings El Palatino for surprisingly our only music free night since arriving in Cuba.

After a good nights sleep and a tasty breakfast we loaded up the coach and headed off for the second part of our holiday in Varadero.